My Rating: 9.5/10
Trapped under the reign of a cruel keeper, Ellen Harding longs to be free. Under his oppression, her soul and conscience have died while her body lives on, fulfilling his dissolute desires. She is empty-a vessel-deaf to the voice of morality and blind to shame. When her eyes are drawn to a beautiful man for no other reason than his looks, she imagines what it would be like to escape her chains for a night by giving her body to him. Edward is restless, lonely, and a little angry with his lot in life-it is his only excuse for being drawn to another man's mistress. The woman's dark hair and pale eyes are striking, and he cannot take his gaze off her while she watches him over the top of a fan with an illicit intent in her eyes. Once he's known her, he cannot forget her, and once he's seen the evidence of her supposed benefactor's brutality, he wants to help her. But how can he when she will not run any more than she will speak of her past? When a desperate Ellen finally relents and shocks Edward from his sleep, he doesn't hesitate, he helps her flee. He just doesn't know he's running headlong into the secrets of her past.
Trapped under the reign of a cruel keeper, Ellen Harding longs to be free. Under his oppression, her soul and conscience have died while her body lives on, fulfilling his dissolute desires. She is empty-a vessel-deaf to the voice of morality and blind to shame. When her eyes are drawn to a beautiful man for no other reason than his looks, she imagines what it would be like to escape her chains for a night by giving her body to him. Edward is restless, lonely, and a little angry with his lot in life-it is his only excuse for being drawn to another man's mistress. The woman's dark hair and pale eyes are striking, and he cannot take his gaze off her while she watches him over the top of a fan with an illicit intent in her eyes. Once he's known her, he cannot forget her, and once he's seen the evidence of her supposed benefactor's brutality, he wants to help her. But how can he when she will not run any more than she will speak of her past? When a desperate Ellen finally relents and shocks Edward from his sleep, he doesn't hesitate, he helps her flee. He just doesn't know he's running headlong into the secrets of her past.
Illicit Love takes place in the views of a young harlot and a lord who has not much money to his name. The vulnerability of these characters is what makes the book so great. The variation of narratives makes it easy to see what the two main character think, and in that prospect, we get to play a fly on the wall.
Illicit Love isn't as much explicit as it is poetic. I just loved the amount of passion and beautiful phrases in the book. The setting was also incredible. I felt like I was going back to my princess days of dreaming of medieval castles and knights in shining armor. The format of it provided us a bit of fresh air in the romance world, especially since I've been reading romance so often. It was nice to see something new.
The story is action packed, to say the least. Romance lovers will wring their hands together as they try to figure out what happens next. When I got halfway into the book, I thought there couldn't be anymore things that could happen. I was wrong. And I wish I could say everything that did happen because it was just so...ohmygosh. Trust me, I think you guys will be quite entertained. There are some amazing moments in this book that will put it on your Favorite Reads shelf. Trust me, like Ellen, you'll fall in love with James too.
So glad you enjoyed Illicit Love, and so thrilled you really got drawn into the plot and characters. I am a broadly smiling author. It's so fab to hear people say they like Illicit Love so much. Thank you for taking the time to read and review it.
ReplyDeleteJane