Wicked Intentions

Well this had a little of everything didn't it? I was so entertained through this whole book.

I loved the premise and the little bit of danger and suspense-it really matched the characters. Characters? Big fan of all of them as well. Writing? Great. Where has this been all my life? This review is tough because I almost don't have enough to say. It's fairly straightforward: I really, really enjoyed this book. Rest easy, Bubu, you're still batting 1.00 in my book.

What didn't I love (and what is the reason for docking a star?) The end left me a little unsatisfied. It got a little mushy which didn't match these two, and it resolved ridiculously quickly.

That said, next please!

Wicked Intentions was an excellent start to my “Elizabeth Hoyt experience,” reassuring me that I’ll always be in good hands with Hoyt as far as plotting and characterization are concerned. I think this book is also my first foray into the Georgian period, leaving behind the reliable Regency era of most of my romances. So far, so good, although I don’t like picturing all of these dashing heroes in wigs, so I’m going to ignore all references to the wigs, just like all of the book covers do. Ha!

The set up that throws our couple together is Caire’s need for Temperance’s knowledge of St. Giles, which will help him navigate through this dangerous area as he conducts an investigation into the murder of his mistress. In exchange show more for being his guide, Temperance gets Caire’s help in introducing her to high society to nab a new rich patron for the financially-struggling orphanage that she and her brother, Winter, manage. Into this pretty simple set up though, we get a murder mystery that puts our couple in peril, an interesting look into the poverty and hardships faced in this forgotten corner of London, the drama of trying to keep afloat an orphanage, and our introduction to the notorious Ghost of St. Giles.

The strength of Wicked Intentions lies in the opposites-attract chemistry between the rakish, debauched Lord Caire and the uptight, seemingly saint-like Temperance Dews. The story had a slow start, but the flirtatious interactions and banter between the two quickly made the story interesting. As the two meet up to trawl through St. Giles or mingle with the aristocrats, their connection slowly develops from light and flirty to a deeper understanding of each other’s character and lives. Caire is intrigued by this woman who seems to care about everyone but who doesn’t seem to have anyone to care for her. She’s someone who feels so much, intriguing someone like himself who can’t feel anything. So of course, he tries to push her buttons. Meanwhile, Temperance sees through the rakishness and the smart-alecky remarks to the loneliness of the angsty hero. Sweet. And of course, it doesn’t hurt the entertainment level that there are lots of good love scenes. Four stars based on this chemistry of the hero and heroine alone.

But I have to knock off the fifth star because towards the end of the book, when Caire and Temperance have a major confrontation, the story’s a bit ruined by the introduction of some pretty tortured logic, which requires us to contort our brain so much just to kind of understand what the hell the two are thinking. I’m speaking specifically of when Caire accuses Temperance of using sex with him as a way to punish herself because she views it as a demeaning act. While he’s apparently off the mark on that conclusion, Temperance soon admits to herself that she had been using Caire for sex. What? This seemed totally out of left field and was not really hinted at in the previous sections. After the beautiful way that Hoyt developed their blossoming relationship—each recognizing the sense of loneliness in the other—this sudden realization kind of threatens to diminish all of that other sweetness in my view at least. It doesn’t make sense, and those hints about Temperance carrying around that secret affair and her guilt about it is neither here nor there. It doesn’t seem to jibe with the rest of the book.

I have to gush about one subplot that runs through the story, focusing on Temperance’s sister, Silence Hollingbrook. Even though I know that it’s setting up for a future book, I didn’t find the addition of her story to be a distraction at all. It’s too delicious. Here’s a woman who seems to love her ship captain husband more than he loves her. We see what happens when their marriage hits a dramatic bump in the form of one horrible, yet intriguing pirate, Charming Mickey. I loved when it’s revealed that Mickey didn’t do anything to Silence and that in a way, what he made her do was a test of her husband’s love--if her husband really loved her, he would’ve believed her when she insisted that she wasn’t compromised, despite looking as if she’s been ravished. After finishing this book, I couldn’t wait to get to Silence’s story! show less

Excellent book that drew me into its world from the very beginning. Temperance is a widow who runs a foundling home and school along with others of her family, in the slums of the St. Giles section of London. When the book opens, she is heading back to the Home with the newborn baby of a dead prostitute. She happens across Lord Caire, bent over the body of a man who had just attacked him. Later that evening, Lord Caire appears in her sitting room, with a proposition for her. If she will be his guide around St. Giles, he will endeavor to introduce her to members of society who could serve as patrons for the financially struggling Home.

