SWEETEST SCOUNDREL by Elizabeth Hoyt (November 24, 2015;              Grand Central Publishing Mass Market; Maiden Lane Series)

SHE’S TAKING CHARGE
Prim, proper, and thrifty, Eve Dinwoody is all business when it comes to protecting her brother’s investment. But when she agrees to control the purse strings of London’s premier pleasure garden, Harte’s Folly, she finds herself butting heads with an infuriating scoundrel who can’t be controlled.

HE’S RUNNING THE SHOW
Bawdy and bold, Asa Makepeace doesn’t have time for a penny-pinching prude like Eve. As the garden’s larger-than-life owner, he’s already dealing with self-centered sopranos and temperamental tenors. He’s not about to let an aristocratic woman boss him around . . . no matter how enticing she is.

BUT LOVE CONQUERS ALL
In spite of her lack of theatrical experience-and her fiery clashes with Asa-Eve is determined to turn Harte’s Folly into a smashing success. But the harder she tries to manage the stubborn rake, the harder it is to ignore his seductive charm and raw magnetism. There’s no denying the smoldering fire between them-and trying to put it out would be the greatest folly of all . . .

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About the author:

Elizabeth Hoyt is the New York Times bestselling author of over seventeen lush historical romances including the Maiden Lane series. Publishers Weekly has called her writing “mesmerizing.” She also pens deliciously fun contemporary romances under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with three untrained dogs, a garden in constant need of weeding, and the long-suffering Mr. Hoyt.

The winters in Minnesota have been known to be long and cold and Elizabeth is always thrilled to receive reader mail. You can write to her at: P.O. Box 19495, Minneapolis, MN 55419 or email her at: Elizabeth@ElizabethHoyt.com.

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Excerpt:                                                                                                                                  “What do you see when you look at me?”

What did she see when she looked at him?

Eve inhaled, trying and failing to tear her gaze from his.

Mr. Harte sprawled across her dainty settee like a Viking marauder in a pillaged Christian church. His broad shoulders took up more than half the width, his arms lazily draped over the back. His scarlet coat was spread open, contrasting with the sedate gray-

blue of the cushions almost shockingly. One long leg was thrust straight before him, the other cocked open and resting on a booted heel. The pose made the apex of his thighs very . . . obvious . . . and even as she kept her eyes locked on his she could feel heat rising in her cheeks.

What did she see?

She saw violence and anger, kept under a control that was tenuous at best. She saw power and a strength that could hurt her—kill her—if he so chose. She saw the innate brutality that was, in larger or smaller part, in all men.

She saw her most terrible fears.

But—and this was the truly unprecedented part—she saw more in him. She saw temptation—her temptation—alluring and frightening at the same time, his virility so strong it was nearly a visible miasma in the space between them.

She wanted him. Wanted that brash gaze, those long, muscled thighs, that mocking, insulting mouth, and the shoulders that went on forever, big and brawny and so

very, very male.

This was madness—she knew that intellectually. She’d never wanted a man before—was in fact afraid of almost all men, let alone one so obviously, blatantly sexual.

She took a breath, hoping that he couldn’t read all this from her gaze—and knowing it was a lost cause already.

His heavy-lidded green eyes were far, far too perceptive.

“I see . . .” She paused to lick suddenly dry lips. “I see that your hairline is nearly a perfect arc across the expanse of your forehead. That your eyebrows tilt ever so slightly up at the ends and that the right has a scar through it. I see that when you are solemn, the outer edges of your lips reach just to the midpoint of your eyes, but when you smile, they go beyond the corners. I see that your chin and jaw are almost in classical proportion and that a small white scar forms a comma on your chin just to the right of center.” She finally glanced away from him, breathing heavily, certain that she’d not thrown him off the track with her artist’s eye’s impressions. She inhaled again and ended, “I see every line of your face, every line’s intersection and how they relate. That is what I see when I look at you.”

