To Please a Lady by Lori Brighton

Hey everyone,

The book:

Eleanor wanted a night of passion. James just wanted to survive. Instead, they found an unexpected and forbidden love that threatens all they hold dear.

With her stunning beauty and impeccable reputation, Lady Eleanor Beckett is a society darling to emulate, respected by everyone in the ton. But Eleanor’s seemingly perfect life is marred by a dark secret. Determined to know happiness and passion just once, she travels in disguise to a place she’s heard whispers about for years: the infamous Lavender Hills Estate, a brothel that caters to women. There, she meets the surprisingly kind, strikingly handsome, and completely inappropriate James McKinnon, a man who may be just what she needs to melt the ice surrounding her broken heart.

Despite their stations, Eleanor and James can’t extinguish the passion they’ve ignited. Will they be able to break through the confines of London society, or will their forbidden love and complicated pasts destroy everything they care about—including each other?

My Thoughts:

I feel like the book gods and goddesses (no sexism here thank you very much) have been blessing me lately as I’ve been on a roll of amazing books from a range of romance sub-genres and To Please a Lady was no exception! This is the third book in Lori Brighton’s Seduction trilogy and reintroduces the reader to the world of Lavender Hills, a brothel that caterers the wealthy women of the Ton. Although our hero is a male prostitute this is not an erotic historical romance, but instead a beautiful love story about two damaged people. Neither have perfect lives and both are scarred by their pasts. Lori Brighton did a great job of making me care about Eleanor and James, both individually and as a couple. This is a story about escaping your past, about the healing power of love and being able to embrace your future.

“You should be cherished,” he said gruffly

She was silent for a moment. “At one time I thought I would be”.

Although I really liked Eleanor, as she was a pretty awesome heroine, for me this story was all about James. In the first two books in Lori Brighton’s Seduction series he was the odd one out in the trio of boys brought to Lavender Hills, he didn’t resent Lady Lavender or his job as a male prostitute. In fact he was grateful to her, even defended her against Alex and Gideon’s accusations, he was even content with his job. Yet when he meets Eleanor the whispers of doubts begin, he starts to question Lady Lavender’s motives and her supposed friendship. Watching his transformation from someone content with their lot in life, believing they are lucky to even have a job, to someone who can picture having a future outside the walls of Lavender Hills is what made this book so special.

“And Ellie... She was merely a fantastical dream that could never be fulfilled”

I wouldn’t describe either James or To Please a Lady as angst ridden but this is a slightly darker historical romance. This isn’t a world of flowers and unicorns and during the cause of the book James reaches rock bottom. Everything he believed is taken away from him and the one thing he wants appears to be out of his reach. Lori Brighton, as usual pushes her characters to the edge, before offering them their happily ever after. For me this was perfect, as although I like humorous, light-hearted romances, I love slightly gritty, darker romances. Being the third in a trilogy all of the over arcing story lines are dealt with, in particular the original connection between Alex, Gideon, James and Lady Lavender. For this reason I’m not sure if this book could be read as a stand alone, however, its hard to judge when I have read the previous two novels. What I can say is that this is an amazing trilogy and I’ve loved all the books in Lori Brighton’s Seduction series. All the character of rich, realistic and fully realised, even the villains are given vulnerabilities and weaknesses that make them human rather than stereotypes.

As you can probably tell I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a slightly dark historical romance.

My rating:

Happy reading everyone and see you next time!