I liked both Temperance and Caire. She is an independent woman who does what she feels is right, no show more matter what others say. She loves her family, and will do what she must to keep their Home running. She is also haunted by something in her past, an event that has caused her to ruthlessly protect herself from feeling things too deeply. She also has a passionate side that she keeps buried deep.

Caire is a man with a dark reputation, including his bedroom proclivities. Not only doesn't it bother him, he seems to take a fair amount of delight in it. He's cynical about his fellow man and seems to delight in scandalizing society. He is searching the slums of St. Giles, looking for the person who brutally murdered his mistress, not because he loved her, but to try to give her life some meaning. Caire is also haunted by his own issues, believing himself to be incapable of giving or receiving love, and physically unable to bear being touched.

Their chemistry is incredible from the very beginning. Temperance isn't happy about the attraction to him, as it only serves to prove to her that she has a wicked nature that needs to be controlled. Caire is much more willing to pursue the attraction he feels for her. He's very good at getting her worked up, and it isn't long before they are finding physical satisfaction together. Temperance is surprised to find that the more time she spends with him, the more she actually likes him. She also starts to see that there is a lonely, vulnerable man under the sordid reputation, just as Caire gets to know the passionate woman behind the do-gooder reputation that she has. That knowledge also comes at a price, and an exchange of heated words ends in unexpectedly hurt feelings. It looks like their chances of happiness together have been ruined, until a near tragedy brings them back together. I loved Temperance's big moment, in which she goes all out to show him how she feels. The depth of trust and emotion was incredible and truly moving.

The suspense of the story, the search for the murderer, was really good. I loved Caire's determination to find out who it was, no matter the motivation. It was really interesting to see how a woman like Temperance was actually able to get more useful information than a large, intimidating nobleman could. The danger intensified as they got closer to the discovery. I was surprised by who it turned out to be. The final confrontation was intense, extremely dangerous, and nearly fatal for Caire. There were a couple of appearances by the mysterious Ghost of St. Giles, including a vital one at the end. I have a couple suspicions on his identity, and look forward to reading the next book to find out.

I also enjoyed the various secondary characters. Temperance's brother Winter was fascinating. He is protective of her, but also seems to be accepting of her independence. I also got the feeling that there is more to him than the teacher and foundling home shows. Her sister Silence is another interesting sibling. She is shown to be very much in love with her sea captain husband, to the point where she does something reckless when he gets into trouble. I ached for her over his reaction. Their situation was left unresolved, so I hope to see them in a later book. Lady Hero is another one who fascinated me. She is independent, and has interests outside of those expected of young society women. I liked how she and Temperance connected so quickly. I also enjoyed how she and Caire's mother came to the rescue of the foundling home at the end. Caire's mother is one who I wasn't sure of at the beginning, as she seemed rather cold and disapproving, but by the end she had grown on me.

A fascinating part of the book was a look at the seamier side of London. There was very little of the usual balls and other society pursuits. Instead, there was a realistic portrayal of the hardships of the prostitutes, orphans, and other residents of St. Giles.

*copy received from Netgalley in exchanged for honest review. show less

Although I didn't like it quite as well as Elizabeth Hoyt's incomparable Princes Trilogy, Wicked Intentions was a good start to her latest series, Maiden Lane. With all the action and mysteries (the serial murders, the stolen cargo and the ghost of St. Giles), and a large part of the focus being on Lazarus and Temperance's investigation of gory Jack the Ripper style murders, this book was actually a historical romantic suspense. Even though I thought the romance and suspense were fairly well balanced, I can see where there might have been more opportunities for relationship building without all the investigating, which could explain why some readers seemed to be less than enamored with the story. Ms. Hoyt also chose to leave readers in show more the dark about a couple of things, most likely intending to resolve those mysteries later in the series, and I'll certainly be waiting anxiously to find out the answers.

In addition to the suspense angle, Wicked Intentions also has some other elements that make it quite unique to the historical romance genre. Other than the hero and heroine's attendance at a couple of society parties in search of a new patron for the foundling home, the narrative is completely set in the London slums, far away from all the glitz and glitter of the ton. Maybe it was the setting being so different or perhaps the author didn't quite describe it thoroughly enough, but I did have a hard time picturing it at first. The heroine herself is a poor commoner who spends her days caring for a large group of orphans, while the hero is a wealthy nobleman, making this something of a Cinderella story. I did like the orphanage and all the children even though they didn't play a huge role. Everything just came together to give the book a very distinctive feel unlike any other historical romance I've read.

