The Scoundrel in Her Bed

Sins for All Seasons #3

by Lorraine Heath

The bastard son of a nobleman, Finn Trewlove was a shameful secret raised by a stranger. As Finn came of age, he had secrets, too-the clandestine nights spent with an earl's daughter. But her promise of forever ended in betrayal.

Driven by a past that haunts her, Lady Lavinia Kent seeks redemption in London's underworld, engaged in a daring cause inspired by the young man to whom she gave her innocence, and who then proved himself a scoundrel by abandoning her.

When their paths cross again, they can't deny the yearning and desire that still burns. As they discover the truth behind the deceptions that tore them apart, Finn and Lavinia must fight to reclaim what they've lost, no matter how dangerous-because love is worth the risk . . .

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Second Chance, Fiction

386 pages, ebook

First published February 26, 2019

About the author

Also writes Young Adult under Rachel Hawthorne, Jade Parker, and with her son as J.A. London.

Lorraine Heath has always had a soft spot for emotional love stories. No doubt because growing up, watching movies with her mom, she was taught that the best movies "won't half make you cry."​​​​​​​

She is the daughter of a British beauty (her mom won second place in a beauty contest sponsored by Max Factor® during which she received a kiss from Caesar Romero, (the Joker on the original Batman TV series) and a Texan who was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the air force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, but soon after moved to Texas. Her "dual" nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan, and she enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories.

When she received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Texas, she had no idea she had gained a foundation that would help her to create believable characters—characters that are often described as “real people.” She began her career writing training manuals and computer code for the IRS, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she became not only hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She's been writing about them ever since.

Her work has been recognized with numerous industry awards including RWA's RITA®. Her novels have appeared on bestseller lists, including ​​​​​​​USA TODAY and the New York Times.

The author of more than 60 novels, she writes historical and contemporary romance for adults and historical romance for teen readers.

Under the names Rachel Hawthorne and Jade Parker, she writes popular contemporary, historical, and paranormal r​​omance for teens readers. She also writes young adult novels with her son under the name J. A. London.

Reviews

[WhiskeyintheJar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

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.

While he was responsible for so much pain, there was a time when he’d been responsible for her most ultimate joy.

Third in the Sins for All Seasons series following the Trewlove siblings, Finn falls for an Earl's daughter. As the Trewlove siblings, except for the youngest, were all born on the wrong side of the blanket and “farmed” out (in this case, delivered by aristocrats or their servants, with a one time payment to Ettie Trewlove to take care of or dispose of baby as she saw fit), this proves dangerous for Finn and Lady Lavinia Kent, as she starts to fall for him, too.

The first half of the book had flashback scenes that went back and forth with the current events happening. These flashbacks did a pretty good job of delivering the how and why of Finn and Lavinia's relationship but as Lavinia starts off as fifteen to Finn's early twenties, some of their deeper emotional connection wasn't there for me. There was more of a feel of kid giddiness, especially from Lavinia, of doing something forbidden than actual deeper love. The misunderstanding that initially keeps them in tension is talked about and for the most part resolved in the first half. The second half is fully in the current time and we get Finn still expressing his feelings for Lavinia and Lavinia still working through the pain of their past.

“There’s no pleasure in taking what isn’t freely given.” He grinned wolfishly. “Doesn’t mean I won’t test you to see where the boundaries are.”

Finn was my favorite part of this story, he was sweet, sensitive, and conscientious. I did think that even though he was supposed to be the same age as his brothers, he felt much younger, he had more of a tender naivety feel; this could have been done to make his romance with a late teens heroine feel more natural. While I liked Finn, I struggled at times with Lavinia. She lives the very sheltered and confined life of an aristocrat daughter and after escaping some horrors her mother and father inflict on her, she decides to make it her mission to save farmed out babies. However, it felt like she blindly and naively, rich-woman-striding-in-thinks-she-knows-the-best-way-to-solve-the-problem by stepping in to buy the children and put them in nun run homes. She doesn't bother to really see if what she is doing is better for the children; Ettie Trewlove more than likely ended up being a far better situation for Finn to grow up in than being dumped at a very full nun orphanage. Lavinia never really lost her, what I think is best is, feel and her drawn out, felt a bit pointless at times, “we've changed so we can't be together” whole second half of book with Finn.

Their breathing was shallow, fraught with tension, as they each took a measure of the other.

While this started off intriguing with the from the different side of the tracks relationship, not a lot really happens, the second half felt like a bunch of forced overly melancholy we can't be together and when there were emotional moments, they felt rushed and didn't quite leave an impact. The elements for a good story were here but the spark and emotion to immerse you were not. Heath's writing is good but this felt like a going through the motions, there was some repetitiveness and I think this could have been better as a novella. There are still other Trewlove siblings to get their stories and as Heath has wrote an intriguing family, I'll still be on the lookout for future installments.

[Lana ❇✾DG Romance❇✾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

How could he be happy when all he’d ever wanted was her, and all she now wanted was the freedom to do as she pleased?

I'm a sucker for a good second chance romance, and this book definitely delivered on that front. Vivi and Finn's story spans the course of several years. They meet when Vivi is just fifteen, fall in love when she's seventeen, and fall apart in a devastating fashion only for their life to cross paths eight years later. But neither of them are the people they once were.

I loved the set up of the story. Finn, the bastard son of a nobleman meets and falls for a woman far beyond his poor reach. Vivi may be the daughter of an earl, set to marry a duke almost from birth, but titles mean nothing for her when she first lays eyes on Finn. The story unfolds in alternate flashes of past and present, allowing the reader to see how they met while they anxiously wait to see what caused them to ultimately fall apart.

Years later, Finn is no longer the starry eyed boy that fell in love with a girl beyond his standing. And Vivi is no longer the naive young woman that thought as long as she and Finn were together, nothing could harm them. Vivi has dedicated her life to hunting down of baby farmers and rescuing the young children and babies from a fate sometimes worse than death. I really loved her singleminded focus on finding these children. There's a wealth of secrets hidden beneath the eight years they spent apart, but when their paths cross again, it doesn't take long for those secrets to unravel and for the connection that was between them years ago to spark back to life. The mystery of what happens is stretched out in tiers, which I really enjoyed. You get one part of it fairly quickly, while the other part continues to unravel chapter by chapter.

I really loved the story and the characters, but ultimately I struggled to feel the chemistry between them. I just never fully bought into it. I can't quite put my finger on why, but it was a struggle from the moment they met to when they finally reconnect. I felt like I'm being told that they have this incredible connection rather than truly feeling it. And while I loved the two of them together, I couldn't help but feel like I wanted something a little...more.

Did I enjoy this book? Absolutely! It was a page turner from beginning to finish. And while I did wish that I felt a little more of the passion, I still thoroughly enjoyed the romance.

ARC courtesy of publisher in exchange for an honest review

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[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided my Edelweiss and Avon in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This love story spans about a decade and has flash backs. Not a fan of flash backs but thought this was fairly well done.

Lady Lavinia is daughter to an earl. She's been promised to the Duke of Thornley (a previous book) since she was a baby. At fifteen Viv meets Finn the bastard son of a nobleman, their meeting wasn't the most pleasant of meeting as he was sent to kill a horse (he hates what he does for a living) by her lovely (not) father, Viv's horse but she begs him to spare her horse and he does. So the two they develop a friendship and by the time Viv is seventeen she knows she will only love Finn and no other. The two years they developed this friendship/relations is so sweet and beautiful. I loved that young love that was displayed between the two. The two decide to run away together. But they are betrayed and two are heartbroken as each believes the other betrayed them. This was so emotional.

