Format Read: E-book
Number of Pages: Paperback, 336 pages
Release Date: May,1 2010
Publisher: Spice
Formats Available: Paperback, Ebooks
Purchasing Info: Author’s website, GoodReads, Amazon

Book Blurb:
In Victoria England vice of every kind can be purchased, and Matthew, the Earl of Wallingford, makes certain he avails himself of every possible pleasure. Bored and jaded, he is as well-known for his coldness as for his licentious affairs with beautiful women.

Yet Jane Rankin is a lowly nurse, considered shy and plain by most. There is no place for her amongst the lords and ladies of the aristocracy – despite Matthew’s growing craving for the fire that burns behind her earnest facade. And then there is Matthew’s secret. A secret so humiliating and scandalous is could destroy everyone he loves. A sin, he fears, not even the love of a good woman can take away…

My Thoughts:
I read Addicted a few weeks ago (here is my review) and I couldn’t pass the chance to read Sinful, which is Lord Wallingford’s book. I received this ARC for review from NetGalley.

I should wait for the tears to dry before attempting to write this review, but I can’t. I need to share with you why this book moved me so much. I am torn, because just like Addicted it left me crying and I hate to cry but Sinful is wonderful, it’s heart-wrenching, it’s beautiful…It’s damn near perfect in my opinion.

Let me start at the beginning. I can’t say too much for fear of revealing spoilers but I’ll try to convey the feeling I had while reading this book. Lord Wallingford, Matthew is a very wicked man (translation: HOT HOT HOT), we met him in Addicted and I was eager to read more about him. Matthew hates women, he use them for sex and only for sex. He’s never allowed himself to see women for anything else. When he is badly injured and transported to an hospital a nurse takes care of him…Jane, he is attracted by her voice, the softness of her skin. The thing is that his eyes have been injured and he can’t see her while she’s taking care of him and Jane doesn’t know who this man is. There’s a spark between them, chemistry, but when they decide to meet again Matthew has recovered his sight… *puts hand in mouth* (See, that’s how I avoid telling spoilers lol)

When they are thrown together as Maid of honor and Best man at their friends’ wedding (The characters from Addicted) they have to bear each other’s company, even when they despise each others so openly. Matthew does no recognize the sweet Jane he met at the hospital and Jane cannot believe this rake, this heartless man can be the man she felt so attracted to when she nursed him. I loved how the characters would go from passionate attraction to hate within a few pages. The characters are flawed, they are proud and prejudiced and they are both scarred- the ghost of their past is still haunting them. It was very hard to close this book. I knew (because of course I can’t stop myself) before reading this book that it would leave me with a bittersweet taste, but I tell you… it’s worth it.

Matthew is an artist, he loves to paint and I thought that the sex scenes in this book looked like Art. Wonderful, beautiful sex scenes, just like a work of Art. Also in this book we meet again Matthew’s sister, Sarah that we glimpsed in Addicted, his love for her is amazing, he do his best to protect the poor child, we learned in Addicted that she is ‘slow’, she might look like a young lady but she stuck as a child in her head.

I know you’re thinking that after all this praise there must be a catch…well there is something that did make me cry (and I resent crying!). Just as with Addicted, this book deals with dark matters. I had a pain in my chest for the last 100 pages. My heart was breaking. I could hear it tearing. This is the only problem I have with this book…the ending is too realistic! (well I’m not the HEA Lover for no reason!) You have some kind of HEA at the end of the book but you can’t forget that all is not well. I was angry (Which prove how passionate I became about this book!!) when I got to the end and realize I would have to wait until May to read the ‘epilogue’ online. I NEED m epilogue IN the book, not on a website, to make it real. I can try all I want my brain will know it’s not in the book! It feels like the author is trying to make it up to us by giving us the awaited epilogue (a real HEA I’m hoping) as an afterthought. Of course this is MY opinion, I know a lot of readers that will be happy about the ‘realistic’ HEA we get in the book. That being said, I still LOVED this book, even taking into account the Heart-wrenching-too-realistic-ending so that’s saying a lot about how amazing I found Sinful.

Sinful is getting 5 bookies because it’s beautifully written, because it broke my heart and made me cry but still made me love the story, because I am awaiting the ‘epilogue’ with all my heart…just like Addicted I know I’ll have a hard time getting over it, it will be haunting me for a while. I can’t recommend this book enough, It’s a wonderful book, don’t let the ‘not so HEA’ part scare you away, It really IS worth the tears. I cannot wait to read more books from this author.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

About Caro The HEA Lover

Caroline is a HEA loving, yarn addicted French who's desperately hoping to get a HEA of her own. If she's not reading then she can be found knitting while listening to Audiobooks or watching Tv shows. Her secret addiction is reading websites that make fun at other people's expense (DYAC, Failbook)! Caroline also blogs at the Secret HEA Society with Susi.

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