Lazarus was an intriguing hero. He has earned a scandalous reputation for his “unnatural” sexual proclivities. Although the reader is teased with exactly what it is he prefers in the bedroom, I had my suspicions early on and ended up being correct. Lazarus is also very unusual in that he seems to have an inability to feel emotions, and he is repulsed and feels pain when touched. I could tell that there were things in his past that had likely contributed to his condition, and as some of those things were revealed, I sympathized with him. However, there were a couple of times when I wanted to smack him for being a bit of a jerk. Not only was he overtly sexual with Temperance right from the start which wasn't entirely my cup of tea, he also said some things to her that seemed to be deliberately calculated to cause her emotional pain, and I never quite figured out why he did that. I'll allow that perhaps I misunderstood or misinterpreted his words and intentions, because otherwise, he was rather charming in a dark, sensual sort of way. The other thing I couldn't quite get a handle on was why Lazarus chose Temperance as his guide in the first place. It just seemed a little odd to me that a “gentleman” would pull a respectable lady into what he must have known could be a potentially dangerous, and at the very least, sordid, investigation.

After being widowed nine years earlier, Temperance has devoted her life to serving the orphans alongside her brother at the foundling home started by their father. She struggles constantly against her passionate nature, feeling that there is something wrong with her for having such strong desires. At first, she is almost as emotionally closed-off as Lazarus, but with him, she finally finds the freedom to be the person she truly is inside. Temperance harbors a dark secret that has controlled her actions since her husband's death, and while I don't feel that she should have punished herself indefinitely, I did have mixed feelings about what she had done when it was finally revealed. In some ways it made me loose a little respect for her, not only because of the nature of the secret, but also because it made her seem less charitable to me, like she didn't truly enjoy working with the children and only did it because she felt she had to. However, the risks she took to protect a couple of the children I think proved that she did have a good heart and cared for them very much. I also like that she was able to intuitively sense Lazarus' inner pain the first time she touched him, even though he put on a brave face, and that she was completely accepting and even understanding of his “kinks” and why he needed those things.

As a couple, Lazarus and Temperance were good for each other, but they didn't quite spark off the pages for me like Elizabeth Hoyt's other heroes and heroines I've read to date. I think part of the reason for this lay in them both being so emotionally aloof for a large part of the story. I know that Lazarus couldn't exactly help being the way he was, and Temperance had her own demons to battle, but it often seemed like they were two separate entities rather than a couple in the making. I initially had a hard time making a connection with either one of them, but it did get better as the story progressed. My favorite parts were when Temperance was caring for Lazarus after he'd been wounded, and then toward the end when they both, in turn, gently pushed each other to face their pasts. As always, Elizabeth Hoyt knows how to write some incredibly steamy love scenes, and I will forewarn sensitive readers that the ones in this book are barely this side of erotic. I certainly didn't mind though, as I happen to think that Ms. Hoyt writes some of the best sex in romance today.;-)

In Wicked Intentions, Elizabeth Hoyt has also created a wonderful palette of supporting players, giving herself an enticing array of characters to work with as potential heroes and heroines of future books. Lady Hero Batten is a very nice young woman who treats Temperance with kindness and respect. I found it interesting that she's the sister of a duke, but seems to long for a more “normal” life, and I'm excited to see she is the heroine of book #2, Notorious Pleasures. Temperance's sister, Silence, is sweet and lovable with her ineptness with household tasks. What she lacks in basic skills, she more than makes up for in love and loyalty for her husband. What she does for him in going to the notorious pirate, Charming Mickey, was very brave, but no one believes the bargain she struck with him. Charming Mickey is well...charming, in a devilish sort of way. I wasn't too certain about him initially, but was left wondering if he wasn't quite the villain he seemed. I must admit I'm incredibly curious about exactly what transpired between these too, but alas it is one of those things that Ms. Hoyt left to the imagination but will hopefully be revealed in their book, Scandalous Desires, due to hit bookshelves in November (2011). I was very intrigued by Lazarus's one and only friend, Godric St. John. He seems to be a very kind, intellectual man who loves his wife dearly, but she appears to be not long for this world, which could free him in the future to be a great hero. Temperance's brother, Winter, is such a good man. He is completely committed to the foundling home, working himself almost to exhaustion, and is always gentle and caring with all the children. He's protective of Temperance, but never unreasonable with her like their other brothers can be. I just read breaking news on Ms. Hoyt's website indicating that he will become the hero of Book #4, tentatively titled, Thief of Shadows due for release in the summer of 2012. (Hooray!:-)) Last but not least is another of Temperance's brothers, Asa, who is quite mysterious. We see very little of him in this book, but there is just enough to make me think he might have a fascinating story to tell.

