Lord of Pleasure

Rogues to Riches #2

by Erica Ridley

An opposites-attract, wrong bed, mistaken identity romance from a New York Times bestselling author:

Nondescript “good girl” Miss Camellia Grenville only ever opens her mouth when forced to sing at her family’s musicales. That is, until the night she infiltrates the ton’s most scandalous masquerade ball on behalf of her sister, and finds herself in the arms—and the bed—of the one man she’d sworn to hate.

Irresistibly arrogant and unapologetically sensuous, infamous rake Lord Wainwright always gets his way. When he accepts a wager to turn his rakish image respectable in just forty days, he never anticipates falling for an anonymous masked lover...or that discovering her identity would destroy them both.

In the Rogues to Riches historical romance series, Cinderella stories aren’t just for princesses...

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency, Historical Fiction, Regency Romance, Fiction

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 29, 2017

About the author

Get freebies and 99¢ deals at: https://ridley.vip

Erica Ridley is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of historical romance novels, including THE DUKE HEIST, featuring the Wild Wynchesters. Why seduce a duke the normal way, when you can accidentally kidnap one in an elaborately planned heist?

In the 12 Dukes of Christmas series, enjoy witty, heartwarming Regency romps nestled in a picturesque snow-covered village. After all, nothing heats up a winter night quite like finding oneself in the arms of a duke!

Two popular series, the Dukes of War and Rogues to Riches, feature roguish peers and dashing war heroes who find love amongst the splendor and madness of Regency England.

When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found eating couscous in Morocco, zip-lining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest.

Reviews

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big Erica Ridley fan, and I think she really nailed it with Lord of Pleasure.

I have to admit, I was a tiny bit disappointed in Lord of Chance. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't connect with the storyline, and I was afraid that the entire Rogues to Riches series wouldn't work for me. I'm thrilled that I was wrong.

Right away I was in this story. I absolutely love a reformed rake story, and combine that with a masquerade plot... heaven!

Both characters really worked for me. From the good girl trying to break free from her family's expectations to the misunderstood Lord Wainwright, I just fell in love. Sure, I found it hard to believe that a pretty girl like Camillia Grenville with a known musical talent could be so fully ignored and written off, but I just ignored those details and enjoyed the story.

Lord of Pleasure had a hopeful vibe and a great pace that made the 300+ pages fly by. It was romantic, interesting, and entertaining and I didn't want to put it down. Yes, it isn't going to break boundaries or redefine the genre, but it was a very satisfying, well written story.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Known as a rake and a despoiler of young ladies, the Lord of Pleasure, Lord Wainwright wearies of the erroneous reports and the façade the Ton expects from him. Sure, he has his wild ways, but the cartoonists have had a field day exposing his every move, real or not and that’s how a wager was made, that he could keep his “hands” clean for forty days. He is determined to win that wager, no matter how boring it will be. Besides, there are always the very secretive masquerade balls where anything goes and identities are kept secret.

Camellia is bordering on being a complete non-entity, a spinster, but as the eldest of three daughters, her days happily spent on the shelf may be coming to a brutal end. Her father has struck a deal for her marriage, thus opening the door for her younger sisters to seek their marital fortunes. Known as the “mouse” of the family, it is her beautiful voice that gives her any notice. Other than that, she prefers to blend into the woodwork, maintaining the ultimate of poise and social propriety.

When the opportunity arrives to be scandalous, mysterious and anonymous, Camellia will take a dance on the wild side by attending the by invitation only masquerade ball, just so she can feel like a wanton woman without repercussions, just once in her milk toast life.

How could she know she would find a gentleman, a man with feelings and a poetic heart who would talk of things freely and with respect for her brilliant mind? How could she know he would steal her heart without meaning to and that his kisses would melt her very soul all without a hint of who he is? How could she know he is known by the Ton as the Lord of Pleasure?

Lord Wainwright has never fallen for a skirt or the woman that fills it, but the mysterious Madame X is more than just a rare beauty with the poise of a goddess and the intelligence of a peer? He wants her to know the man he is, not the buffoon the world sees. But how can he discover who she is? What would she say if she knew who he was?

Erica Ridley’s LORD OF PLEASURE has her signature strong-willed heroine, way ahead her time with an inner fire that holds the flames of her hidden hopes and dreams. Ms. Ridley also gives us the shallow rake who hides his true self from the prying Ton who only wants scandal. Together, these two, while hidden behind their feathered masks discover a true soulmate who runs deep and sincere in their emotions. With a few faux pas moments that lead to some brutal tongue lashings and well polished boots-in-mouth, a few rushes to judgment, and two painfully longing hearts, Erica Ridley delivers another historical romance that is light enough to laugh with, yet warm enough to make one sigh! Ahhh, isn’t love grand?

