Pride and Pleasure Book

*****3.5 Pleasurable Stars*****



Eliza is an heiress in her sixth season. She has money, manages her own finances and affairs, and has never been denied anything. She has happily decided not to marry, but to live out the rest of her days quietly reading and spending time in the country. Marriage would only cost her her freedom to do as she pleases, and would allow her husband to take over her finances. And that is just unacceptable. Eliza has no concept of carnal lust until she lays eyes on Jasper.



Jasper is a thief-taker, which is dangerous job. He is also the bastard son of the Earl of Montague. His only desire in life is to cause the destruction of the Montagues for the part they played in his mother's demise. He finds his resolve tested and his focus on revenge impeded by desire for his new employer; a headstrong, strawberry blond, blue eyed heiress that is wreaking havoc on his once peaceful existence.



The love scenes between Jasper and Eliza were hot and no less than I have come to expect from Day. Her love scenes are HOT because both parties are not just expressing lust/desire for one another, but something stronger that runs much deeper. Day writes with so much passion, that it feels as if the characters need each other in order to survive. This book would have been a 4 or 5 star if more time had been spent with the main couple or if the secondary characters and plot had been more interesting.



I usually love books by Sylvia Day, and find it a chore to put them down. I am a huge fan of her historical romances because of their intensity. This book however, read in such a slow manner. Every conversation that didn't involve the hero and heroine seamed to drag along at a snails pace. There were quite a few secondary characters, but none of them had enough depth to allow me to care about their welfare.