Elizabeth Hoyt

Books: Romance | Historical

Maiden Lane: Wicked Intentions (2010)

Wicked Intentions (2010)

Set in England in 1737.

Lazarus, Lord Caire, has a reputation such that only his title keeps him from becoming a disgrace.

Temperance Dews is a widow, and with her brother Winter, runs the foundling home started by their father. But after the death of their patron, the two are close to being thrown out on the street. So when Lord Caire comes to Temperance with a proposal, she can hardly afford to turn him down.

I'll be honest, what initially drew me into this story ended up being a red herring.

"You're a Puritan?" he asked.

Her beautiful mouth compressed. "No."

"Ah." He noted she did not say she was Church of England either. She probably belonged to one of the many obscure nonconformist sects.

Sadly, but unsurprisingly, the story didn't go into the various religious sects of that time. They're fascinating, but not really what one expects in a boinking book.

And this is a boinking book. Lord Caire is interested in what would currently be considered a flavor of BDSM. Interestingly, the time period means that what seems scandalous at that time would be hardly so in a later era.

One of the things I especially liked about the book was that, aside from the insane murderer, no one was evil. One expected the relationship between Lazarus and his mother to have been the cause of his sexual proclivities, but she changes over the course of the story, becoming a sympathetic character.

I won't say I believe that Temperance managed to "cure" Lazarus as quickly as she did, but it was interesting, and I liked how their pasts were complicated and messy and nothing was really simple.

That's not to say there weren't issues with the story, but it was interesting, and I kept reading, wanting to know why and who and what.

Oh, I really HATE this cover.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 

Rating: 7/10