Notorious Pleasures (Maiden Lane #2) by Elizabeth Hoyt
3.5 Stars!!!
Okay, I didn't like this as much as I liked Wicked Intentions , but this was still a fun entry in this series!
Hero was interesting although I did get a little frustrated at her constant need to hide. While I kind of understand maybe where she was coming from, she spent far too long placing herself in the "dutiful lady" category and there were several times where she'd start to consider doing something else and then something would happen (Thomas would say hi, Maximus would give an order, etc) and suddenly she'd be back to doing what was expected of her. While I sort of get that she still wanted to go forward with the wedding because Maximus was sort of threatening Griffin, the fact that he was planning on arresting him anyway and the fact that Hero apparently didn't think it was important to tell Griffin was frustrating. I did like the fact that she wanted to help out the home and I'm interested to see how the friendship she's developing with Silence grows over the next books.
Griffin was decent. I did think it was interesting how much he was willing to just lean into everyone's perceptions because why not? The way they built up the Anne thing, I knew there was more too it, but I also can't say I'm surprised that Griffin was innocent and Thomas was just an idiot. I do wish we'd gotten a little more on that though; clearly Anne aggravated things, but it just felt like that situation needed more. The end was interesting and a decent way for Griffin to make his choice/stand. Weird a situation as it was, I did laugh at Maximus' comment about whether or not that was Griffin's still and Griffin's "well I have no idea what you're talking about, but if there was a still over there, it's probably in pieces now". The fact that he took Nick's idea to heart was pretty sweet.
Thomas frustrated me. He was a pompous windbag and the highest of hypocrites. The fact that he'd been sleeping with Lavinia isn't a problem, but the way he thought about her after was frustrating, even if it was just jealousy. And the fact that he acted the way he did when Hero revealed things dropped my opinion of him into the mud. Of course, the fact that Maximus was also willing to go after Griffin for things and just decided to tell Hero to go through with the wedding...(I mean, I kind of understand why he'd try to go after Griffin, but the fact that Thomas would have basically gotten a "reward" (ie: The marriage going through while Maximus tried to negate any scandal) made me want to smack people.
The reveal on Phoebe's issues is sad. I am curious about her book, especially with the comment she made about wanting to dance with someone not a relative just once. Plus her thoughts on romance/marriage in general seems like it could lead to some interesting situations!
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Format: Paperback borrowed from the library