Eight years have passed and Viv has broke her engagement and vanished into the streets of Whitechapel. She left the everything behind and made it her mission in life to save the children from the evil baby farmers. She hasn't seen Finn and never wants to again.

One night when Viv is on assignment to save some babies she runs into problems in an alley. And low and behold who comes to assist and intervene but Finn.

And so the two reconnect with a lot and I mean a lot of baggage to sort through. So much betrayal, hurt and anger the two have to uncover and work through. Both have changed and are different people but yet deep down in their hearts the same. The truth is brought too light that each was lied to and the betrayal revealed. Viv is keeping a dark and devastating secret from Finn and knows that because of this they could never really have a future. But sweet and determined Finn realizes that he loved the girl Viv but the woman she's has become he loves just as much or possibly more. He's determined to get her back. Finn decides that maybe with an opportunity of opening a children's home, which is Viv's dream, it will give him chance and time to have her fall in love with him again.

I loved this book. The emotion, angst and depth of love these two had for each other was palpable. I cried and laughed and sighed all throughout their romance. It wasn't a perfect read, I'll be honest. I was going to give it a 5 star but ended up with a 4 as I did find the flash backs interrupted the flow of the book and was somewhat a hindrance to the romance.

If you can look past that part I found this to be a beautiful and emotional love story.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

“But they were the fools for not understanding what it was to feel complete when in someone else’s presence. They didn’t know what it was to experience unrivaled joy when taking hold of a hand or gazing into green eyes. His world was drab and dark, his days filled with hard, often gut-wrenching tasks—but whenever he saw her, his past, present, and future were more colorful and brighter. His troubles melted away, or at least they scurried into hiding. As long as he was with her, he was filled with hope.” Lady Lavinia Kent and Finn Trewlove made the mistake of falling in love with each other eight years ago. As they were a young, innocent and foolish couple in love, they planned to run away together. Except, Finn never showed up, or so Lavinia thought. When the two are finally reunited,  the truth about what happened that fateful night emerged. Finn hopes to rekindle the love they once had, but Lavinia hides a secret - one that when discovered by Finn, she fears, would make him hate her. 

The Scoundrel in her bed is the third book from Lorraine Heath’s historical romance series, Sins for all seasons. This installment tells the story of Finn Trewlove and Lady Lavinia Kent. I actually had the plan to read this series in order. And I tried. I tried reading the second book but I just couldn’t get through it. It wasn’t bad, perhaps I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I will surely try to read it again soon. As a result of my inability to read Gillie’s story, I jumped ahead into this one. I had always been a big fan of the lady and commoner trope. It has so much angst when done right. Which is the reason why I had such high expectations for this book. I thought I was going to love it because the blurb intrigued me. Sadly, I didn’t and no one is sadder than I for that fact. 

Meet Lady Lavinia Kent: She is the daughter of the Earl of Collinsworth. As a young girl, she had always known that she was going to marry the Duke of Thornley. Their fathers signed an agreement for the two of them to marry when the time comes. She was raised to be a duchess but then she fell in love with Finn Trewlove which only had disastrous results. Eight years later, she was set to marry the Duke but couldn’t go through with it. Ever since, she had been hiding in Whitechapel with a purpose. She saves children from baby farmers, and this cause was inspired by Finn and another personal reason she mustn't dare let another soul know. 

Meet Finn Trewlove: Finn is another of Ettie Trewlove’s son who had been taken in by her. His father is an earl but Finn didn’t care much for him as well. As for his mother, he had no idea who the lady who gave birth to him was. At Twenty-one, Finn worked as a horse slaughterer. He didn’t like his job, felt guilty for doing it but one must do what one can to earn money. When he was twenty three and in love with Lady Lavinia, they made plans to run away. But it didn’t go as it should and Finn was left with the bitter realization that the woman he loved betrayed him. 

Lady Lavinia is the spoiled daughter of an Earl. One day when she wanted Thornley’s attention, she made the mistake of goading her beloved horse, Sophie, which led to her having a broken bone. Unfortunately for Sophie, the earl won’t tolerate such danger for his daughter. He sent for a man to dispose of the horse. That is when Lavinia met Finn. He was supposed to kill her horse but felt guilty when she cried. What is the most reasonable way to tell the lady that her horse isn’t dead? Why, break into her home, of course. After this event, the two had been secretly meeting each other every Tuesday in order for Lavinia to see Sophie. Finn knows that a bastard shouldn’t dream of having a future with a lady, but dream he did. And of course, Lady Lavinia returned his feelings. Foolish and naive with only love in their minds, the two made plans of running away together and living a humble life. But of course, just like Romeo and Juliet, their affair is forbidden and doomed. Eight years later, Lavinia harbors resentment towards the boy who she once loved and lost. Why he didn’t show up on that fateful night, she has no idea. But when they meet again and the truth comes out, she is left feeling guilty. Add to that, she is hiding a secret and has gone through something  traumatic. She is a changed woman, she was not the young girl Finn once loved. But Finn is ever so eager to try and revive the love they once shared, sadly, Lavinia doesn’t think it's reasonable to do so. Internal conflict (rolls eyes).... That’s it really…and finally, a happily ever after! 

I wasn’t too fond of the heroine. Even in the flashback chapters, there wasn’t anything particularly compelling about her. When she met the hero, she was somehow snobbish which is expected of an aristocratic lady. Aside from Lavinia loving her horse, I fear she doesn’t have much personality. She was dull. Now that I’m thinking about it, Heath really didn’t give her much personality when she was younger. On another note, she loved Finn even knowing about his bastardy, his lack of money and connections and his common status. In some sense, she was certainly a ride or die when it came to him. Accepting and loving but only to Finn. And when we met her again after eight years, she was definitely a different woman. She had a purpose, she gave up her standing in society for this eagerness to save innocent children from baby farmers. She earned her keep to stay at the foundling home. In a way, she matured from being a spoiled daughter of an aristocrat to a woman with a motivation to help in a way that she could. She experienced depressing things that a parent shouldn’t have done to a young girl. Simply put, she went through it. Her life was tragic. This should have made me love her, but I didn’t. I felt sorry for what she had to go through but I found myself frustrated with her most of the time I was reading the book. When reading, I always try to find something to love about the heroine, because If I can’t connect with the character, then I wouldn’t care enough for them. And if I didn’t care for them, then I wouldn’t care for the story. I hated the way she couldn’t give herself a chance at happiness. I love characters who shamelessly go after their happiness which is why I found it so annoying that Lavinia couldn’t just give herself a chance. Her internal conflict was so, I’ve said it before but I can’t find another word to say, frustrating. When she reunited with Finn, he wanted to get to know her again in hopes of rekindling what they had, but she didn’t want to give it a chance. No rational thinking, just a straight up rejection of his idea. At the same time, she hoped it wouldn’t be goodbye. She couldn’t seem to make up her mind and I just have no patience for that foolishness. I also can’t quite understand why she didn’t want to give it a chance, besides from the “secret” she was hiding. I found her motivation to be lacking, dull and uninspired. If she was so bent on being unhappy, then by all means be miserable. That’s it. The end. Now that was harsh. She went through so much, so of course, in a way, I wanted her to have a happily ever after. Even if she was infuriating for most parts, she still deserved to be happy. With all that said, obviously, I didn’t love the heroine, whether it was a matter of personal preference, I have no idea. 

