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After reading through Wicked Intentions and finally starting Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series, I immediately jumped into book 2, Notorious Pleasures. I had heard mixed reviews about this book and was slightly apprehensious going in. I ended up liking this book a lot more than Wicked Intentions.
Our couple is Lady Hero, one of the new patronesses of the foundling home from the first book. She is the sister of the Duke of Wakefield. She gets engaged to the Marquess of Mandeville. However at the ball to announce their engagement, she runs into a gentleman tupping a married woman in a sitting room. She knows her husband is on the way and reluctantly assists them. Surprise surprise, she feels a thread of attachment and is drawn to the mysterious man. Come to find out, he is Lord Reading, her betrothed's younger brother.
So a big issue that I saw people mention is the cheating in this book. While it was technically cheating, it didn't bother me like it usually did. First of all, it's an arranged marriage and they both clearly have no feelings for each other outside of normal care for another human being. The Marquess Thomas is also in love with another woman that isn't "good for his station." Another issue I saw and heard was how Hero was very stanch and tried to be the perfect paragon the entire time. While I understand how some could be frustrated with that, especially combine with the cheating, I didn't feel that way.
Now, the wrong sibling trope is my favorite so I am a little more forgiving when it comes to this kind of drama and plot points. While Lady Hero was staid and tried to be perfect all of the time, I really connected with her. She tries all of the time to be what other's expect and want of her, all the while stifling her true self. I loved that Griffin (Lord Reading) saw it was a façade and pushed against it every chance he got. Like I mentioned above, while they do get intimate while Hero is still betrothed, the impetus that kickstarts them both caving to their desires is when Thomas leaves Hero in a maze and hunts down his former mistress (and real love). Griffin is so frustrated that Thomas could treat her that way and just loses it. Another thing I liked is that Hero knew there was something between Thomas and the Lavinia. She didn't quite know or understand the whole story between them, but she saw the looks and wasn't made ignorant at all. I really applauded that character point and it made it easier for me (not that I was having issues before that) to accept Hero giving into her desires for Griffin.
One of the things I mentioned about Wicked Intentions was the lack of romance for me. This book had it 100%. I absolutely adored how drawn together they were and all of the little things between them. Griffin just noticed things about her and her family. I loved when Phoebe got hurt during their outing he yelled at Hero about getting Phoebe better glasses. It was at that point that Hero opened up about her sister going blind. Also when he came to dinner and joined in with feeding Cousin Bathilda's spaniel at the dinner table. He just noticed her and even with her mask in place, would still notice the little ticks that would help him read her emotions and body language. I just loved that he saw her.
While I absolutely love their romance, once again the other main plot just wasn't something I was as interested in. The whole gin distillery issues with Griffin and then her brother and Thomas creating all these gin bills to punish people for selling and buying it. Now I know that this is based off of real events that happened, but it just felt too pushed to me. While I understand that the point was that the aristocrats didn't see the whole picture a lot of the time, it just was too much once again. I did enjoy that we got more hints about the Ghost of St. Giles and I'm excited to find out who it is. I have a couple guesses.
There was also a teaser for the next book and I'm really excited to see Silence get her HEA. I've been really intrigued to see how it'll play out since their meeting in book 1. I'm definitely going to keep reading the series and get through as many as I can before the live show (see my Wicked Intentions review for all the info). I'm excited to finally start this series and am happy that I ended up enjoying this book a lot more than the 1st.
Have you read Notorious Pleasures?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Notorious Pleasures, Elizabeth Hoyt, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 371 pages, published in 2011
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