Lord of Pleasure (Rogues to Riches, #2)

by Erica Ridley

[Lindsey Gray]

When all you do is walk into a room to have all eyes on you is more of a curse than a blessing for Lord Wainwright. His etherial visage and wealthy Earldom have ladies simpering whenever he is near. For a decade, he’d taken lovers and played the role of a rake. Now he sees his life in a very different light. He wants to be respected and have his opinions matter for the sake of the House of Lords. As is, he is idle fodder for the scandal sheets.

A voice of an angel and the heart to match, Miss Camellia Grenville is stuck in the role of wallflower older sister. Her two younger sisters are vibrant and vocal, causing Camellia to be the sensible one. So sensible, her parents agree to marry her off to a man twice her age. With only one month until the marriage contracts are to be signed, Camellia decides to be daring and take her sister’s invitation to a masquerade.

Behind a black mask, Wainwright saves the beautiful woman in blue, Camellia. This meeting sparks a relationship neither expected, but needed desperately. The two have four chances to meet anonymously at the weekly masquerades before the contracts will be signed. Camellia finds an instant connection and agrees to meetings with the stranger.

Ridley gives us another romantic adventure with this second novel in the Rogues to Riches series. While in the first novel, riches amounted to money and love, here it means fulfilled dreams and romance. I adored Camellia’s brimming fire that broke through with the threat of a loveless marriage hanging over her head. Ridley gives us another strong willed heroine who discovers who she really is when it is almost too late to discover it. Wainwright was more complex than I ascertained in the beginning. He seemed like another man who loved women, money, and drinking. Then Ridley slowly peeled away the layers to find a man who wants to be himself, yet can only do so while wearing a physical mask.

Another 5 Star read from Erica Ridley! Can’t wait to read the story of Camellia’s younger sister, Dahlia, and the dashing Bow Street runner, Simon Spaulding, in Lord of Night.

Also in this series: Lord of Chance (Rogues to Riches, #1)

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.