As for the hero, I have conflicting feelings. I think he was sweet, caring and generous. But at the same time, I was somehow disturbed by the fact that he was twenty-one and felt a connection with a fifteen years old girl. Although he did wait until she was seventeen and he was twenty-three, it was still kind of weird. But this is historical romance, what was normal back then is not something that I have the right to judge and be viewed by a modern lens. It helps that he did not want to harm the heroine. He was simply a besotted fool. Moving on, the hero being poor at an age where he’s an adult is unusual because we usually have obscenely wealthy heroes in romance. Like with the heroine, I felt sorry for what he had to go through. I can’t imagine being in jail for five years of my life knowing that I really didn’t commit any crime besides loving someone from nobility. Seriously, the hero and heroine’s life are what you call a series of unfortunate events. What was Heath thinking when she wrote this? She really made the heroine and hero’s life so much harder than it had to be. It was definitely heavier than book one, and I much preferred book one wherein it wasn’t too heavy but it had the right amount of angst. And then when he got out of prison, he became a club owner. The club isn’t successful too, so I don’t know where he got his money.  But it was obvious that it wasn’t really something he was passionate about? It was mostly used as a device so he and the heroine had a reason to come together. I liked him better than the heroine because he was the main pursuer of the relationship and was rational. At times, I honestly thought he just needed to move on from her and pursue someone else. But then again, he was such a fool in love. I liked that he didn’t use his five years in prison as a reason why he shouldn’t try to be happy with the heroine again. Lavinia was always using the same reason, “We’re different people now, we were young and foolish then” but how would she know that it wouldn’t work if she didn’t give it a try and was immediately rejecting him? In their relationship, he was also the sensible one. The man actually had the patience of a saint because if I were him, I know that I would get tired with Lavinia’s nonsense and I would straight up ghost her. Anyway….as I said, he was sweet, generous and loving. I also loved how much he loved Ettie Trewlove and how he wasn’t like Mick (I love Mick) who resented his bastard father. He just didn’t care because he had Ettie as his mother and that was enough. It was refreshing. So I guess I liked the hero enough. I didn’t fall in love with him, sadly. But I cared enough to read until  the end to see how he would get his happy ending because he deserved it. 

I had such high hopes for this book and I am saddened that it did not deliver. Lorraine Heath always pulls off the lady x commoner (bastard) trope and I will always eat it up, no shame about that. I started this book hoping that it would make me feel what I wanted to feel but alas, we don’t always get what we want. In stories with this pairing the case is always: the couple wants to be together but due to external factors, they can’t be. This is the reason why I loved the flashback chapters, besides the fact that it showed how the hero and heroine fell in love with each other and how it came to an end. It has the sneaking out together, the clandestine meetings and the eventual separation. And when they meet again, instead of feeling the angst that should be there: I simply didn’t care. One moment it was a flashback chapter, the next it would be set in the present. So their reunion and separation did not really make me emotional because there was no build up towards the eventual reunion? I would have much preferred if the book was told eight years before their reunion and continuously too so when they meet again it would be much more emotion provoking. I feel like I’m not wording it right but you get the idea. I think one of the reasons why I didn’t like this as much is because the heroine’s motivations about why she didn’t want to give him a chance left me feeling cold. She basically put herself into exile, her family had no idea where she was, in short, there was no valid reason about why they shouldn’t be together except for the fact that she just didn’t want to and they were different people now. Meh. I just have no patience for characters who make situations harder than it has to be because of their own foolishness. 

On another note, I enjoyed how there were so many mentions about Mick and the other brothers. I really am fond of the Trewlove family and I still want to read their respective books. When I say that the mention of Mick’s name made me more giddy than this whole book, then you know it’s lacking in some way. The only time I ever got excited is when there was a Mick Trewlove scene and when there were mentions of him. Good lord, I am absolutely goner for that man. I also really liked Aiden too. He was such a caring brother and was willing to do anything to ensure that Finn does not get transported to the other side of the world.

The happy ending was not so far in the future which is so not Lorraine Heath but I liked it well enough. I am happy that they are thriving at least. Overall, this book was depressing. I didn’t shed a tear, but it was depressing in a way that it exhausted me. The other reviews weren’t lying when they said this was more of a tragedy. This was definitely more dramatic than some other Lorraine Heath book and I would’ve cried tears if only I felt the connection between the hero and heroine more. Still, I am giving this one 3 and a half stars because it wasn’t bad, it was just something that  wasn’t very memorable in comparison to her other books. 

The quote “I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you every Tuesday.” is paradigmatic in a way in regards to the main characters' relationship. 


Some Quotes: 


“I waited! I waited for you until dawn.” He could clearly see the anguish in her expression. He’d never seen such despair. “Yes, I know I was twenty minutes late. But was I not even worth a few minutes of worry, of patience, of thinking perhaps something was delaying me? How many minutes did you give me before you decided to be done with me?” Each word she threw at him was a blow to his head, his heart, his gut. “You waited?” 

“So why seek me out?” He hadn’t a clue. Perhaps he’d thought if he saw her, just one more time, he could stop thinking about her, would no longer be haunted by memories of her, of what they might have had together. 

“You once loved her as a boy would—when joy was found in fleeting moments of chasing after things, where the chasing was more fun and the capturing disappointing. Now you love her as a man would—when the joy is found in the holding, in finding the permanence, in no longer chasing the happiness because what you’ve captured at last is the best of all, and you know it’ll never be better.” 

“She cradled his face between her hands, and as he looked down into her eyes, he realized he would be gazing into them for the remainder of his life, until he drew his last breath.”

“He flashed a grin—she did so love his grins—and, without a word, simply took her hand securely in his, and she couldn’t help but believe it was exactly where it belonged.” 

[Christie«SHBBblogger» · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: The Scoundrel in Her Bed
Series: Sins for All Seasons #3
Author: Lorraine Heath
Release date: February 26, 2019
Cliffhanger: No
Genre:historical romance

No one had ever looked at her as he did—as though he would die if he couldn’t have her, as though he would die if he did.

Lady Lavinia is the runaway bride who jilted the Duke of Thornley at the alter in When a Duke Loves a Woman. It hurt his pride at first, but in the end it was for the best all around. She may have handled matters in an embarrassing way for the both of them, but she knew that she could never give him her heart the way he deserved. Though they'd been friends their whole lives, he knew next to nothing about the real woman she was. Nor did he seem inclined to, he was simply doing his duty and fulfilling the expectations of his family. What we didn't know was what she was keeping a secret, because whatever it was made her disappear into hiding, determined to avoid coming home at all costs.

At the start of the book, we learn that Lavinia has taken on a personal crusade to rescue children in the baby farming business. It's something she feels very passionate about and rather than sitting around bemoaning its existence, she does something about it. She's dirt poor after a life of privilege, spending what little money she has without complaint in order to create a safe haven for the powerless, as she once was. Walking dangerous streets at night, meeting these women who treat human beings as a profitable product, she puts herself at grave risk. One of these walks brings her face to face with the man who shattered her. Finn Trewlove.

Finn has resentment built up over their shared past, and the consequences that he suffered because of it. But what I really respected from him was that even when he believed he would be in the right for lashing out or even getting revenge, he never disrespects her, or deliberately hurts her. He can't help but satisfy his curiosity over her decision to help the unwanted, illegitimate children like himself. Because her actions are brave, admirable, and don't match up with the idea of the woman who supposedly betrayed him.

I don't want to go too deeply into Lavinia and Finn's history for fear of spoiling the book. But for a portion of the beginning of the story, there are alternating chapters of past and present that will explain what molded them into the adults they've become. Much more than a surface infatuation, they had a connection that was entirely transparent to me. With the vast divide between their social status, and a lack of power over their own decisions, they knew it was foolish to allow themselves to dream. But their hearts overruled their heads and it landed them years of separation, bitterness, and pain.

Loving her had cost Finn five years of his life. Loving him had cost her—She refused to think about that.

