THE ART OF SINNING is book one in Sabrina Jeffries' new
Sinful Suitors series. Two men, Mr. Jeremy Keane
and Edwin
Barlow, the Earl of Blakeborough, decide to start a club
for gentlemen looking out for their sisters, in order to
protect them from bad suitors. Book one deals with
Jeremy,
who falls in love with Edwin's sister. No word yet, but
I'm expecting book two will detail Edwin's fall into love
with another woman who we meet in Art of Sinning. The two
men have plans to invite other men to join their club, so
I
foresee a bevy of possible books in this series to
entertain us.
Lady Yvette is Edwin's sister. Somewhat of an independent
thinker, Yvette is somewhat of an odd bluestocking,
helping
add to one gentleman's slang lexicon and also second's
boxing term lexicon. She has been disappointed by her
absent father and her ne'er-do-well of a brother Samuel.
Yvette was also cruelly used by Samuel's friend from the
navy, Lieutenant Ruston, another scoundrel. Yvette
therefore has a well-ingrained distrust of men. Yvette
will resonate well with modern readers, being an
independent and intelligent woman who does not see the
need
for a man to make her happy.
Mr. Jeremy Keane is an American artist and rumored
rakehell. Half owner of many textile mills with his
sister
Amanda, he has fled his responsibilities in America to try
to escape the memories of his dead wife and child. Jeremy
has broken with his classical training and now exhibits
paintings of gritty true life such as lunatic asylums and
prostitutes. Jeremy spots Yvette across the room at a
wedding and is desperate to use her as his model for his
new allegorical painting that he intends will gain him a
place in London's Royal Academy of Arts. I love Jeremy,
he's a curmudgeonly sort of good guy. He tries to be
honorable, but when he falls for Yvette, he falls hard.
Jeremy and Edwin come up with trade whereupon Jeremy will
paint a respectable portrait of Edwin's sister Yvette to
help her marital chances, in exchange for Edwin finding an
aristocratic second son who is willing to wed Jeremy's
sister Amanda and move overseas to help Amanda manage the
textile mills. This will free Jeremy from having to
return
to America, allowing him to feel virtuous that his sister
is happily married and doesn't need his brotherly help any
more. The men are so charming about it that one can't
quite get mad at them for their plans. Yvette agrees that
she will also secretly model for Jeremy's allegorical
painting if he helps her get inside a Covent Garden
brothel
for her own sororal purposes.
The pair's slow slide into love is charmingly done, and
the
dialogue is sprightly and beautifully alive. The
characters are well rounded, and their motivations fully
believable. I love Jeffries' humor and the depth of
emotion she brings to her characters. THE ART OF SINNING
is an endearing beginning to a new series, and showcases
Jeffries' talents in making the reader swoon in delight.
The first novel in the Sinful Suitors series by New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries! At St. George’s Club, guardians conspire to keep their unattached sisters and wards out of the clutches of sinful suitors. Which works fine…except when the sinful suitors are members! American artist Jeremy Keane refuses to return home and take over his father’s business. He’d much rather sample bevvies of beauties abroad, in search of a model for the provocative masterpiece he’s driven to paint. When he meets Lady Yvette Barlow at a London wedding, he realizes she’s perfect for his work—and determines to capture the young heiress’s defiant spirit and breathtaking sensuality on canvas. No stranger to scandal, Yvette agrees to be Keane’s subject—in exchange for his help gaining entry to the city’s brothels he knows intimately, so she can track a missing woman and solve a family mystery. But when their practical partnership leads to lessons in the art of sinning, can they find a bold and lasting love?
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