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A review by rjordan19
How to Steal a Scoundrel's Heart by Vivienne Lorret
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall: 4.5 to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 - this is generous – the last couple are on the shorter side but I still counted them
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
When mains are first on page together: Not long at all 3% in the prologue
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, ten months later
Format: listened to the audiobook from the library (Hoopla) but also have a very old and neglected e-book version from NetGalley….
Should I read in order?
It’s not tooootally necessary but I think reading at least the prior book, The Wrong Marquess, will give you some of this heroine’s background. And I adore that book so you should read it! I didn’t read book 1 of the series but did read book 2. They are all loosely connected by a group of heroines that are friends.
Basic plot:
Prue is out to steal back her inheritance and finds help in a relationship bargain with Lord Savage.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (?)
- Marquess/rake hero
- ruined heroine
- mistress
- Vauxhall
- bargain – hero will help the heroine steal back her inheritance if she becomes his mistress
- character focused
- mid steam – I have 4 full scenes but the last 2 are on the lighter side
Ages:
- I don’t recall them mentioned. If I had to guess I would say late 20s/early 30s for hero and early to mid 20s for heroine?
First line:
Prudence Thorogood drew the hood of her tattered mantle over her head and reached for the lion’s head door knocker.
My thoughts:
Oh I just love Vivienne Lorret. I love the time she takes on the little romantic things. I love all the little touches, and the back and forth banter and the emotional build up of her scenes. I just adored this book so much.
I was worried with it being a mistress theme I might not get into it because I find the tension can kind of dwindle for me with a ‘business transaction’ feel going on but I loved how it played out there. It even feels like more of a slow burn (the steam is definitely later in the book) but I appreciated that because it let the tension build up for me.
Leo is smitten, everyone. He is head over heels, obsessed with Prue and I ate it up! The time he takes with her. The gentleness. The playfulness. Ahhhh I was swooning left and right over him.
And Prue is just the best. I loved her as a heroine. Her strength and recovery and her journey to healing was really heart warming to me.
I just found myself loving so many lines in this one. I found it really romantic and sweet and I loved it.
Endearments
Hero calls the heroine moonflower, my sweet, my darling, and my dear
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
“And I never know what to do with my hands,” she added nervously.
He draped the tired garment over the back of a chair and faced her. “Then simply give them to me.”
Her brow furrowed as she looked skeptically at his waiting palms. “What do you intend to do with them?”
“Merely take you -”
“Here?” She balked. “Now?”
“- to the study,” he concluded with a slow grin. “However, if you’d prefer to put this table to better use…”
---
“Two things have become patently clear, my dear,” he continued and stepped toward her. “First of which is the fact that I’m going to have to murder my valet. And second, I’m not paying Madame LeBlanc nearly enough for her services. There,” he said, settling his coat over her shoulders in a gesture that surprised her.
She blinked in confusion. “You...you’re giving me your coat?”
“Aye. Now we can go down to dinner without inciting a riot among the footmen. I’m simply too weak from hunger to fend them off for your sake.”
---
She fit him perfectly, her body willowy but strong and supple. He couldn’t wait to take her.
But he would wait, nonetheless. At least for now.
She was quiet as he settled her against his side, blinking to keep her eyes on full alert. “I imagine these bedcurtains have seen a great deal.”
“So much wickedness. That’s why they’re black, you know. They were virginal white once upon a time.”
---
He nibbled lightly over her bare shoulders, all the way to the beribboned edge of the sleeve perched on the crest. “Oh, but he will think about it. With all this creamy skin to tempt him, how could he resist?”
“I’m wearing the necklace now and it doesn’t seem to be deterring you. So, I am hardly to blame for the things he does.” She felt him smile against her skin and it caused her stomach to flip.
As if he knew this, his large hand stole around her waist and splayed across her midriff. “He cannot help himself when you taste so sweet.”
“Clearly, something ought to be done about this man and his wicked ways.”
“You think this is wicked? Oh, my dear Miss Thorogood, he hasn’t even begun.”
He chuckled, the low sound sending a shiver of gooseflesh over her skin. And as the heat of his tongue touched her, a mewl rose in her throat.
The next thing she knew, she was turned in his arms, his gaze like molten jade as his hand stole to her nape and he sealed his mouth over hers.
She yielded instantly. Blindly, she reached for him, gripping a fistful of his linen shirt.
----
This scene just grabbed my heart so much – he is fingering her, already promised not to take it further for himself that night and HE is the one wrecked by it – HIS breath is the one fracturing – ahhhh so swoony!
He kissed her again, murmuring against her lips about how wet and warm she was. Wicked things about wanting to taste her and fill her and feel the tight grip of her body over his manhood...only manhood wasn’t the word he used. The actual word was too scandalous even to think, especially when she couldn’t think at all as the tip of his finger slowly entered her.
