Review: Sins of a Virgin

Reviewed by Jen
 

Madeline has spent the past 10 years of her life as part of a trio of spies. Plucked from the gallows, she was trained in stealth and seduction. She did her job well, but when her usefulness came to an end, she was pensioned off with a sum she would never be able to live off of. Her only resources are her beauty and her ability to read people. She puts both to work, with an outlandish plan to raise funds.

After six months of setting herself up as an unattainable courtesan, she puts her virginity up for auction.

Gabriel is a Bow Street Runner who has devoted the last seven years of his life to finding his twin sister's killer. Now, he has been assigned to work for Madeline. She needs him to investigate the men who are bidding in her auction. While he is tempted to turn her down at first, he comes to realize that he can use the job to investigate some of the same men he considers suspects in his twin's murder.

Though he sees how lovely she is, Gabriel has no intention of falling for his new employer. He watches with a mixture of awe and disgust as she beguiles suitor after suitor with practiced ease. But then, in unguarded moments, he catches glimpses of the real woman behind the mask and he can't help but want her.

Madeline wants Gabriel too, but she can't take her eye off the prize. She won't grow old in poverty. Things become even more complicated as someone begins making attempts on her life. Surely it is someone who knows her from her past. Each brush with death pushes her closer and closer into Gabriel's arms, but can they really have any kind of future together?

I liked Madeline. She is tough and smart and practical. Mercenary, even. I liked Gabriel too, for the most part. He's a good man, though a little judgemental. He has honor. I just didn't love the progression of their relationship. For one, it took more than half the book before they even kissed. It was so drawn out just for them to make their first tentative step. Beyond that, their circumstances made it difficult for me to feel warm and fuzzy. Madeline is, after all, lining up a liason with another man for the whole book. And Gabriel's opinion of her is often less than flattering.

Not to mention, I figured out the villain less than halfway through the book.

Things did pick up once Madeline finally shows Gabriel who she really is. But it takes so long to get to that point. --I didn't dislike it, but it didn't do much for me either.

Rating: C

*ARC Provided by Avon

Click to purchase: Amazon

Sins of a Virgin

by Anna Randol

Release Date: August 28, 2012

Publisher: Avon

Review: A Most Naked Solution

Reviewed by Jen
 

Lord Camden Grey is a mathematician at heart. But he is also a Justice of the Peace. And he know there is more to the death of Richard Harding than meets the eye.  A brief investigation found he had been killed by poachers, but Camden doesn't buy it... especially after a witness comes forward, claiming he heard about a murder-for-hire in the local tavern.

Camden's number one suspect is Richard's wife, Sophia.  After all, the witness said the killers were hired by a woman.  It's been years since Camden saw her --not since he tutored her brother years ago and she developed a crush on him.  Determined he would not let their past get in the way of his investigation, Camden seeks her out.

Sophia is no killer. She is a woman getting over horrible abuse at the hands of her late husband.  She is just starting to reclaim her life when Camden shows up on her doorstep.  She ends up helping him solve the mystery of Richard's death, as she falls again for the man who captured her heart in her youth.

Poor Sophia has been through so much and I felt like the author did an excellent job giving us a look inside her past and state of mind.  She is very damaged and I was a little surprised by how quickly she threw herself into a physical relationship with Camden. And I was a little disappointed at how fast he ended up professing his love for her.

The murder-mystery made for a decent backdrop for the romance.  I just had a hard time feeling the love. Attraction, sure.  Protective instincts... curiosity... even lust... OK.  But there wasn't enough time or interaction between them for me to see beyond that.  --On the plus side, I was very pleased with the way Sophia came to terms with her issues and her sense of self-worth.  In fact, I felt like her entire journey of healing was done well from the beginning.  I just wasn't bowled over by the romance.

I must also point out that my review copy had some noticeable typos and errors --and in one case, called the hero Clayton instead of Camden.  But I was reading an ARC and these issues may have been corrected in the finished product.

Rating: C+

*ARC Provided by Avon

Click to purchase: Amazon

A Most Naked Solution

by Anna Randol

Release Date: June 26, 2012

Publisher: Avon Impulse