The Art of Sinning

The Art of Sinning by Sabrina Jeffries is now a favorite of mine among historical romance. It is different in all the ways that count, and I am grateful for the breath of fresh air.

I don't read a lot of historical romances within a short time frame since they the story line's and conflict are too often the same and I tire of it easily. The norm is girl meet boy, they fall in love, have a huge misunderstanding that could be easily righted but isn't, things fall apart, and in the end they come together. It is nice once in awhile, but gets old.

The Art of Sinning offers a good amount of conflict, tension, and misunderstandings, but it is the way that it is handled that makes the reading experience wonderfully unexpected. No doubt the show more difference in largely due to Yvette's character development. Yvette is an act like the adult woman who she is and works through her feelings of being insulted as opposed to being the childish ninny that we see too often in the genre. Yvette is a strong character who is not only reasonable, but smart. Her only naivete is in the bedroom, which adds some extra spice as Jeremy is the perfect man to teach her everything that she needs to know. The two together are hot in bed, and humorous out of bed with the interjection of several cant phrases which several were new to me.

It is clear that Sabrina Jeffries did a fair amount of research about the art that she incorporated into Jeremy's character, and thankfully uses just the right amount of information to make the story authentic without getting overzealous with sharing pointless facts. It is a nice balance, really.

Note to Author
Thank you, Sabrina Jeffries, for not delivering the usual fare. Thank you for the wit, humor, strong characters, interesting supporting characters, and a good amount of unpredictability in a genre that is all too often predictable. show less

Good start to the new series, with characters from the previous series, The Duke's Men. We met Jeremy Keane, American artist, in How the Scoundrel Seduces, as he helped out with his cousin Zoe's problem. Now he is pursuing his art, searching for just the right model for the painting he has in mind. Nobody is right until he meets Lady Yvette, but getting a lady to pose for this particular painting isn't going to be easy, especially with her very protective older brother hovering.

Yvette is a young woman with a mind of her own. She isn't a typical English miss, having survived the scandalous behavior of her younger brother, and having a most unusual hobby of collecting slang for an unorthodox dictionary. She's intrigued by Jeremy's offer show more to paint her, and counters his offer with one of her own. She'll sit for him if he'll help her find her younger brother's mistress and her son.

There is a strong attraction between Yvette and Jeremy from the very beginning, but both are determined to resist it. Yvette has been burned once before by falling for a scoundrel, and barely escaped with her reputation. She no longer trusts her own judgment when it comes to men, but she's sure that Jeremy isn't a man to pin her hopes on. Jeremy knows better than to get involved with a respectable woman. Doing so could get him married to her, and he's been married once before with tragic results. He avoids any kind of romantic entanglements, usually packing up and leaving before things get serious.

I liked Jeremy a lot. He portrays himself as quite the rake, but when you look past the surface, he really isn't. He uses his reputation to keep people from getting too close to him, but working closely with Yvette makes keeping his secrets much harder. Not only is he attracted to her, he actually likes her. Trying to behave like a gentleman around her gets more difficult the more time they spend together.

Yvette is a very determined young woman. She has her mission and she isn't going to let anything stop her. I loved seeing her negotiate her requirements with Jeremy, and make sure that he doesn't try to renege. I loved her hobby of searching out street cant, and the conversations they had because of it. She also has a very curious mind and no trouble asking questions, even if they are inappropriate.

I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop, even as both tried to deny what was growing between them. Their conversations were fun, as both are quick witted and have pretty wicked senses of humor. Jeremy quickly came to look at Yvette as more than just a model. Even though he resisted telling her about his past, just her presence in his life started to change the way he looked at his future. I also loved seeing how he tried to change the way she saw herself by showing her how she affected him. I liked how Yvette didn't take long to see that Jeremy was not the scoundrel that everyone says he is. She is determined to find out why he pretends to be, and it was fun to see the way she chips away at his protective walls. When his past becomes fully known to her, she sees that until he deals with it completely they can't have the future they deserve. I loved how she saw him so clearly and called him on his actions. Facing that past and learning things he hadn't known before was very emotional, and I loved seeing that emotion expressed rather than buried. The changes in both of them by the end were significant.