His breath fractured, broken and hot against her cheek. She felt the collection of perspiration on the forehead pressed to her temple. Felt the hardness of him pressed to the curve of her hip.
---
He spoke with such audacious valiance that it brought a laugh to her lips. It bubbled out before she could think of holding it back, and ended with a small – albeit embarrassing – snort.
“You have the best laugh,” he said, his pupils darkening, his gaze hungry.
He caught her lips with his own and kissed her.
---
“I don’t know. I merely fell on my backside. I’m clumsy, I suppose. Just one of my many flaws.”
“Now, I know something is the matter because you have no flaws. Not a single one.”
A watery, self-depreciating laugh escaped her. “You don’t mean that. Everyone has flaws and I have more than my share.”
“Well, if you insist, then you belief that you have a flaw is your only one. You are perfect in every other regard.”
She was ready to refute that, too. But when she saw that there wasn’t a teasing smirk on his lips and no laughing glint in his eyes, she couldn’t speak at all for a moment, he look at her with tender, enduring warmth as if he believed it down to his soul. He touched her as if she were a gift, precious, cherished. And her heart was so full it was choking her.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- hero was abandoned by his mother
- hero was poisoned
- sexual assault remembered by heroine
- family abandonment and judgment
- mention of family member having dementia
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: Some of these are on the shorter/lighter side. There’s also some alluded to scenes/fading scenes.
Safe sex: I can’t recall now but I don’t believe so?
26% - kiss
34% - kisses and touches while sleeping together in bed
45% - 🔥 fingering for her
”You’ll like this, moonflower. It’s just a small surrender, really. I only want to feel you come apart in my hands.”
62% - 🔥 bath scene – fingering for her, then missionary (she loses her virginity, which she thought she lost during her prior experience), then oral for her, then missionary
A mewl of protest left her as he turned her unfulfilled body onto her back.
He stalled her argument with a kiss, his powerful form pressing down on her. “This time, I want to feel you come apart.”
70% - 🔥 mirror play and missionary (?) it’s a touch light
”I need...more,” she heard and was shocked that that whimpered entreaty had fallen from her own lips. She clung to him with something akin to desperation.
“What do you need, my sweet?”
“You,” she answered without hesitation and heard the catch in his breath as her lips peppered his chin, jaw and neck with frantic kisses.
His grip on her tightened. “Show me.”
80% - 🔥 her on top – it’s a touch light
”Easy,” he crooned against her lips as he held her face, his fingertips tracing the delicate shell of her ear, featherlight caresses along her brow, through the disheveled wisps of her hair. “Shh...We have all the time in the world.”
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 - this is generous – the last couple are on the shorter side but I still counted them
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
When mains are first on page together: Not long at all 3% in the prologue
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, ten months later
Format: listened to the audiobook from the library (Hoopla) but also have a very old and neglected e-book version from NetGalley….
Should I read in order?
It’s not tooootally necessary but I think reading at least the prior book, The Wrong Marquess, will give you some of this heroine’s background. And I adore that book so you should read it! I didn’t read book 1 of the series but did read book 2. They are all loosely connected by a group of heroines that are friends.
Basic plot:
Prue is out to steal back her inheritance and finds help in a relationship bargain with Lord Savage.
Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (?)
- Marquess/rake hero
- ruined heroine
- mistress
- Vauxhall
- bargain – hero will help the heroine steal back her inheritance if she becomes his mistress
- character focused
- mid steam – I have 4 full scenes but the last 2 are on the lighter side
Ages:
- I don’t recall them mentioned. If I had to guess I would say late 20s/early 30s for hero and early to mid 20s for heroine?
First line:
Prudence Thorogood drew the hood of her tattered mantle over her head and reached for the lion’s head door knocker.
My thoughts:
Oh I just love Vivienne Lorret. I love the time she takes on the little romantic things. I love all the little touches, and the back and forth banter and the emotional build up of her scenes. I just adored this book so much.
I was worried with it being a mistress theme I might not get into it because I find the tension can kind of dwindle for me with a ‘business transaction’ feel going on but I loved how it played out there. It even feels like more of a slow burn (the steam is definitely later in the book) but I appreciated that because it let the tension build up for me.
Leo is smitten, everyone. He is head over heels, obsessed with Prue and I ate it up! The time he takes with her. The gentleness. The playfulness. Ahhhh I was swooning left and right over him.
And Prue is just the best. I loved her as a heroine. Her strength and recovery and her journey to healing was really heart warming to me.
I just found myself loving so many lines in this one. I found it really romantic and sweet and I loved it.
Endearments
Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own
“And I never know what to do with my hands,” she added nervously.
He draped the tired garment over the back of a chair and faced her. “Then simply give them to me.”
Her brow furrowed as she looked skeptically at his waiting palms. “What do you intend to do with them?”
“Merely take you -”
“Here?” She balked. “Now?”
