Unwrapping a Review of BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION, a Pleasure Wars novel by Jess Michaels

Already a huge fan of Jess Michaels, it wasn’t difficult to fall in love with the characters she conjured for the Pleasure Wars series. After we got Liam and Violet’s story in BEAUTY AND THE EARL, I thought the series was at an end but no, we’re gifted with the story from Olivia and Malcom’s side in BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION. So very worthwhile and besides, it keeps this amazing series going just a little longer.

***eARC provided by author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review

Blurb for BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION:

Can true love begin with a lie?

It has been a particularly trying day for Olivia Cranfield. Despite her impeccable manners, stylish clothing and posh accent, another protector has detected her lowborn status and rejected her out of hand.

When fellow courtesan Violet invites her to come to Bath to help with the wicked seduction of the scarred, reclusive Earl of Windbury, Olivia jumps at the offer, eager for some excitement and a change of scenery.

The moment Malcolm Graham lays eyes on the delectable woman lurking in the bathhouse alley, he knows she’s a decoy to keep him busy while her friend seduces the earl inside. For a moment, he allows her to play her game…but one touch, and all he can think about is ending the two years of self-denial he’s endured in the name of friendship.

Instant attraction quickly turns into a decidedly erotic affair that makes Olivia question all she’s ever known about passion. But when the truth behind Violet’s assignment comes to light, betrayal threatens to bring everything they’ve built crashing down around Olivia’s broken heart.

Warning: This book contains a lady lying for a good cause, a gentleman as loyal to his friends as he is passionate in the bedchamber, and a steamy affair that will change them both forever.

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Olivia Cranfield accompanies her best friend to Bath when Violet accepts the assignment of getting close to and seducing the Earl of Windbury. Wanting to help in any way possible, Olivia agrees to act as a distraction when Violet needs to get past the large man watching the entrance to the private bath where the Earl is trying to relax undisturbed. Disturbing the Earl is the last thing in Violet’s mind but without Olivia’s assistance, she’ll surely not gain entrance.

Malcolm Graham isn’t a fool and he’s fully aware that while the lovely and desirable Olivia is distracting him, her eager friend is inside the baths entertaining his old friend who had become entirely too curmudgeonly lately and would surely benefit from the delights the beauty might bestow on him. Meanwhile, his own attentions are fully held by the lovely woman he’d like very much to get to know better.

When Olivia accompanies Violet to stay at the Earl’s estate, Malcolm and Olivia get to know each other much better. There attraction to each other is fast, thrilling, and very passionate. Both begin to wonder if there is something more to life than the path each has accepted as their place in life. Each begins to question whether two people from such different worlds can come together and build a life together. But when the truth comes out as to the reason for Violet being with the Earl and the part Olivia played in the deception, everything falls apart leaving broken hearts in the wake.

Jess Michaels writes such amazing characters they easily become like old friends to us by the end of her series making it that much harder to say good-bye but in giving us Olivia and Malcolm’s story, even though it’s simply the same story from another side, we get the full story of the amazing cast of the Pleasure Wars series.

BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION, book four in the Pleasure Wars series by Jess Michaels is as endearing, enlightening, and passionate as its predecessor, BEAUTY AND THE EARL, but this one has our hero and heroine battling their individual loyalties to dear friends when telling the truth threatens to destroy a blossoming love. Jess always manages to pull at our heartstrings with such finesse that we forgive her in the end when everyone gets their happily-ever-after.

I highly recommend BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION by Jess Michaels to anyone who loves a well-written, heartwarming, romance filled with mischief, passion, and containing enough angst to keep us on the edge worrying if there will truly be an HEA for Olivia and Malcolm. If you haven’t read this amazing Pleasure Wars series, I truly recommend that you do and start at the beginning with TAKEN BY THE DUKE, you’ll be hooked and reading straight through until you gain your closure as I did with BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION.

Happy Reading Everyone!

BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTION, a Pleasure Wars novel by Jess Michaels, Samhain Publishing, available now in ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.

***click on the links above or cover below for purchasing information

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Unwrapping a Review of BEAUTY AND THE EARL, a Pleasure Wars novel by Jess Michaels

I’m a huge fan of Jess Michael’s erotic historical romances and so when she asked if I’d like to read and review her brand new release, BEAUTY AND THE EARL, I jumped at it. Originally, I thought this was the finale of the Pleasure Wars series but today, she told me that there’s one more coming and I am so glad because I really don’t want to see this series end yet.

***eARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

Blurb for BEAUTY AND THE EARL:

Desire as essential as breath…deception as fragile as sanity.

The Pleasure Wars, Book 3

Liam, the Earl of Windbury, had everything when he held his secret lover in his arms. Until a feud between their families left her dead, his body broken, and his sister married to his bitterest enemy.