I received an ARC edition from WebMotion in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Series: Rogues to Riches - Book 2
Publisher: WebMotion (May 2, 2017)
Publication Date: May 2, 2017
Genre: Historical Romance
Print Length: 272 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐⭐
2 stars.

Believability/plausibility issues‎.

Anachronistic.

Thin and bland plot.

Not enough interaction between the main characters.

The chemistry and romantic build up was lacking and unconvincing.

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Yes, a touch.
Perspective: Third person both hero and heroine

(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from The Ton and Tartans Book Club )

Should I read in order?
This is book 2 in Ridley’s Rogues to Riches. I felt it was totally fine as a stand lone. There’s mention of the prior book’s hero at least, and I believe the heroine’s sisters get their own books later in the series

Basic plot:
We learn a scandalous print has been made about Wainwright – he’s had plenty of lovers but never a real relationship and is known as Lord of Pleasure for his seeking of that particular activity. He creates a bargain with his friends by saying he can stay out of scandal columns. One of the only places he feels able to be himself is Lord Fairfax’s masquerade parties. Camellia attends the masquerade on her sisters behalf planning never to return, until she meets the mysterious Lord X that makes her feel everything she’s dreamed of having in her life.

Give this a try if you want:
- London setting
- Regency time period (1817)
- Masquerade!
- Just a touch of class differences – heroine believes she not eligible for an earl’s wife (though she’s not working class
- Cinderella retelling – story is told mostly through a masquerade and the heroine leaves behind an earring instead of a glass slipper
- Low steam – plenty of kisses and 1 full scene
- Surprise virgin
- Lots of focus on the main couple (no villain or mystery)


Ages:
- heroine is 26, I didn’t catch the hero (audiobook) but I think he’s just a bit older than her?

My thoughts:
I listened to this one on audio, and I can be really sporadic about my listening time for those. I usually prefer to read so I’ll save my audio time for when I’m cleaning and we can safely say cleaning isn’t my strong suit lol. Anyway I ended up really liking this one!

Wainwright has lots of hidden depths and feelings I really liked getting to know. He lives kind of this fake existence for society and really just wants true love. His love for his mother was really sweet and refreshing. I loved that we got so much time in his head – that’s always a plus for me. I loved how much he loved Camellia, I loved his efforts to make things right at the end. I thought the things he did were really sweet and romantic and I melted at a few parts! (I’m really bad with taking quotes from audio, sadly!)

Camellia was a really lovely heroine too. She is quiet and never causes a problem for her parents. Even when they decide to betroth her to a man much older than her. I loved seeing Camellia find her voice and strength in this story, and I loved what her HEA evolved into. I also enjoyed the family dynamics she shared with her sisters here.

Definitely liked this book! I have read one Ridley before, One Night with a Duke and I really liked that one too (though no steam in that one). I find her prose really enjoyable and easy to fall into. There was a perfect amount of description, banter, and self reflection on their thoughts and pining for each other. I really loved her intimate scene and wished we had more of that because I immensely enjoyed the emotional aspect she wrapped into it.


Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

23% - kiss
36% - kiss
56% - kisses
73% - kisses, fingering for her, oral for her, missionary
100% - kisses and implied fade to black sex

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

*ARC provided by WebMotion via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

"I want to be bolder. It's the one thing about my life I would alter." "I can grant you that wish ... Be fearless here. Tonight. With me."

My first full-length book by Erica Ridley. I've read a few of her novellas and liked them, so when I saw this I jumped at the opportunity to read a longer story by her.

This was a very sweet, emotional, Cinderella-inspired story. 3.5 stars!

Michael Rutland, the Earl of Wainwright, always seems to be misjudged. With his angelic good looks, a smile that makes women everywhere melt, no one bothers to get to know the real him. The caricaturists love to blow his actions out of proportions until he is known everywhere simply as "The Lord of Pleasure". After that particular picture is published, Michael decides he has had enough: he bets his friends he can go 40 days without appearing in the scandal sheets and prove to people that he is more than his reputation. But can he really convince the ton that he is more than just a pretty face?