Refusing to let the past to color his perception of the woman she is today, he has nothing but admiration for the foundling home she's scraped together. So he concocts a plan to not only get his shot at a new beginning, but give her financial security. She was running scared, and afraid to face the pain that a new relationship would dredge up. And now, after finally standing on her own two feet, and finding the freedom to live her life as she saw fit, would she give a man power over her once again? They both had secrets that once confessed, would lead to a heart-wrenching decision.

It had always been thus between them, kindling waiting for the strike of a match. But somehow, now, everything seemed to burn hotter and brighter, threatened to consume until nothing remained except ash.

I've enjoyed every book in the series, though I think this one inched out in front as my new favorite. It had an emotional impact that the others didn't quite meet, and even had me a little teary eyed at the end. They both went through so much hardship and injustice. It broke my heart to see the suffering they had to go through in order to finally find the happiness they deserved. It was lovely to see the Trewloves come together once again and support each other like the fiercely loyal family they are. The next book is Aiden's, my least favorite brother, but my faith in this author is so solid that I'll probably still read it because I trust that she has the ability to change my mind. Lorraine Heath has become a new staple for me in the genre with her captivating writing, three dimensional characters, and historical accuracy. I can't recommend her enough.

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The Sins of all Seasons series revolves around the Trewlove siblings, all except one born on the wrong side of the blanket and sold to a baby farmer. Oftentimes they are illegitimate children of aristocrats who want to be rid of them. The baby farmer either takes those babies in (rarely) or disposes of it. Yes, that's right. Finn Trewlove and his brothers and sisters were raised by Ettie Trewlove and never lacked the love of a mother.

Ironically, Lavinia, born into an aristocratic family, never felt the love of her parents because hers were everything but loving. At their hands she experienced so much pain and sadness that her soul still bears the scars. Because of her history, which in its entirety comes to light two thirds into the story, she has taken it on herself to buy babies off of baby farmers to put them in a nun orphanage in Whitechapel - an admirable and noble cause. She feels a deep need to save those children. After years of separation Finn saves her from a tricky and dangerous situation and all the hurt of his not showing, when they were to get married secretly, comes rushing back magnified.

Finn learned in the previous book that Lavinia was roaming the streets of Whitechapel. After their run-in he can't avoid facing the fact that there are still unresolved feelings between them, anger at her betrayal being at the forefront. The truth how they were separated is being revealed in the first half of the book which removes some of the anxiety between Finn and Lavinia, but not all.

She didn’t want to care for this man, wanted to leave the past behind, wanted to leave him behind because the guilt she felt where he was concerned was overwhelming.

Vivi was a naive, spirited and bright young girl when she fell in love with Finn and she acted like it. After they were separated she grew up the hard way. She wasn't judgmental towards or felt above commoners which I really loved about her but I felt that her denial to let Finn back in a little too flimsy and drawn out. She knew that he was a solid, reliable man who would never hurt her. At the end of the story was a situation that actually got me pretty riled up with her. It made her look like a spoiled brat who hadn't learned a thing.

He’d thought she’d changed, but tonight she’d been the spoiled daughter of an earl who always got what she wanted—no matter who was hurt in the process.

I still liked Lavinia, she'd gone through a lot of heartbreak and betrayal at the hands of her family, and that still lingered. It was incredibly sad to see how much agony it still caused her.

After all this time, it had taken so little for her to fall back under his spell, but how could she not adore him when he was such a good man?

Finn was the best. He was honorable, sensitive, sweet as candy, a little dirty and so honest. Finn was simply a good man who wanted to move on.  He, too, went through a lot after the supposed betrayal but the thought of revenge crossed his mind only a short time. When he is reunited with Vivi he wants to rediscover this matured woman he knew as a hopeful girl and is utterly delighted with her. His feelings for Vivi evolves from the memory of their deep but naive connection when they were both so incredibly young to a mature and intense love.

Lorraine Heath knows how to pull heartstrings and shred said organ to pieces. I have loved every single story by her. Her stories have a lyrical but not too flowery feel to them (which I love) and she is an expert in building up anxiety for the couple and make you root for them. There is also always a fascinating social component that was contemporary at the time that makes you take a critical look at the romanticized times of Victorian/Regency/Georgian era and compare it to today's practices. THE SCOUNDREL IN HER BED was a lovely addition to this series and got me excited about Aiden's story.

“As I learned growing up, it is not blood that creates a family. It’s love. And I do love you. I have for a good bit of my adult life and that will never change. You are what makes me whole.”

[Shawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars - Historical Romance

Holy Kleenex, but this book sucker-punched me right in the feels, big time. Lorraine Heath has a gift for telling emotional, affecting stories, and this wonderful second-chance romance definitely delivered in that regard. In fact, for me, this was by far the best she’s written since her Scoundrels of St. James series.

I loved everything about it, especially the extraordinary, totally dreamy hero, Finn Trewlove. *Swoon* It’s been a while since I’ve read a historical romance (or any genre romance for that matter) with such an utterly perfect, swoonalicious hero like Finn or that made me ugly cry...twice! I can’t wait to go back and read the previous two books in the series. Big 5 stars (and sniffles) from this avid romance reader!

[Vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not going to get into any details, but this was well-written and very sad in parts. The other reviewers do a great job so not much to add. Evil doers are punished as much as could be. The title implies a more lighthearted read than it really is.

Possible triggers for off page child abuse under the guise of baby farming.

Although the ending is not the perfect happy ending some may want, I felt it was perfect for the situation. Can’t say any more as…spoilers.

[ras 🔻]

when he confesses he wasn’t celibate during their separation, she says “i’m glad i didn’t want you to be alone” some dumb shit 😐

[Vashti · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!!!!
This is the 3rd book of this series about a group of illegitimate children of the nobility who were "farmed" out to the Widow Trewlove as babies.
This is Finn's ( bastard son of an Earl) and Lavinia aka Vivi (daughter of an Earl) story.And what a story it was.This book had me in tears running down my face several times as I read what happened to this young couple. My gut clenched,my heart hurt when the actions of her parents were revealed.But the biggest emotional impact was the decision the heroine was forced to make.....what a heartbreak,the tears really fell then and personally,I don't know if I could have made the decision the heroine ultimately made.
This emotional story was told in flashback/present time,something I am not fond of,but to get to the gist of this couple and especially the heroine,the flashback scenes were a must.
They meet when the heroine is 15 and hero is 21.He is at her home to take away a horse that the heroine fell off of.He is a horse slaughterer come to get the horse.The hero has remorse about killing the horse so he spares the horse in secret and sneaks into the heroine' s bedroom late at night to info rm her of what he has done and to take her to visit her beloved horse.Thus begins their ritual of sneaking off on Tuesday nights to visit her horse and their bond begins.When the heroine turns 17, they finally kiss and emotional attachment deepens which in turns leads to them making love. The heroine realizes that she cannot go thru with an arranged marriage( the hero Duke of the prior novel) and makes plans to elope with the hero.
Fast forward to eight years and the heroine has left her old life behind and is living with nuns and orphans.The hero is starting his business and occasionally helps his brother who owns a gaming establishment. They meet up again one night as the heroine is being accosted.From there on the story and couple enfolds.
I have not read a book in a while that packed this much of an emotional impact on me, and the epilogue was well deserved as this couple truly deserved all the happiness and love there is.
If there is a place in Hell for evil people,the heroine's mother and father has a room booked!

[Hannah B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 The scoundrel was not in her bed enough! This mainly just made me sad. Don’t get me wrong it was a very good book but just not for me really. They faced SO much and it was hard to listen to at times. It was super slow burn and there wasn’t enough spice to counteract my melancholy.