“And is that all you see? Lines?” His voice was deep and amused.

She chanced a peek.

He still watched her, his gaze utterly unperturbed by her observations about his countenance.

No, she’d not fooled him at all.

She licked her lips again, buying time. “I see,” she said carefully, cautiously, “a very self-possessed man.”

“Self-possessed,” he drawled. “I’m not sure what that means, frankly. It sounds, just a bit, like a coward’s answer.”

Her gaze flew to his, outraged.

But before she could take him down a peg, he chuckled softly. “Tell me, Miss Dinwoody, would you like to know what I see when I look at you?”

She shouldn’t. She really, really shouldn’t.

“Yes,” she blurted, and then winced because she knew well enough what men

thought when they looked at her: ordinary, if they were charitable. Plain if they were not.

She braced herself for mockery, but when she glanced again at him, his gaze was hot and hard. Certainly not gentle. Certainly not kind. But he wasn’t dismissing her, either.

He looked at her as if they were equals. As if he really saw her, a woman to his man.

“I see,” he said, his deep voice musing, “a woman afraid, but fighting her fears. A woman who carries herself like a queen. A woman who could rule us all, I suspect.”

She gazed at him, her breath caught in her throat, afraid to exhale and break the spell.

A corner of that wicked mouth tilted up. “And I see a woman who has a deep curiosity. Who wants to feel but is worried—of herself? Of others?” He shook his head. “I’m not sure.” He leaned forward slowly, destroying his pose, and she had to fight herself not to scoot her chair away from him. “But I think she has a fire banked within her. Maybe it’s only embers now, glowing in the dark, but if tinder were to be put to those embers . . .” He grinned slowly. Dangerously. “Oh, what a conflagration that would be.”

My Review:  

Elizabeth Hoyt’s wonderful Maiden Lane series continues with the story of Asa Makepeace, who has been living under the name of Harte, while his whole focus has been on rebuilding his theatre, Harte’s Folly.  The expenses have been tremendous, and Harte has accepted financial help from the notorious and mysterious Duke of Montgomery, whose agent, E. Dunwiddy, is not overly pleased.  This agent, who is actually Eve Dunwiddy is Montgomery’s half sister, and has come to pay a call on Harte to take him to task.  Harte mistakes Eve for an aspiring actress, and is less than complimentary to her about her appearance.  Upon realizing his mistake, he knows he must make amends, as she is holding the purse strings.  So Harte asks Eve to step into his world for awhile, and she agrees.

Eve is very competent, but she also has some very heavy emotional baggage.  A horrific incident from her past has left her terrified of dogs, and unable to bear the touch of a man.  While Harte is actually a boisterous, sexual, somewhat foul mouthed man, he has enough sensitivity to see Eve’s fears, and to respect them.  The problem is, the more time he spends with Eve, the more he wants to touch her.  The woman he originally found unattractive now seems to have captivated him.  He’s determined to win her trust, no matter how long it takes.  Despite her fears, Eve is also greatly drawn to Harte, and for the first time, she feels desire.

I was amazed at Harte’s restraint and patience and kindness with Eve.  He realizes that whatever happened to her has left her badly scarred.  He’s also clever enough to read the desire in Eve’s eyes, and to take their physical relationship forward very slowly, and asks her permission for every step.  Eve finds the courage to face her nightmares and fears and to explore her burgeoning sexuality.

Before long, Eve and Harte find their emotions becoming entangled, which is an impossible situation.  Harte’s whole life is his theatre, and he has no room for any kind of permanent relationship, especially with someone not a part of his world.  We come to find that Harte has his own demons from his past, who have to be faced, and Eve helps him as surely as he helped her. This beautifully written and slow building romance is truly captivating.  It’s always a joy to see two wounded souls helping each other heal.  I adored  these characters, and loved their bumpy but lovely journey to happy ever after.  This is another winning story from Elizabeth Hoyt, and I highly recommend it.

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