Lady Catherine “Cat” Sinclair will do whatever necessary to save her family from financial ruin—including marrying the ton’s most eligible bachelor for money. Lacking the skills to seduce the rich lord, Cat seeks out a legendary rake to school her in the art of desire. But when she finally tracks down Thomas Montrose—now retired—she dismisses him as “over the hill.”
Once a rake of mythic notoriety, Thomas is happy to forget his dissolute past and tend his country estate, until, that is, his peace is disrupted by a charming and infuriatingly dismissive miss. While he may no longer seduce women, he has certainly not forgotten how to make them surrender to his charms…and he’s only too happy to prove Cat wrong. So the master seducer promises to teach her his scandalous secrets.
But Thomas never dreams his beautiful student could send him to the edge of temptation…or that witnessing her dazzle every lord who crosses her path would make him insanely jealous. Now he must act quickly—and overcome the secrets of his past—before he loses forever the woman to whom he’s already lost his heart.
Promise Me Heaven had me cracking up in the beginning. Lady Cat needs a husband. Not just any husband. A rich, but interesting husband. One that will help her family's financial situation, but also won't demand too much attention from her. Cat has her eyes on a marquis who is becoming quite the rake, so she seeks out ex-rake Thomas to teach her how catch his eye. She basically tells him that he's old and probably doesn't have it in him anymore to tutor her, but he certainly shows her.
I really liked Promise Me Heaven in the beginning. Cat is very straightforward about her goals and how she plans to attain them. She does not shy away from her lessons with Thomas, even though they are less than proper. Of course, feelings must develop from these lessons, and I loved that it was Thomas who realized them first! Of course, this also means that he must lose her at some point and have to win her back. This takes them to Paris, where they become stuck because Napoleon has escaped and is bringing an army! Much excitement! And a fun disguise on Cat's part!
Promise Me Heaven did lose me a bit toward the end though. It seemed to drag once Cat and Thomas made it back to London. I was hoping their Parisian adventure would have cemented their love, they'd be wed, and live happily ever after. Well, more happens and I just wasn't feeling it. It felt a bit repetitive and unnecessary and was resolved very quickly as it all happened at around 90% anyway.
Promise Me Heaven was a great read though. I absolutely loved the scandal premise and how Cat goes after what she wants (after much research and planning). I also thought it was cute how Cat poked fun at Thomas being older and bulkier than is fashionable. Normally, the heroine is swoony and intimated by the hero, so that was a nice change.