Other than the few small issues I've already outlined and the author's overuse of the question, “What?” which seemed both repetitive and anachronistic, I thought Wicked Intentions was very well-written overall. I enjoyed following along as Lazarus and Temperance solved the murder mystery, and I'm still eagerly anticipating finding out more about the questions that were left unanswered. Perhaps I didn't always relate to the hero and heroine as well as I would have liked, but they were still good characters, and if my speculation is correct, the supporting cast has left me with a tantalizing taste of what's in store for the rest of the Maiden Lane series. I'm really looking forward to the release of book three. In the meantime, I still have one more volume to keep me busy, and I can't wait to find out if Hero makes as great a heroine as I think she will. show less

The book that started it all.

"I rarely feel anything. But like the legless man, I'm unaccountably fascinated by those who can dance."

Our hero Lazarus started off the darkly mysterious, darkly intriguing, and darkly sexy man often found in romance. What distances him and makes him better than a lot was his layered personality of cool waters run deep and vulnerable and passionate soul. He was perfectly matched with our heroine Temperance with her mixture of kind spirit and desirous heart. As Lazarus searches for a murderer with Temperance's help, they poke and prod each other to break down the other's walls.

Above her, he moaned. "Please." Oh, to hear him beg. There was something in her, something wicked and base that lapped up that plea show more in his voice.

This is one hot potato book. It leans a little heavier on the sexual and steamy side of historical romance but never felt salacious. The sex scenes are quite descriptive but I would argue that the emotion between the two is what makes them hot. And ok, maybe the dirty talk, voyeurism, and neckties ;)

Knowing that she could be herself---all of herself---and he would not turn away.

When you first start reading this, you're going to think this is mainly Lazarus' story but a little more than halfway through, I realized this felt more like Temperance's story. Her guilt, self-punishing, joys, feelings, strengths, and weaknesses are all on display and as the reader, I was right there with her feeling them all. Again, she is a woman of her time, dealing with societal pressures of what is "proper" for women sexually. Through Lazarus' love and strength helping to bolster her own, she really comes into her own.

The secondary characters are numerous with Temperance's brothers and sisters, aristocrats, and a "ghost". This truly felt like an assemble piece but with Lazarus and Temperance getting the spotlight (Silence, Temperance's sister, edges in too with her own side story). Knowing this is book one, of currently eleven, I have it on good authority more than a few of the characters seen here get to shine under their own spotlight eventually. This was just a great all around story and I see why this series is still going strong. show less

2nd read- I liked this enough to read it again the following year. The gradual development of the hero and heroine, and their relationship, is very compelling. Two imperfect people who learn to see the other for who they are, and both become better for it. I love that. Not at all PG, lol.

3rd read- This is kinda dark and harsh in some ways, but I really enjoy it. I feel like it's well researched and written, and the dialogue sounds more historical than most HR authors try for, but it doesn't make it difficult to follow or anything. And the couple are really compelling to me. Very good character insight, lots of emotional growth. They’re both coping in difficult circumstances and wounded from dark pasts. And I love how he frees her to show more accept her whole self and she thaws his cold heart. ❤️ They’re really well suited to save each other. show less

Three firsts: the first time I've tried a Goodreads recommended book; the first [a:Elizabeth Hoyt|16202|Elizabeth Hoyt|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1232234340p2/16202.jpg] novel I've ever read; the first BDSM book I've finished.

Not at all what I expected. The setting was refreshingly original for what I presume would classify as a historical romance: the dirtiest and most dangerous slum in 18th century London. Also unexpected were the vicious murders reminiscent (deliberately?) of Jack the Ripper.

When it became clear that Caire, the male protagonist, had some serious sexual hang-ups, I was tempted to drop the book. I'm glad I didn't, though whether the characterisation of a man and women who share a proclivity for bondage is show more accurate, I've no idea.

The home for abandoned children run by the female protagonist was a little too heart-warmingly cosy for comfort, but the descriptions of gin halls and brothels were disturbingly real.

The loose screw in an otherwise tightly crafted story was the mysterious Ghost of St Giles. A few hints are dropped here and there that suggest he and another character in the story are one and the same -- something perhaps made clear in later volumes of this series -- but the harlequin avenger/murderer/vigilante seemed over-the-top.

Lots of quibbles, but the story was structurally sound and moved along at a rapid pace. It was a relief to discover that the BDSM was not as bad as I'd feared (oops, a Freudian slip) and that one of the most likeable characters in the story, Lady Hero, has a volume to herself in the second book of the series, [b:Notorious Pleasures|8597949|Notorious Pleasures (Maiden Lane, #2)|Elizabeth Hoyt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1287297456s/8597949.jpg|13361916]. show less