Wracked with guilt, simmering with rage, he’s spent a year in seclusion, seeing no one except a few servants as he does his best to forget the past and patently refuses to think about any kind of future.

When courtesan Violet Milford enters Liam’s lair, she’s on a secret mission to gather information for Liam’s desperate sister, who fears for his sanity, even his life. What she finds is a man scarred inside and out, whose dark, controlling sensuality hides the kind, wounded man within.

Violet awakens a sexual desire more powerful than Liam has ever known, and her stories weave a spell that begins to work its way past his defenses. But when the truth inevitably comes out, it could well destroy the love that is saving them both.

Warning: This book features a sexually experienced woman who will use every trick in her book to save a man from himself.

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

If you’ve read the Pleasure War series then you are acquainted with Liam, the Earl of Windbury, who lost his beloved, Matilda, sister of the Duke of Rathcastle who kidnapped Liam’s sister, Ava, as an act of revenge for the death of his sister as told in TAKEN BY THE DUKE. Liam is a tortured hero of the highest magnitude. The loss of his true love, Matilda, and the scars he carries from that dark night when he and Christian Rothcastle suffered devastating injuries fighting over the woman they both loved has left him with the darkest of moods and an unwillingness to forgive. He split from his own sister, Ava, after she fell in love and married his most bitter enemy. Nothing will make him return to London or accept his sister’s marriage, or so he thought.

Violet Milford is on a mission to learn everything she can about Liam for his sister who worries still that the tragic loss of Matilda has left her brother’s heart cold, dark, and filled with hate even for her. As a courtesan, Violet has learned to get men to talk about themselves and so she sets out to use her talents, both in and out of bed, to gain Liam’s trust and access to what keeps him so dark and withdrawn, all the while reporting back to Ava. Her goal is to earn the funds she needs to embark on a new life but once she starts opening up to Liam to gain his trust, she finds herself giving away more than just a few secrets. Soon, she realizes too late that she's lost her heart to him as well.

BEAUTY AND THE EARL by Jess Michaels is a story about how opening the heart to someone who cares, who listens, and who calls upon emotions that were thought long buried can bring a person back to life and to believe in love once more. Steamy as only Jess can write it, Violet and Liam take desire to new levels but you can feel the affection beginning to grow between them, and so it becomes an exquisite love story. In addition, we are treated to secondary characters that keep the story lively and real. Malcom and Olivia are adorable together and I can’t wait to read their story next.

I highly recommend BEAUTY AND THE EARL, book three in the Pleasure Wars series by Jess Michaels to anyone who loves a truly well written love story about looking past the dark to see the brightness that love and the future can hold. I wish it happened in real life.

Happy Reading Everyone!

BEAUTY AND THE EARL, a Pleasure Wars novel by Jess Michaels, Samhain Publishing, available now in ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.

***click on links or cover below for purchasing information

   

Cover Reveal for BEAUTY AND THE EARL, a Pleasure Wars Novel by Jess Michaels

BEAUTY AND THE EARL

a Pleasure Wars Novel

by
Jess Michaels

coming April 15, 2014

Blurb for BEAUTY AND THE EARL:

Desire as essential as breath…deception as fragile as sanity.

The Pleasure Wars, Book 3

Liam, the Earl of Windbury, had everything when he held his secret lover in his arms. Until a feud between their families left her dead, his body broken, and his sister married to his bitterest enemy.

Wracked with guilt, simmering with rage, he’s spent a year in seclusion, seeing no one except a few servants as he does his best to forget the past and patently refuses to think about any kind of future.

When courtesan Violet Milford enters Liam’s lair, she’s on a secret mission to gather information for Liam’s desperate sister, who fears for his sanity, even his life. What she finds is a man scarred inside and out, whose dark, controlling sensuality hides the kind, wounded man within.

Violet awakens a sexual desire more powerful than Liam has ever known, and her stories weave a spell that begins to work its way past his defenses. But when the truth inevitably comes out, it could well destroy the love that is saving them both.

Warning: This book features a sexually experienced woman who will use every trick in her book to save a man from himself. 

About the Author:

Jess Michaels began writing full-time in 1999 after being encouraged by her husband to follow her dream. In 2003, she sold her first novella to Red Sage Press, an erotic historical romance about an Egyptian tomb and a very sexy curse. Since then she has published (or has contracted to publish by the end of 2013) 37 novels and novellas under three different pen names with several major publishers, small presses and via self-publishing. Her erotic historical romances have been national bestsellers and won awards from booksellers and readers.

In 2011, she and her husband moved to Tucson, AZ. There she enjoys hiking in the beautiful desert, spending time with her nephews, designing jewelry, reading and spending time with her awesome husband and cats.

To learn more about Jess Michaels and her books, feel free to visit her website, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and at Goodreads.

BEAUTY AND THE EARL, a Pleasures War Novel by Jess Michaels, Samhain Publishing, available for pre-order at Amazon now.