Deeper Than Desire by Cheryl Holt

Uncomplicated but slow-paced romance

3 stars

Lady Olivia Hopkins is the last hope for her financially stricken family and she must marry in order to keep a roof above their heads. Their choice for her is the esteemed, but significantly older Earl of Salisbury. But their plans go a little awry when Olivia stumbles across an erotic book within the Earl’s library, and even more awry when the Earl’s devilishly handsome son stumbles across her reading through it.

Philip Paxton is delighted by his good fortune and takes full advantage of the situation and Olivia’s obvious titillation over the book. Very quickly, their shared passion turns into an electrifying affair, yet neither expect the emotions that their encounters evoke. But soon there are plenty of problems that tear the pair apart and they have to decide whether what they have is worth fighting for.

This was another enjoyable book from Cheryl Holt but, in my opinion, really not her best effort. The storyline was fairly slow and meandering, filled with lots of supporting characters and storylines. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I did feel that it made the story drag a little bit in places and at times we hadn’t heard from the two main characters for a few chapters or more.

Of the main players, Philip was a fine character and strong and manly without perhaps being as alpha as many of Cheryl Holt’s previous heroes have been. Olivia was a sympathetic heroine and one that I did find myself liking and rooting for but I really would have liked her to have a little bit more conviction and go after what she wanted a little more. Their chemistry together worked well although I would have enjoyed seeing a little more interaction between the pair. The secondary characters were also well written and I did enjoy their storylines and love stories almost as much as the main couple.

As with all the of the Cheryl Holt books I’ve read, this particular novel is littered with modern Americanisms which do tend to irritate after a while so if you want your Regency set books true to the period then this might be one to pass up!

Despite my criticisms, this was an uncomplicated, slow-paced erotic romance that I would still recommend to fans of Cheryl Holt. It’s perhaps not one to keep but it’s in no way offensive and it certainly passes a few hours. 3 stars.