Her parents were so abusive and horrible I really can’t believe all of the shit they put them through. And the fact that the father wasn’t alive to get piledrived. Lavinia slapped the shit outta mom but the dower house wasn’t enough for that piece of lint. I find such toxic parental characters to be something really hard to read about in romance books. Idk but they always make me lose my mind a bit, so whenever there’s an exceptionally bad case, I never enjoy the book as much as I could have. Even if they die idk in my books the death’s gotta be unpeaceful.

**Spoiler** I liked how it ended but I do wish his birth mother would’ve told him. It made me sad that she wouldn’t be in his life like Lavinia was to Angela, even in a tangential way. Good twist though.**

Also was I hoping the kid would be Robin? Absolutely and I’m still devastated his mother hasn’t found him yet 😭

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 🌶🌶🌶/5

CWs: emotionally abusive parents, unlawful imprisonment, forced into an asylum, talk of infanticide, unwilling separation from one’s child

[Lover of Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

Lorraine Heath is such a memorable author and definitely an auto buy for me which is why when I saw this audio available in my library I was super excited because I excpected to have to buy this but I was surprised that I didn’t need to. I was a bit nervous because even though I liked book two I didn’t love it like I did book one but I can say that this book really worked for me despite the flashbacks. I know many love flashbacks, but I am not a big fan of them. But thankfully these flashbacks only happen in the first half of the story.

The scoundrel In Her Bed is book three of the Sins For All Seasons series. And this is Finn’s book, one of the Trewlove siblings. Finn was brought to his ‘mother’ as a son of a Aristocrat and left on a baby farm and thankfully unlike many unfortunate children, he was raised by a loving woman and his adopted family is everything to him. Finn is the more compassionate and kind of the siblings. But he fell in love with a young woman but then believed that she betrayed him and spent years in prison. And now its been seven years and he finds her in the dangerous streets of London and the love of his life has changed and he wonders what caused her to harden and change from the girl he once knew and loved.

Lady Lavinia Kent is the daughter of an Earl, and when she is fifteen, she meets a young man, Finn, who is kind and generous and they became fast friends when he saved her horse from being killed. But as her season approached their friendship turned into something stronger and they fell in love and she was willing to brave scandal and ruin to be with Finn. But when he didnt show up for their rendezvous she felt he was using her to get in her bed. And during their separation, she lost something precious and now she is living in a foundling home with a group of nuns, trying to save children sent to baby farmers when she bumps into Finn and sparks and tension fly between the two. And now she doesn’t know why Finn is back in her life but when the truth between them is truly revealed and they discover they were innocent pawns in Lavinia’s parents game, they begin to reconnect and their relationship thrives in a way it didn’t before and with them being more mature and settled in themselves, they find a love and a family worth fighting for…

The Scoundrel In Her Bed was such a beautifully crafted story that stole my heart and like I expected, this book was such an emotional one. Lorraine Heath really knows how to tear through my emotions and in this book I definitely was in tears because the emotino that she displays in this book is so vibrant and speaks to the heart of its readers. There was something so unique about this second chance romance that I quickly fell in love with. Finn is one of my favorites of the Trewlove siblings, and we see what a solid hero he is. And even though he is harder because of being sent to prison, he is stronger and quite the scoundrel. And boy some of his bantering with Livinia, was so scandalous and sexy and his character had me laughing all the way through the story.

“There’s no pleasure in taking what isn’t freely given.” He grinned wolfishly. “Doesn’t mean I won’t test you to see where the boundaries are.”

Now Lavinia, I really liked her for the most part, we do find out what she has been hiding from Finn. Man, what her parents do to her is so heartbreaking, but we see such a strong and courageous woman she is and I just admired her so much. She is not perfect, but she is making an effort to help innocents in need and find her own path in life that is seperate from her family who have hurt her more than anything.

No one had ever looked at her as he did—as though he would die if he couldn’t have her, as though he would die if he did.

The romance that builds between these two is so riveting and I loved how they reconnect, in the dark streets of London. The setting of their rediscovery of each other is the London Underground and I really love that we get away from the balls and all the dukes and I found it so refreshing in many ways. Finn and Lavinia really are perfect for each other, but Finn really has to work to get back into Lavinia’s heart though, but he is stubborn and tenacious and willing to fight for her and I just love that in a hero. And as a plus there are some pretty steamy sexy times between these two that I really loved seeing. Lorraine Heath really knows her way into building sizzling chemistry that is sensual and intimate.

Overall I found The Scoundrel In Her Bed to be a story of redemption, emotional growth and a romance that electrifies the reader in a fundamental way to give you a memorable experience to never forget! OUTSTANDING!

 

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book started out as okay, and then just kept leveling up. It made my heart so full.

Lorraine Heath does it again!

5/5 Stars
2 On the spice scale

[Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

DRC received through Edelweiss

This book was completely unbelievable. I truly didn't buy anything that happened! I wanted to love it, since I usually enjoy historical romance although it has the same boring premise every single time. Lorraine Heath is one of the finest writers of this genre, but here, it seems like she got tired of her own ways. I had sooo many issues that I don't even know where to start.

Finn Trewlove, our male protagonist and a lowborn bastard, earns his money by killing horses, if you can believe that. Where the hell did that come from? How in the world did that sound like a romantic setting? His occupation conveniently puts Finn in the position to meet our lovely lady Lavinia Kent. She is an earl's daughter, she begs Finn to spare her horse, which he does and then, their friendship ensues. Not bad so far and I loved how Lorraine didn't go for the instant love this time. These two really spent some meaningful time together before all hell broke loose over their affair. I loved reading about their time together and how young, burning love was represented. It made me remember my own, so this part was truly the best!

From the second half, it all went downhill. Without spoiling the story, let me just point out that this book has no believable conflict. As many readers know and expect, these stories go like this:

1. two people have a slight inconvenience, but they fall in love no matter what
2. they enjoy each other immensely and all is perfect in the world
3. a bigger problem arises, they get separated
4. a man finds a solution, he'll do anything at this point
5. a happy ending, many children together, all good.

Lorraine Heath follows this blindly, but here, she failed to be convincing. Finn and Lavinia had absolutely no reason to fight and having them separated on account of a stupid Romeo-Juliette miscommunication is really plain stupid. 'I thought you didn't love me because someone told me' type of conflict is also funny and makes the characters look like children. I hated this part so much! Even when the resolution came through, I was so over this couple! Who cares if they are happy together if they are so stubborn and stupid.

Did I mention that Lavinia buys off unwanted children and finds them a bed in a nunnery? Authors usually try to shed light on some social or moral issue of the period in question and I guess Lorraine Heath found a great deal of detailed findings on abandoned children. So, this is what happens:

1. Lavinia looks for ads in the paper, where people are offering children to other couples who can't conceive.
2. she then plays the mediator, meets with these entrepreneurs in a dark alley and buys children from them.

She really feels that putting those kids in a convent makes for a better solution. Her philosophy is mind-blowing to me, but nevertheless, here she is, exchanging kids for money when she finds Finn again. A horse killer and a children buyer.

This and many laughable lines during their heated dialogues really threw me off. I am a sucker for historical romance and I will definitely read even worse than this. I just wish that Lorraine tried harder here.

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5🌟

[Angie Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie - I feel like this man's nipple is judging me. I'm reading this book anyway!

ARC from Edelweiss

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Lorraine Heath book, but when I picked up The Scoundrel in Her Bed, I was more than ready. And this did not disappoint. Though this book is third in a series, I was able to follow the story and secondary characters just fine. I will say, I loved Finn’s family, and I desperately want to read every one of their stories. I also want to know more of Thornley, who was Vivi’s betrothed until she left him at the altar. (No spoiler here - this was in the blurb.)

