Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Review: Tis the Season To Be Sinful by Adrienne Basso

The Season For Surprises. . .

Juliet Wentworth knew what she was getting into: a marriage of convenience that will save her estate and protect her family long into the future. But she wasn't expecting to find the passion of a lifetime in her new husband's arms. After just one night, Juliet knows a marriage in name only will never be enough. . .

The Season For Seduction. . .

Richard Harper's beautiful new bride has him reeling with desire--and running for cover. After all, falling in love was never part of the bargain. Yet when Christmastime celebrations bring him back to their country manor and back into Juliet's arms, Richard finds his wife is determined--and all too able--to win over his heart, one kiss at a time. . .
Tis The Season To Be Sinful by Adrienne Basso is a sweet, heartwarming, family Christmas historical romance that also happens to be quite sexy! Now, I have to admit that the sexy part of it was a bit unexpected and maybe it shouldn't have been, especially with that title, but I think what really threw me about this book for a while is that all those factors are combined and work quite well.

Ms. Basso uses the marriage of convenience trope to develop the romance between the beautiful widowed Juliet and Richard, a lonely American industrialist working in London. Richard wants to purchase an English estate and needs a society wife to serve as a hostess, but hopes she will also assuage his lonely nights. Juliet as a widow with three children and a controlling brother-in-law who holds the purse strings finds herself in dire circumstances. She needs income from her son's inherited estate and decides to sell it to Richard, however her brother-in-law will not allow it. He needs a wife for business purposes, she needs a husband to ensure a better future for her children. However, although it is clear that these two people make the decision to marry each other for convenience's sake, they are adults and passion also becomes a strong factor in their decision.

This is true for both Richard and Juliet and they are both upfront and quite open about their strong attraction for each other from the beginning making this a refreshingly adult situation. There is no coyness in Juliet's part, on the contrary she's a highly sensual woman and Richard wants her more every day. It takes a while for their actual relationship to take off though and the romance develops slowly. If or when misunderstandings do crop up this couple deals with them by talking and working out the issues one at a time, even as they disagree. Richard's past is explored this way as intimacy takes the place of sex between them. Julia is the first to recognize the change in their relationship, and Richard is the one who fights it. Fortunately she's relentless in her understanding and in the loving way she handles the situations.

The Christmas holidays are grandly represented in this story. As I was reading all the beautiful scenes describing a traditional English Christmas in the countryside, I was reminded of Mary Balogh's holiday stories and well... I love those! These scenes convey the heartwarming traditional holiday season atmosphere and tell the story of a loving family in the making. The secondary characters blend in with this story to help it along with the children, especially the two boys, making a real impact.

So, surprise, surprise, so far Tis The Season To Be Sinful is my favorite holiday read this year. It has everything from a really sexy couple that steam up the sheets, to three wonderful children who add to the story with pranks that provide some really fun moments as well as some emotional ones, and a wonderful representation of the holiday season.

Category: Historical Romance - Holiday
Series: None
Publisher: Zebra/October 1, 2011
Source: Kensington Publishing
Grade: B+

Visit Adrienne Basso here.

8 comments:

  1. This sounds lovely. I must go look for it!

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  2. This is the second good review I read about this book and by people that are usually tough and have similar tastes to me :) I'm definitively going to check this one out!

    Aren't these surprises great? :) Plus, seems like I'm in the mood for some holiday reading :)

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  3. Hello Hilcia, how are you?
    This book seems great, you convinced me too lol
    Kisses!

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  4. Phyl, I think you would like this book. :)

    Nath, yes! I love these surprises. I really liked the blurb and was very, very happy when I finished the book. I hope you enjoy it too.

    S. I'm good, and you? I hope you enjoy this holiday read too. :D XOXOXO

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  5. I might have to put this on my holiday reading list, which has gotten huge since I went through my tbr pile. 0_o

    Love the cover! Thanks for the review. :)

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  6. Leslie, I looove the cover too! It's very rich looking when you're holding it in your hands. LOL, on your holiday list of reads! I have one like that myself (for December). :D

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  7. Where did I see this book recently? Oh it's driving me crazy...

    Anyway, this is going on the top of my Christmas reading list!!! Yay! I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll start it the day after Thanksgiving. [Just not before. LOL.]

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  8. Yay! You'll like this one Christine. I have a list of holiday reads for after Thanksgiving too. :D

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