Camellia Grenville is the eldest sister to two scandalous sisters. She's the good one, the sensible one, the shy one. The one who accepts a proposal her father received from a "mature, respectable gentleman" (translation: an old, boring man who plans to have her live out the rest of her life secluded in the country) just so her sisters, with her finally settled, will have a chance to get married themselves. But underneath the quiet, unassuming facade is a woman who longs to be on stage to share her gift for music with the world, a woman who wants more than what society dictates she should have. But will she have the courage to pursue her dreams and finally let her true self show?

Luckily for Camellia, one of her scandalous sisters received an invitation to a secret masked party and let's her go in her place so she can have a last chance at doing as she pleases before she marries. Dressed in a scandalous gown and hidden behind a mask, Camellia revels in the chance to be her true self. And when she meets Michael, known to her only as the mysterious "Lord X", sparks fly instantly. Both open up to each other in a way neither imagined possible in real life.

"It's as if I am a music box, forced to play a melody not of my own making every time they wind me up to dance."

But of course real life intrudes on the fantasy. With their identities revealed, both have to make a choice: is what they shared in those fleeting moments worth risking everything?

I LOVED those magical encounters at the masked parties. They were bittersweet, and gut-wrenching, and I loved Michael's desperate attempts to prove to everyone that he was more. The letters he wrote to his mystery lady were incredibly sweet. Camellia was a nice enough heroine for me. I liked her change from a mousy, quiet girl to someone who would fight for her dreams.

BUT...

There are some little things that didn't work for me.
The masks, for one. I mean. They spend four nights in each others company, share their deepest secrets with each other, and ultimately fall in love. I just can't suspend my belief enough to accept that they didn't recognize each other in real life. Surely if you fall that hard for someone you're able to pick out little things about them even with half their face covered by a mask?
I also had some issues with the pacing. While the scenes where both were masked were beautiful, in real life they were both a little annoying to me. Michael had a habit of saying careless things that resulted in the Grenville sisters hating his guts. Up until the 60% mark, Camellia was convinced he was the devil, an all-around bad guy, etc. because something he said caused a gaggle of stupid females to withdraw their funding for the school one of her sisters runs. Instead of being mad at the women for being so easily distracted, she chose to focus her hatred (and she really hated him...) on him. All the while complaining to her mysterious "Lord X" how awful it is when people misjudge you. It took too long for me until they realized who their mystery dates were and that they both had misjudged them. But then, the last few pages where Michael starts fighting for her were truly wonderful, so that made up for that in my opinion.

Overall, this was a nice read. I liked spending time with these characters, the story was interesting, and I will definitely check out the sequel!

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid novel but slow at times. Still pretty cute.

[Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Lord of Pleasure was a delightful read with masquerade balls, a scandalous rakish Earl and a mousy, but respectable lady. I had such fun reading this story, and can't wait for more in this well done series



Lord of Pleasure was a delicious treat to the senses! The masquerade balls were such a perfect opportunity for both Lord Wainwright and Miss Camellia to actually be themselves, not the person society had forced them into by labelling them. Wainwright showed up in the scandal sheets' caricatures more often than he liked, and Camellia was starting to think that being the good sister wasn't working so well for her. Not when her parents had decided to marry her off to a man she didn't know, and who lived close to the Scottish border. All for being the good girl, so they could pay closer attention to her wilder younger sisters.

Lord of Pleasure is all about hiding in plain sight, but also about how different men and women were seen during these times - and that is still the case now. Camellia was sometimes called the mouse of the family - because she never really did anything to make others notice her. When she was Lady X at the masquerade ball, though, she let her own wants out, and had a fantastic evening with Lord X, watching the stars and talking about a variety of subjects. Wainwright felt free with his mask too, for once, a young woman didn't swoon when he talked to her. She talked with him and shared interesting opinions. While participating in the masquerade balls, Camellia was also hiding from her impending marriage to an older gentleman she had never met.

There were a lot of humorous moments with Camellia and her sisters, especially because Wainwright had inadvertently made some investing ladies withhold their money from the youngest sister's school for young women. However, the characters also showed that they had it in them to forgive - which is definitely important in many situations. Written in third person point of view, past tense, and following Camellia and Wainwright closely, I felt like I got to know the characters well, and enjoyed their journey towards pleasure... and possibly ruin as well.



"I, too, had despaired of you ever finding a match. Mr. Bost is not only a - "
"Mature?" Dahlia asked.
"Respectable?" Bryony added innocently.
Camellia covered her face with her hands. "- gentleman," Mother continued, "he will be able to keep you in a great deal of comfort. You shall not want for a thing from the very moment the wedding concludes until your dying day."