I have to say that this book got off to a shaky start for me. The first third of the book went back and forth between past and present, and the past was focused on too much. I did get what the author was trying to do later on - it was important to developing both characters, particularly Finn and his being so much more progressive than most people from that time period. But I think this could have been done in a more perfunctory way. But once that was over and we were firmly planted in the present, this book really took off for me. I loved Vivi and Finn’s story. I am such a sucker for a story spanning social classes, and when you pair that with another trope I love, second chance romance, it’s like it was written just for me. Finn and Vivi meet under less than stellar circumstances, but Vivi really makes an impression on Finn, and he finds he just can’t forget her.. But there are certain expectations for Vivi’s life that don’t include a commoner, and circumstances beyond their control make sure they can’t be together. But when fate steps in, Finn and Vivi’s path cross years later, and they’ve both changed. I don’t know what it is, but man, there’s a certain something about a hero that makes something of himself just to spite the heroine who left him. Finn always had ambition, but his past with Vivi added more fuel to that. And Vivi - her story was horrific; it was even worse than I could have imagined when I picked up this book. I loved the way she took the events in her life and channeled it into doing something so worthwhile and important. She definitely left an impression on Finn, but he left an impression on her, as well, and where he felt spite, she was determined. I will say that once the truth came out fairly early on the story, they moved past it quickly and forgiveness was instant. I would have liked to have seen more drama there and a bit of time to come to grips with things, but it really was indicative of who Vivi and Finn were together. This means that the pacing after this was a bit slow involving mostly inner angst, but I live for angst, so I loved it. As much as I adored both of these characters, I do feel as though there one time when Finn’s expectations of Vivi were too much. I won’t spoil it, I’ll just say Vivi had a really hard time dealing with it, and Finn wanted her to be able to do it immediately; Vivi had lived a life where everything she’d ever wanted was at her fingertips, and while she had given that up, it was still a part of her that hadn’t completely subsided, and she needed time to think things through. But even then, I loved how Finn was there for her anyway.
I won’t say I liked all the characters in this book, but I will say that I think I felt exactly the way the author wanted me to. There were an array of players here, some good, some wicked, and it made for such a wonderful read.
Returning to a world that Lorraine Heath created was exactly what I expected. She tore my heart apart only to put it back together again, and it’s something I’m so thankful for. The Scoundrel in Her Bed was a wonderful story, and I can’t wait to read more about Finn’s siblings.

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this an A for narration and a B- for content at AudioGals

Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy meets girl for the first time in eight years and she knees him in the nads after he defends her from some unsavoury characters. Okay, so that last bit might be a bit of a deviation from the tried-and-tested trope, but the rest is a fairly accurate description of the first part of the plot in Lorraine Heath’s The Scoundrel in Her Bed, book three in the Sins for All Seasons series.

If you’ve read or listened to the previous book (When a Duke Loves a Woman), you may recall that its hero, the Duke of Thornley, was jilted at the altar by his intended, Lady Lavinia Kent. Thornley’s search for Lavinia – because he wanted to make sure she was alright, not because he wanted to force her to marry him – was the starting point for his romance with Gilly Trewlove, owner of the Mermaid and Unicorn Tavern in Whitechapel. In that novel, we learned that Finn, one of Gilly’s four brothers, had a history with Lavinia – and in this one, we learn more about that history and follow them on a difficult and sometimes painful journey as they discover the truth of what happened to separate them, come to know who they are now, and rekindle their romance.

Following her unexpected departure from the church on her wedding day, Lavinia has taken up residence with the Sisters of Mercy in Whitechapel, from whence she operates her one-woman crusade to rescue babies from the clutches of London’s baby-farmers. She responds to newspaper advertisements placed by women offering their services as carers for the unwanted children of the nobility, meeting with them and paying them to give up the children to her care, and afterwards lodging them in the home run by the Sisters. It’s not immediately clear why a gently bred young woman would take up such a cause – although it’s not difficult to work out – and it’s on one such errand that she encounters Finn Trewlove again; he’s been looking out for her ever since he learned she was in Whitechapel, and on this particular night, helps to run off a group of ruffians who have ambushed her. In this first section of the novel, we witness their first meeting some eight years before and, in a series of flashbacks interspersed with the present day sections of the story, follow their romance up until the fateful night when they were forcibly parted.

By the half-way point of the book, Finn and Lavinia have discovered the truth behind the misapprehensions and hurt they’ve carried with them for the past eight years, so the second part of the novel focuses on the here-and-now and on their working through the pain of the past and rediscovering their love for one another. The problem is though, that there is nothing really keeping Finn and Lavinia apart; taking it as read that she’s left her old life as the daughter of an earl behind so the cross-class thing isn’t really an issue any more, it’s clear they never really fell out of love – but Lavinia believes that she dare not get close to Finn again for fear that he will despise her when he finds out her Big Secret (which isn’t that much of a Big Secret, really). But he’s not about to lose her again, and sets out to prove to her that they can have a future together. He offers Lavinia a business partnership, a way to have the financial means and independence she needs in order to continue her mission to save children from the baby farmers, and she accepts – although her determination to keep a professional distance between them quickly flounders in the face of his obvious admiration for what she’s trying to do and his equally obvious admiration and love for her.

Both Lavinia and Finn are engaging, attractive characters, although Finn is somewhat generic. He’s handsome, honourable, charming and a little bit dangerous, a man who has made something of himself (as have the other Trewloves) in spite of the great injustice he suffered as a result of his relationship with Lavinia, but even so, there’s not much to distinguish him from most of the other heroes of historical romance out there. Lavinia is a strong young woman who has survived some horrific treatment at the hands of her family – and I thoroughly appreciated the way in which she used those experiences to gain the strength and confidence to finally cast off the trappings of her aristocratic life and to forge her own path and future. I did, however have some misgivings about her self-imposed mission to rescue children from the baby farmers. It was a disgraceful practice, no doubt – most of the time the baby farmers were paid to neglect the children placed with them – but it seemed to me that Lavinia embarked on her mission without giving it much serious thought. She certainly didn’t seem to have thought much about how to fund her operation and what to do when she’d filled up the Sisters’ home with children and didn’t have anywhere to house any more of them.

Lorraine Heath is one of my favourite authors and has written some of my favourite historical romances, but this current series isn’t working as well for me as some of her others. The Scoundrel in Her Bed is well-written, and the author’s exploration into some of the less well-known social ills of the time is interesting and informative, but the romance central to this story has weaknesses I couldn’t ignore. Lavinia and Finn have good chemistry, but the conflict in the present day section of the story was flimsy, and the storylines in the first part were predictable. I admit that I was bored by the time I reached the half-way point of the book and that I might have set it aside had I not been listening for review. So my content grade is a compromise of sorts – a C for the first half and a B for the second (in spite of my reservations, it’s much stronger), and I’ve settled on a B-.

Fortunately, however, Kate Reading can always be relied upon to deliver an excellent performance of whatever material she is given, and The Scoundrel in Her Bed is no exception. As is always the case, she paces narrative and dialogue well, enunciates clearly and provides appropriate characterisation for the all the characters, making use of a variety of accents and timbres. She adds an attractive, husky note to Finn’s voice and pitches it slightly higher than the other heroes in the series, which perfectly denotes his relative youth and serves to differentiate him effectively from them – and from his brother, Aiden – in the handful of scenes in which they appear together. Her portrayals of the younger Finn and Lavinia capture their youthful optimism and that first flush of young love, while later in the story, her performance in the scenes in which Lavinia finally tells Finn the truth and then confronts her mother are pitch-perfect; raw with anguish and devastating emotion.