“- to the study,” he concluded with a slow grin. “However, if you’d prefer to put this table to better use…”
---
“Two things have become patently clear, my dear,” he continued and stepped toward her. “First of which is the fact that I’m going to have to murder my valet. And second, I’m not paying Madame LeBlanc nearly enough for her services. There,” he said, settling his coat over her shoulders in a gesture that surprised her.
She blinked in confusion. “You...you’re giving me your coat?”
“Aye. Now we can go down to dinner without inciting a riot among the footmen. I’m simply too weak from hunger to fend them off for your sake.”
---
She fit him perfectly, her body willowy but strong and supple. He couldn’t wait to take her.
But he would wait, nonetheless. At least for now.
She was quiet as he settled her against his side, blinking to keep her eyes on full alert. “I imagine these bedcurtains have seen a great deal.”
“So much wickedness. That’s why they’re black, you know. They were virginal white once upon a time.”
---
He nibbled lightly over her bare shoulders, all the way to the beribboned edge of the sleeve perched on the crest. “Oh, but he will think about it. With all this creamy skin to tempt him, how could he resist?”
“I’m wearing the necklace now and it doesn’t seem to be deterring you. So, I am hardly to blame for the things he does.” She felt him smile against her skin and it caused her stomach to flip.
As if he knew this, his large hand stole around her waist and splayed across her midriff. “He cannot help himself when you taste so sweet.”
“Clearly, something ought to be done about this man and his wicked ways.”
“You think this is wicked? Oh, my dear Miss Thorogood, he hasn’t even begun.”
He chuckled, the low sound sending a shiver of gooseflesh over her skin. And as the heat of his tongue touched her, a mewl rose in her throat.
The next thing she knew, she was turned in his arms, his gaze like molten jade as his hand stole to her nape and he sealed his mouth over hers.
She yielded instantly. Blindly, she reached for him, gripping a fistful of his linen shirt.
----
This scene just grabbed my heart so much – he is fingering her, already promised not to take it further for himself that night and HE is the one wrecked by it – HIS breath is the one fracturing – ahhhh so swoony!
He kissed her again, murmuring against her lips about how wet and warm she was. Wicked things about wanting to taste her and fill her and feel the tight grip of her body over his manhood...only manhood wasn’t the word he used. The actual word was too scandalous even to think, especially when she couldn’t think at all as the tip of his finger slowly entered her.
His breath fractured, broken and hot against her cheek. She felt the collection of perspiration on the forehead pressed to her temple. Felt the hardness of him pressed to the curve of her hip.
---
He spoke with such audacious valiance that it brought a laugh to her lips. It bubbled out before she could think of holding it back, and ended with a small – albeit embarrassing – snort.
“You have the best laugh,” he said, his pupils darkening, his gaze hungry.
He caught her lips with his own and kissed her.
---
“I don’t know. I merely fell on my backside. I’m clumsy, I suppose. Just one of my many flaws.”
“Now, I know something is the matter because you have no flaws. Not a single one.”
A watery, self-depreciating laugh escaped her. “You don’t mean that. Everyone has flaws and I have more than my share.”
“Well, if you insist, then you belief that you have a flaw is your only one. You are perfect in every other regard.”
She was ready to refute that, too. But when she saw that there wasn’t a teasing smirk on his lips and no laughing glint in his eyes, she couldn’t speak at all for a moment, he look at her with tender, enduring warmth as if he believed it down to his soul. He touched her as if she were a gift, precious, cherished. And her heart was so full it was choking her.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- hero was abandoned by his mother
- hero was poisoned
- sexual assault remembered by heroine
- family abandonment and judgment
- mention of family member having dementia
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: Some of these are on the shorter/lighter side. There’s also some alluded to scenes/fading scenes.
Safe sex:
26% - kiss
34% - kisses and touches while sleeping together in bed
45% - 🔥 fingering for her
”You’ll like this, moonflower. It’s just a small surrender, really. I only want to feel you come apart in my hands.”
62% - 🔥 bath scene – fingering for her, then missionary (she loses her virginity, which she thought she lost during her prior experience), then oral for her, then missionary
A mewl of protest left her as he turned her unfulfilled body onto her back.
He stalled her argument with a kiss, his powerful form pressing down on her. “This time, I want to feel you come apart.”
70% - 🔥 mirror play and missionary (?) it’s a touch light
”I need...more,” she heard and was shocked that that whimpered entreaty had fallen from her own lips. She clung to him with something akin to desperation.
“What do you need, my sweet?”
“You,” she answered without hesitation and heard the catch in his breath as her lips peppered his chin, jaw and neck with frantic kisses.
His grip on her tightened. “Show me.”
80% - 🔥 her on top – it’s a touch light
”Easy,” he crooned against her lips as he held her face, his fingertips tracing the delicate shell of her ear, featherlight caresses along her brow, through the disheveled wisps of her hair. “Shh...We have all the time in the world.”