Further Than Passion by Cheryl Holt

Engaging and erotic historical romance

4 stars

Despite being highborn, Kate Duncan has been practically forced to serve her aunt and spoiled cousin since she became an orphan when she was a child. While visiting London for the first time, her young charge is determined to win the delicious but notorious Marcus Pelham, Earl of Stamford and the way she intends to force his hand is by having him drink a love potion.

Determined not to let Marcus fall into her cousin’s trap, Kate drinks the potion herself and finds herself stumbling upon Marcus in the middle of a very erotic tryst. Luckily Marcus is too busy to notice her watching… or so she thinks.

Marcus is titillated by the lady watching from the shadows and subsequently smitten by the passionate woman he discovers when he seeks her out. But despite their increasingly sensual encounters, there are secrets and plots about that may just keep the pair from discovering a most unexpected love.

This was another enjoyable story from Cheryl Holt and sticks to her tried and tested style of the innocent miss, a very delicious alpha male and some uninhibited and deliciously erotic sex scenes.

The story itself does everything right – the main characters are worthy to be cheered on, the villains are devious enough to hate and get their comeuppance in the end and we have an engaging story on the way to a satisfyingly happy ending. As seems to be a regular occurrence for Cheryl Holt’s novels, this one is littered with an exasperating amount of Americanisms and modern language. While annoying, you do learn to ignore it as the story unfolds. If you’re looking for a delightfully erotic, fantasy historical romance to keep you occupied for a few hours then you should be pretty happy to choose this book. 4 stars.