Promise of Pleasure by Cheryl Holt

Entertaining and satisfying Regency romance

4 Stars

Mary Barnes has had enough of being unwanted and unloved by her cruel stepmother and half sisters. All she wants to do is escape her life and find love and happiness. So when a mysterious peddler offers her a magic elixir to make the man of her dreams fall in love with her, she jumps at the chance.

Jordan Winthrop, the heir to the Earl of Sunderland, is debauched, bankrupt and handsome to boot. When he comes to Barnes Manor to marry Mary’s half sister, he finds himself instead lusting after Mary. But is it real or is it the potion? And what will Jordan do when he realises he must make a choice between money and the woman he’s beginning to think he might never want to let go?

You can always count on Cheryl Holt to deliver a satisfying read. This novel sticks to her tried and true theme of impoverished/put upon lady who gets tangled up with a cynical, jaded lord leading to love but not before seemingly insurmountable obstacles are dealt with.

I felt that this novel had more emotion and angst than is usual for Holt but that’s not a bad thing at all. Jordan was your typical dissolute, cynical scoundrel but his panic and confusion at finding himself falling in love were a delight to read. Mary was also a well-drawn out character although I would have liked to see more of her feelings rather than just let us believe she had all of a sudden fallen in love. The other characters were horrible and lovely as required yet none of them felt stereotypical, each adding something to the story.

As this is billed as an erotic love story there’s a fair amount of steamy sex but even then, I didn’t find it as hot as Holt’s previous books.

We also have a secondary love story which I liked very much and, as another reviewer stated, didn’t overshadow the main story at all.

There are a fair amount of Americanisms in the text and at times the characters speak in too modern a manner to be truly indicative of the Regency times. But if you’re looking for some escapism and want a fun, entertaining read then I would definitely recommend this book to you. 4 stars.

(This book is the first in the Spinster’s Cure trilogy that includes Taste of Temptation and Dreams of Desire.)