And of course, the masquerades. Everyone who presented themselves at the door was taking arisk. That was a key component of the allure. Yet the true reason Michael had always attended wasn't in order to put a mask on, but rather to take his off. The earl mask, the rake mask, the caricatures of himself.

[Ursula · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite an enjoyable read, and I found the heroine, Camellia (where do they find these names?) very likeable, even though I felt her obsession with being perfect and almost invisible was a bit OTT.

But my next question is more general: why do the men in many HR novels seem so two-dimensional and childish? The hero, Wainwright, was a man-whore, one of those aimless, useless, decorative aristocrats just needing the love of a good woman to have a total character transplant. All the same, he was basically a nice guy, but without any real drive. (Camellia was the one with focus and a dream.) Only the funny caricatures that were being published about his dodgy nocturnal activities, along with the moniker Lord of Pleasure, got him motivated to do better. And that was only because his mates made a bet with him that he couldn't keep his name out of the papers for a set amount of time.




As an aside, there's no way Camellia could have joined the Royal Opera to become an opera singer- she was in the upper class, and opera singers were considered promiscuous. Her reputation, irrespective of whom she married, would never recover. Her family, including the younger sisters she cared so much about, would be ruined.
But I guess nothing is impossible in Romancelandia!

[*❆ Kαɾҽɳ ❆* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can happily say that I liked this book more than the previous book "Lord of Chance"

There was so much suspense and a slow burn romance that I was craving more and more.

Camilla is the eldest sister of the Grenville Family, she has always loved singing but she is very reserved and quiet. Never asking for anything for herself but for her two younger sisters, who are both seeking trouble and are very blunt at times.
Being the eldest, she has to be the responsible one, the one who takes care of all situation.
Which happens to her when her youngest sister cannot attend a scandalous masquerade party, so she must attend in her place.
And it is at this party that she meets a gentleman, Lord X who saves her from unwanted attention.

Lord Michael Wainwright, or as commonly known as "Lord of Pleasure", is a scandalous, well known rake. Loved by women and envied by men. But he accepts a bet that in forty days he can remain a low profile and avoid any scandal. Because of his reputation, everyone is betting against him, but he wants to prove to himself that he can be a respectable gentleman.
But when he meets and saves Lady X at the masquerade party, he is more than determined to win this bet, not for himself but for her too.

Lord X and Lady X see each other weekly at this masquerade party, their love blossoms the more they spend with each other. But what will happen when they both find out who they really are? Do they have a chance of happiness?

I loved this book, very well and beautifully written. Cannot wait to read more!

Received a copy from the author herself, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Rutland, Earl of Wainwright is universally known as the Lord of Pleasure, real and imaginary caricatures of his conquests fill the daily scandal sheets fuelled by his wayward past and his shocking good looks. No matter what he does (or doesn't) do, he is portrayed as a debaucher of women, a cuckolder and a philanderer. In desperation he enters into a bet with some of the fellow members of his club, that he can last for 40 days without scandal.

Miss Camellia Grenville is the oldest of four siblings. Whilst her brother and two sisters act in various scandalous ways, Camellia is the most obedient, dutiful and, frankly, dull sibling. And what does it get her? Left on the shelf aged 26 and informed of an engagement to a total stranger, several decades her senior who intends to take her to live in Northumberland. Encouraged by her sisters to at least experience a little life before being banished to the North of England, Camellia attends the Duke of Lambley's masquerade in place of her younger sister Bryony. If you read the first book in this series, Lord of Chance, you will know that anything goes at these masquerades.

Of course Camellia and Michael meet at the masquerade. Strangely, they each feel that the masks allow them to be more truly themselves that they can be out in society. And so it begins, a weekly anonymous rendezvous in which the two share their fears, hopes and desires. Yet, an unfortunate series of coincidences means that the Earl of Wainwright is loathed by the three Grenville sisters, so that's not going to end well!

This sort of reminds me of the film Forty Days and Forty Nights starring Josh Hartnett, mixed in with a Cinderella-type theme.

Overall, this was light and frothy and utterly delicious like an expensive chocolate. I loved it!

I received a free copy of this book from the author via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Quirky characters, funny banter, a bit of Cinderella.

Do they dare to become the person that is hiding behind the mask? Can the wallflower tame the rake? Or will the rake seduce the wallflower?