While The Scoundrel in Her Bed isn’t my favourite Lorraine Heath book, if you’re following the series, the excellent narration pushes it into the ‘definitely worth a listen’ bracket.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finn Trewlove was taken in and raised with love by a former baby farmer, but he can never forget his status as the bastard son of a notorious earl. Despite not being of her world, as he grew up Finn spent many clandestine evenings with an earl’s daughter. He fell in love with her and they promised each other forever, but of course it all ended in betrayal and a stint in prison for Finn.

Lady Lavinia Kent seeks to atone for the darkness in her past by rescuing abandoned children in some of London’s worst neighborhoods. She’s inspired by the young man who once held her heart, even if he did break it by abandoning her.

When the two meet again, the attraction between them is still there, but so is a deep resentment. After they learn the truth about behind their separation eight years ago, Finn and Lavinia must both decide if trying to start again is worth the risk.

After how much I’ve enjoyed the other books in this series, I must say this one was a disappointment for me. I know she suffered terribly, but I just couldn’t bring myself to like Lavinia and every time she started to grow on me even a little, she’d do something else to turn me off all over again. I just kept thinking poor, lovestruck Finn deserved better. The “secret” here was drawn out way too long for me and was just needless. Lavinia kept things from Finn that he had every right to know. In fact, Lavinia spent most of the book coming up with reasons why she and Finn couldn’t be together, none of which even made any sense, all the while she just kept twisting the knife deeper and deeper into him and simultaneously lamenting how guilty she felt about what he’d suffered. After everything he went through, Finn deserved more from her and for most of the book Lavinia wasn’t even willing to meet him halfway. Lavinia kept harping about how she and Finn had changed too much to be together again, but there were multiple times she showed herself to be just as spoiled and selfish as she was in her life among the nobility, lashing out at Finn when he was also hurting. Beyond that, I found that I really disliked how this story was told in a series of flashbacks as it just gave me this awful sense of foreboding, knowing what terrible things were coming, that I just found depressing. The emotion here was intense, but I just wasn’t drawn into the story, although the writing and narration were good. I never felt the real connection between Finn and Lavinia, and what little I did glean came mostly from Finn. I do appreciate that Lavinia was ultimately trying to help children, but her single-minded focus meant that she failed to show that same devotion to Finn and that threw me off and made me not believe in their connection. This had good points, but I wanted more from it; even the ending felt a bit abrupt and I wanted some punishment for Lavinia’s terrible mother and more closure for Finn about his own parentage. I’m a fan of this series, but this story just didn’t quite do it for me.

[Joana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.


Review posted at my blog, Romancing Romances

Review link

I’m having a hard time rating this book.

I love Lorraine Heath, and the fact that she likes to talk about difficult issues in her books. But in this one, I think something was…maybe holding her back? I don’t know, I feel like it had something missing.

This is a lovers-reunited/second-chance lovers story. I have to admit, I didn’t feel very connected to the characters. I liked the young version, I did not, however, enjoy their transition. And, again, I think this has to do with the way the author dealt with their problems.

It’s hard to do a review without talking about something that does not show up in the synopsis, and therefore it is a spoiler, but that is the base of your concerns with the book.

Finn had a difficult life, and Lavinia was sheltered, as any nobility-born lady. But as they spend their time together, she gets to know a different world. And then something happens that separates them. When they meet again, they are different people, but still harbour some of the same feelings they had years before.

I did not like Lavinia – I’m sorry, she went through a lot, I know, but I just couldn’t connect with her. Finn, on the other hand, was much easier to like and understand. I only liked Lavinia when she was young, and when she makes a right decision at the end of the book. I would, however, like to point out, she is doing her best to help those who need it, and I value that trait, no doubt.

I really liked Finn’s family, and I look forward to reading more their stories, even if this wasn’t my favourite book written by Lorraine Heath.

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5

This was such a sad book. It starts off weird because you're jumping back and forth 10 years and it's basically a Romeo and Juliet retelling where a lady falls in love with a lower class man and they can't be together. They decide to run away only to have her parents ruin everything and make their future miserable and awful. It's pretty upsetting with themes of mental illness and baby farming. So it's a depressing one with a happy ending I guess.

[Missy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I like that we get flashbacks to when the hero and heroine were young lovers. Since this is the fourth book that I've read from the series (I read out of order), I saw the plot twist coming.

[Tracy Emro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finn Trewlove and Lady Lavinia Kent met when she was only 15, Finn was immediately smitten and spent the next two years meeting her in secret and falling even deeper in love. When she turned 17 and was preparing for her come-out, their relationship changed and Finn learned his "Vivi" loved him too. It was an impossible dream, Vivi has been betrothed to the Duke of Thornley since she was a child, but Finn is her heart's desire. Their relationship changes yet again and Vivi gives Finn more than just her heart. They declare their love and plan to runaway together. But they are betrayed and torn apart - each believing the other betrayed them.

Think this sounds like every other second-chance love story you have ever read? Think again!

Eight years later, Lavinia has jilted Thorn and has disappeared into the streets of Whitechapel. She has made it her mission to save children from baby farmers, she walked away from her society life and has no desire to go back, nor does she ever want to see Finn again. But when a meeting in an alley goes wrong, it is Finn who intercedes and helps her. Finn soon learns that his Vivi is not the sweet, sheltered, innocent miss he knew 8 years ago.

They quickly learn that they were betrayed and that neither was to blame. They both paid heavily for their doomed romance, but Finn doesn't know the true price Vivi paid. He wants to spend time with her and see if they can recapture what they lost - but Vivi has secrets that she is sure will make a future together impossible.

She tries to keep him at arm's length, but Finn still loves the girl she was and is falling for the woman she has become, despite his family still believing she is not for him, Finn's Folly is what they call her and at one time he agreed, but now he is not so sure. He won't walk away and tempts her with an opportunity to make her dream of opening a children's home come true. Vivi never stopped loving Finn, but will need to confront the demons in her past, before she can even contemplate a future.

This is an absolutely brilliant book, it is well written, flows nicely (even with the insertion several flashbacks), yes, the trope has been done before, but never like this. Finn and Lavinia are amazing leads, what they each endured during their time apart is heart breaking, but seeing them support and defend one another, makes you believe that their young love was in fact true, soul-mate love. I laughed, I cried, I sighed - the book is filled with emotion, gut-wrenching choices, a hero who loves with every fiber of his being and a heroine who against all odds has survived and grown from a spoiled girl into an amazingly strong and generous woman. I loved this book - I thought that Ms. Heath couldn't surpass the first book in the series and while I think I might still consider that my favorite, this book is definitely going on my To Read Again list. This is the third book in the series, but you can absolutely read it as a stand alone - if you do, you are missing out on two fantastic reads, but it can be done. I highly recommend this story and can't wait for the next one!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that was provided to my by Edelweiss and the publisher.*

[Aly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady Lavinia Kent and Finn Trewlove met under unusual circumstances when she was 15 and he was a few years older. It was not a case of love at first sight, but the beginning of a friendship that would naturally grow into the beautiful but tragic romance we could see arise from the start. As sweet and captivating these clandestine meetings could be every Tuesday, we knew that something terrible would happen to separate two young hearts who come from different world. As is often the case, other people interfered and made the lovers think they were abandoned.

Will they be the same when they meet again 7-8 years later ? Obviouly not. But the real questions I wanted to know are : was redemption possible ? And did love survived ? Yeah, it's easy to guess the answer, but the fun was in discovering how. A great part was also in following, through flaskback, the starting point of their love story. Even knowing that it would end in heartbreak, I was happy to get the tale on the pages instead of being told about it.

So here's the thing; while this series is not my favorite from this author (probably because it's a little bit more darker), I can recognize the quality in the writing, the series's arc is solid and with the exception of book 1, she made me fall in love with her characters. How could I not, with a heroine who risked and sacrificed so much for the safety of helpless people ? and a hero who care and protect and always try to see the silver lining ? And despite all the unfairness that she threw at her characters and the fact that tears ran down my cheeks at some time during my reading, I enjoyed Lavinia and Finn's journey.