As the first in the series, some time is spent introducing characters that will play parts in later books. It is in this one that the idea for a gentleman's club, devoted to the idea of protecting their sisters and female relations from scoundrels like themselves is introduced. Yvette's brother Edwin is one of those men. He seems to be quite a stick-in-the-mud at the beginning, but I warmed up to him as his love for his sister became more obvious. He also comes through quite nicely when Yvette finds the woman and child she had been looking for. Another one of the members is Warren, cousin and guardian to Yvette's friend Clarissa. Clarissa is another young woman like Yvette, with a mind of her own and no desire to forced into a mold that doesn't fit her. Other secondary characters were Jeremy's apprentice, who keeps Jeremy on his toes, and Jeremy's sister Amanda, who has been running the family business back in America. show less

I really like [a:Sabrina Jeffries|50886|Sabrina Jeffries|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1344970230p2/50886.jpg], so I was super excited to get on the ARC list for a new series. Unfortunately, this is somewhat of a spin off of another series (The Duke's Men), which I have not read. Gah! You don't *HAVE* to read the other series, but I wish I would have read it first. There may be some spoilers for those who haven't read The Duke's Men... but mainly I just like to have that background info on the characters and past events.

Notwithstanding my lack of knowledge, I enjoyed this first installment of the Sinful Suitors series. Our hero, Jeremy Keane, is an artist. But he is not portrayed as typical artists of the time... he was not effeminate show more in the least. He was all man... he may have been a gentleman disguised as a rakehell, but he certainly knew how to sin. Yummm-meee. He is a bit of a tortured hero, but his secrets are not overly dark. He has fled from America and somewhat estranged himself from his family under the guise of traveling to art exhibits the world over. Jeremy's art is of a darker nature, which is how he got his rakish reputation... he tends to look for models in the dregs of society. Until he finds the perfect Juno-esque model for his latest work, and she is a member of the nobility.

Our heroine, Lady Yvette, is not the dainty delicate flower that men of the 19th century seemed to prefer. Yvette was statuesque, rubenesque, fierce and opinionated! She even had what her brother, Edwin, referred to as her fishwife's pose! All of these traits that are leading Yvette to the life of a spinster draw Jeremy to her like a moth to a flame.

I enjoyed the romance that unfolded between these two characters. I felt Yvette was a bit blind to Jeremy's true character, but that was understandable as she was jaded from an encounter w/ a past rake. While Jeremy was determined not to marry again, the chemistry between he and Yvette was off the charts. The pace of the book flowed well and the relationship unfolded right until the very end.

There were also some great secondary characters that I believe will be carrying the series further as future love interests. I particularly loved Dambers and his street cant. I predict the next book will feature Yvette's brother, Edwin, and her best friend, Cassidy. I can't wait.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars / 3 flames. show less

This is the first book in Sinful Suitors series and even though the premise of it is familiar, I found it entertaining as I followed this group of past and present well-meaning scoundrels forming a club in order to ‘vet’ and keep rake’s and scoundrel’s away from their unattached women folk. What can possibly go wrong, especially when it comes to their own members!

In this first story of the series I was glad she brought Jeremy, the artist cousin of a heroine from her previous series, and paired him off with a feisty Yvette.

It may take you awhile to warm up to the heroine, but once you do, you’ll root for her happiness. As for the hero, no matter how ‘scoundrely’ [yes, I know that’s not a word] he acted, I never took him show more for one. I liked him from the get-go.

As usual, Ms. Jeffries puts together some fun and intriguing characters in this entertaining story. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

Melanie for b2b show less

This is going to be a wonderful new series, I enjoyed this first book very much.
Jeremy Keane is an American artist who prefers the beauties he see's and meets abroad for fun and for his work, and as yet to find the perfect model for his masterpiece until he meets Lady Yvette Barlow, and then he knows his search is over, he just has to convince her. Lady Yvette surprises Jeremy by agreeing but only if he will take her to a certain brothel so she can search for a missing woman and child. Jeremy say's yes!

There's a bit of fun in this story with Yvette's curiosity for street cant and with Jeremy's apprentice Damber, I had good laugh. The characters had great chemistry and the storyline had twists that I was not expecting. Very hot love show more scenes, some sweet, some very steamy, great dialogue, wonderful characters, and a very entertaining storyline.
I loved this book and I can't wait for the next story in this series. A big 5/5 from me! show less

This was a fun story. Historical romance isn't really my genre, but I did enjoy this story. It had a couple steamy moments, but not many. I couldn't help but laugh at some of the sayings they used. He would say," Thunderation!" She would say, "Heavenly Day!" One thing I can say is that it had an interesting twist in the end.

Sabrina Jeffries' Sinful Suitors series is off to a fantastic start. The Art of Sinning is a mysteriously sultry historical romance. Yvette was my favorite character. Her mixture of strength, curiosity and naivety is an example of great story telling. While reading, it was quite easy to picture the situations she went into and wonder what she was thinking. I loved that she found her hero in Jeremy. Jeremy was just as adventurous as Yvette was but together he served as her filter. He reigned in some of Yvette's restlessness and less thought out ideas. I am really looking forward to meeting more characters within this series. I received an ARC of The art of Sinning in exchange for an honest review.