Brazen And The Beast (Bareknuckle Bastards, #2)

by Sarah MacLean

[EBookObsessed]

Author Sarah MacLean was part of the podcast discussion at the recent RWA and they were discussing her most recent novel Brazen and the Beast. It sounded very interesting but I was too late for a review copy since it had just published. So I told myself that I had to wait for it go to on sale and then I would pick it up since I have so many books already. That lasted for about two hours and then I was online purchasing a copy. I then told myself that I needed to knock off a few review books before I read this one. That lasted until the next day when I was between books and somehow I selected Brazen and the Beast. Apparently I had no control over myself.

Brazen in this story is Lady Henrietta Sedley. Hattie is turning 29 and she is tired of everyone deciding her life for her. So she has decided that 29 was going to be the Year of Hattie. She was going to convince her father to give her the family’s shipping business since her brother was an idiot with no idea how to run the business. She would make her fortune, buy herself her own home and finally convince her father to give up any ideas of marriage. Hattie knows that at 29 she is well and truly “on the shelf” but she was also aware that even before her age became a factor, no man wanted a tall, pudgy wife with a better head for business than he does and one who isn’t going to sit back and be quiet about it.

So the first thing on Hattie’s list of things to do is ruination. Hattie has found out about a brothel which caters to female clients. She has made an appointment to lose her virginity. Once she is ruined, she can begin the Year of Hattie and move on with her life as powerful spinster.

But apparently before she can get to her appointment at the brothel, she has to do something about the man tied up in her carriage. Hattie can tell by the very badly tied knots that her brother had something to do with the man in her carriage, but since the man is not dead, it shouldn’t be wrong to ogle him just a little. He is truly handsome and once he wakes up, quite pissed off. Except pissed off or not, she still needs to get him out of her carriage…Year of Hattie and all that.

So Hattie unties him and gives him a push out the door (well, they were slowing for a turn for goodness sake), but not before she gives in to a little indulgence and gives him a kiss.

But Hattie should have put more consideration into who might be tied up in her carriage and why. Savior “Whit” Whittington is known as the Beast of Covenant Gardens for good reason. He is one of the Bareknucked Bastards and has no problem using his network to track Hattie’s carriage to take the place of her escort at the brothel. Beast wants the name of who put him in the carriage and stole his shipment of goods and Hattie wants a night of passion. Hattie won’t turn over her brother to the Bastards, even if he is an idiot, but she is willing to reimburse the Beast for his losses and if they can come to an arrangement to get rid of her virginity, all the better.

Whit’s father was a bastard, making him and his brother’s battle for his title. Anything Whit loved was used against him. He only, ever wanted to protect his brothers and his mother from his evil father. When danger comes for Hattie, he will do anything to protect her but he refuses to love her.

I liked how strong Hattie is. Part of that is because as a large girl, she was overlooked by most of the eligible bachelors and she has long since given up on any dreams of a husband and children of her own so she focused on her brains and her love for the ships that her father would let them play on as children. I also like that when she finally has a chance at that dream with Whit, she turns him down because he won’t say that he loves her (we know he does by his action and his thoughts). She could simply grab at the life with the man she loves but she decides that she deserves it all.

This is the second book of the series and we do get glimpses of what happened with Whit, his brothers. a sister, and his father but I don’t think the first book had the whole story of their youth. I think a big part of the final story will be exactly what happened between them all (just my guess). I believe this next story will feature the brother who won the Duke’s title and the sister (not a blood sister) who he fell in love with.

I liked the characters and will be on the look out for the next book.

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