[Jacqueline's Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Listenable stars

I liked listening to this book via audio. I really liked the narrator and I love listening to accents so it worked for me.

I wouldn’t call this a great book, but it was nice to have something in the background while I worked.

This series is very serious and this one was pretty sad, but I love a second chance novel.

I don’t remember much in the series since it’s been some time since I’ve read the previous books but this is Finn’s story. We know he had a fling with a rich girl and it didn’t work out. Well, this is the story of what happened.

The tension was a little high in the beginning, but towards the middle it fizzled out and I liked that it was a little calmer. I thought Lavinia was a little annoying at certain parts of the book. She’s just so set in her ways and doesn’t see things in other’s people’s point of view until she’s proven wrong.

The tension between Lavinia and Finn was high and I liked that he was chasing after her. Oh boy did he love / loved her. Some parts were obvious, but that didn’t really bother me.

Overall, like I said, an okay read.

I will continue on with the series.

[Topastro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more historical tragedy than romance. I was not a fan of the flashback, the past of Vivi and Finn took over the story. We are told how much they love each other but never shown, I don't think that they were well suited. Their story would have been more successful if they went their separate ways in the end, which says a lot because I ALWAYS want a happy ending. Overall this just made me feel very sad.

I also was not a fan of how he of course had other lovers while there were separated but she had none. When they are intimate he actually brings up again how he was with other women but they meant nothing... super icky. Also a bit unrealistic that every one of the Trewlove's are successful and how Finn is out of prison and is now a wealthy man. I'm getting so bored of gaming hells in HR. Overall I just didn't connect with either MC and was bored early on in the book but powered through because of Kate Readings amazing narration.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been edited down quite a bit- it was entirely too wordy for my taste. I know Lorraine Heath is a huge name in romance, but I found her writing here to be surprisingly amateurish. The plot was slow moving because the characters continually indulged in long paragraphs of introspection that would have been better played out through actions and dialogue. The dialogue itself often had a stilted, unnatural quality to it. The relationship between Finn and Vivi was so flat, everything from their dialogue to the love scenes, which felt extremely cheesy at times. This could have been something really special, but just wasn't executed well.

Thank you to Edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man this one hit the feels HARD, pages 355 through 360..something like that, I cried through that entire scene. You knew what was coming and you thought you knew the outcome...but boy it was tough. Well done LH, well done. I can't wait for the next one.

[Stacee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I had read and enjoyed the previous book in this series, so I was all in on this one.

I really liked Vivi and Finn. I loved their connection and their loyalty. I especially liked the past and present chapters so we were able to see their relationship grow and shift. In the present, Vivi’s grown tougher and Finn’s always been a partial marshmallow. It was interesting to see how their dynamic shifted after the years apart. And of course I loved seeing Gillie and Thorne.

Plot wise, it was a bit angstier than I was expecting. There were a few things that I saw coming, but wasn’t sure how they would play out. Because of those things, scenes felt drawn out and slight repetitive. There’s a lot of history and hurt and the majority of the book is them trying to work through it and see if they can salvage something.

Overall, I do love this family of characters and while I wanted more fluff, this was a great story about a second chance.

**Huge thanks to Avon Books for providing the arc free of charge**

[Nicoletta Micillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dopo un inizio lentino , la storia di Finn e Vivi è decollata. Mi ha appassionata e commossa, soprattutto nel finale.

[Barbara Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series: Sins For All Seasons #3
Publication Date: 2/26/19

I totally surrendered to this book from the first word on the first page and still remain its prisoner days after the last page. The Prologue alone will rip your heart from your chest and run it through a shredder. It was a touching, passionate and compassionate story and a great addition to the Sins For All Seasons series. It deals with some dark subject matter but handles it in such a way that you are left feeling good in the end. After all of that, you must be wondering why I didn’t give it five stars. The answer to that is that I would have given it five stars, but I really don’t like flashbacks as a way of telling the story and the first 45% of the book had a current time chapter, then a flashback chapter or two, then a current time, etc. I was very tempted to flip through and read all of the flashback chapters and then go back and read all of the ‘current time’ chapters, but I didn’t.

Each book in this outstanding series has a different hero and heroine, but, to me, the real hero for all of the books is Ettie Trewlove. No matter how many books you read over your lifetime, you’ll never find a more loving, compassionate and giving person than Ettie. She was widowed young and lost her own children to disease. In order to support herself, she took in the unwanted by-blows of rich aristocrats. They would drop them on her doorstep with a one-time payment of maybe £15. Most of the people who dropped off these children expected them to be allowed to die and they certainly never wanted to hear from them again. Ettie, however, was an exception. She took those children in and loved them, taught them, and made a family of them – all SIX of them! So! Hats off to Ettie, the true hero.

Finn Trewlove is basically the same age as his ‘siblings’, but to me, he seemed much younger, more impulsive, and more naïve. To me, that explains why Finn, at twenty-one, would be so instantly attracted to a fifteen-year-old girl. Finn is also the soft-hearted, loving one of the siblings. I absolutely LOVED Finn and my heart hurt for him as I gradually learned all of the things that had happened to him.

Lady Lavinia Kent’s parents are the parents from hell – literally. No matter how pacifist you might be, you’ll want to take her parents – especially her mother – and devise a horrible torture for them. You absolutely will not believe some of the things they do to their own daughter! That said, Lavinia is still spoiled, and totally convinced that she is always right. That continues to come through even toward the end of the book. I don’t think I really liked Lavinia as much as I felt compassionate and sorry for all that happened to her.

Lavinia has been promised to the Duke of Thornly (the hero in the last book) her entire life and while he is a nice man, she has no real interest in him. They spend very little time together and when they do, they don’t really get to know each other. He is eleven years her senior but is still not ready to marry. But, well, if she’s to marry him, she’d at least like a little attention from him – darn it! So, in a fit of pique, when she, her brother and Thornly were out riding she thought to get his attention by spurring her horse, Sophie, and ‘seemingly’ be on a runaway horse. Just right for rescue and attention. However, the mare didn’t bolt, she reared up and Lavinia hit the ground and broke her arm. Lavinia’s father was livid and ordered that the slaughterer be sent for immediately to put Sophie down.

Slaughterers were a real profession in Regency London and they really were a necessity. There were tens of thousands of horses in London and there had to be a way to deal with the aging, diseased, etc. animals. That was the job of the slaughterer – they picked up the animal, put it to death and then dealt with what needed to be one with the remains. Not a pretty job, but a necessary one.

Finn Trewlove was a slaughterer. He didn’t enjoy putting down the magnificent animals, but he did take pride in seeing that they were comfortable, calm and not panicked when it happened. He loved horses and dreamed of one day having a horse farm.

Finn was dispatched to Lavinia’s home to pick up Sophie. Lavinia was wailing and begged and begged and begged him not to destroy her beloved Sophie. She even struck Finn when he told her that he had no choice because if he didn’t his boss would lose his license. It really troubled Finn – Lavinia was a lovely girl and the horse was beautiful and not sick or aging. However, he had to take her.

Finn and Lavinia’s tale really begins when Finn (a former thief), sneaks into Lavinia’s room and then takes her to see Sophie. Yes, he couldn’t do it – he couldn’t destroy Sophie. Lavinia (Vivi) was delighted and they made plans for her to sneak out and he’d take her to see Sophie once per week.

Their tale is one filled with sweet romance, a love for the ages, tragedy, betrayal, separation, and reconnection. Once you start reading, you won’t want to put the book down.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.