To save her, he must ruin her.
Lord Sebastian St. John, dedicated bachelor and a co-owner of Fallen, the most scandalous pleasure club in London, is known as Sin for good reason. Orphaned by a shocking accident, Sin long ago vowed a life of solitude and decadence. Yet when Lady Grace Carrington begs for his help destroying her reputation, Sin can’t turn the ton’s most proper lady away.
This novella is the scandalous tale of Lady Grace’s escape from her boring life into one of sensuality. It’s set in the Regency era, but it’s really not that historical in nature other than the setting. At the start of the story, Grace is coming out of her mourning period for her (thankfully) deceased husband. She feels that she is finally able to have a life of her own but her father decides to hand her off to Lord Baxter, another odious old man. She decides to escape to London under the guise of having a new wardrobe made and find a man to have an affair with in order to ruin her reputation. Her maid suggests that she go to Fallen, the pleasure club, and ask the owner to help her with this idea. After all, the club is notorious for its orgies, where members of the ton are free to indulge their most scandalous desires while masked to hide their identity.
Sebastian, known as Sin, is a co-owner of the club. His partners are Devil and Vice – of course, what else would they be called? He’s described as basically sex on legs, and he oozes carnality. You’d think someone like that would be on the sleazy side, but he’s actually very kind hearted and he treats the women that work in his club with respect. So of course, when Grace shows up in his establishment, asking for his help with some mild public ruination, he’s more than happy to oblige.
Thus begins the sensual education of Grace – they start off with kisses, and it quickly escalates into public displays of open fondling at Vauxhall in front of Prinny and all of that debauched crowd. When this isn’t enough, things progress rapidly to much steamier escapades in other locations, and eventually the pleasure club where she indulges in some girl action as well. Sin finds he is falling in love with Grace, despite his best intentions, and he is willing to give her whatever she desires to make her happy.
I gave this 2 stars, not because it was that bad but there wasn’t a lot to it other than the erotica. It was well written, though, and Sin was very much the alpha male with a hidden heart of gold. There wasn’t much to Grace other than her need to find her inner goddess, however. It was a quick read, and if you’re looking for something hot and steamy, this might be the book for you. There are two more books in the series, based on the other partners in the club so Devil and Vice will have their stories told as well.