[Hemmel M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an appealing tale of Regency ton with 21st-century morals. I loved the idea of a ball where everyone could drop their pretense and manners.
The first thing I noticed was the absent noise reduction and the second was the sharp sound of the recording. It would have been better if done with a pop filter and more low frequencies. The narration was all right but all men sounded like females. The pitch was too high.
The story was fine but I have to agree with Camelia's family that she is quite boring. We learn not much about her interests. I skimmed several paragraphs because the text was repetitive here and there. For instance, her habit to lie on a huge rock and ponder for hours does not require the amount of text it was given.

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review in Portuguese:http://pepitamagica.blogspot.co.uk/20...

Lord of Pleasure was much better than Lord of Chance.

From the start, I felt a much bigger empathy with the characters, both Camellia and Michael.

Camellia is a friendly and protective sister and she feels like she has to compensate her family for her sisters’ behaviour – making her the “good girl”. Michael on the other hand, is seen as a rake/rogue/playboy, someone that walks into a room and makes all the ladies swoon – which he doesn’t particularly appreciates. Why? Because how people see him makes them change and twist his words, and he hates that.

Each of them felt stuck to a roll and it’s interesting to see how real masks allow for emotional and fake personality masks to fall and disappear. I liked the evolution of their relationship but, to be honest, I don’t know if it would last long, because they only know each other like the person behind the masks and, in truth, they are a bit of both – the ones behind the mask and that they show each other, and the ones they show the world.

Still, it was a fun and fast paced read that I quite enjoyed. I was always eager to know more about the characters. In truth, I think the “problem” didn’t really exist and something better could have been used to twist the story a bit but, for the kind of plot, this simple ruse and scheme worked fine.

It was a book that was hard to put down and gave me quite a lot pleasure to read, but, as I started to write this review, I concentrated a bit more on the problems that I was seeing, and that’s why the rating isn’t as high as I thought it would be (4*).

[AnnMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of Pleasure is the second book in the Rogues to Riches series by Erica Ridley. It can easily be read as a stand alone book, but after having read the first book, I have to admit that it was a treat to have a little catch up of a couple of the characters from the first book in the series, The Lord of Chance.

Miss Camellia Grenville finds herself soon to be betrothed to a much older man, one she has never met, but one that her parents are happy to have accepted his proposal from on her behalf. She's always been the good daughter, never causing trouble, always doing the right thing. So, knowing her life is about to change so dramatically for the worse, it's no surprise that when an opportunity arises to attend a naughty masquerade ball, incognito, Camellia jumps at the chance. She has never done anything like it before, and suspects she won't stay long, but by attending she will help out one of her sisters, and have an insight into things she has never had chance to before. It's time for a bit of quiet rebellion!

Lord Wainwright is known as the Lord of Pleasure. Women swoon over him wherever he goes, his reputation as a charmer, a fabulous lover, and a rake precedes him. He may be a charmer, and good in bed, but his reputation is far worse than his life in reality. People expect a certain person, and Wainwright puts on the public persona for them. He is actually a deep thinker, a sensitive, kind hearted person who is starting to hate his reputation. Even when he does nothing wrong he finds himself in the scandal sheets and it's starting to get to him. When his friends wager with him that he can't stay out of the papers for 40 days, he jumps at the chance. If he can win the wager he will not only have a bit extra money, but more importantly, people might finally see that he is more than just his reputation.

The only chance Wainwright has to have a safe bit of fun is to attend the masquerade that Camellia is going to. The last thing he expects is to meet a special Lady X who he is fascinated with at first sight. Even wearing a mask she stands out in the crowd, there is something special about her that catches his attention. The freedom of being masked and incognito allows both himself and Camellia to be more open than they ever could have been at a normal ball. There is an instant attraction between them, and before the end of the night they agree to meet again in a week at the next masquerade ball.

In the mean time, Wainwright needing to keep busy and out of the scandal papers, decides to attend functions and places that he normally wouldn't. Places like museums. At one of those he runs into Camellia and her sisters, all of them are very short with him, and one of them, the youngest seems perfectly venomous. He has no idea what their problem is, but he doesn't let it bother him because after all, they are all just dull misses, aren't they??

What follows is the story of the attraction building between Lord and Lady X, but at the same time, he sees more of Camellia and starts to see that she isn't as plain and dull as he first thought. Will Wainwright tell Lady X who he is, if she knows, will she spurn him because of his reputation. Or will he just enjoy their masquerade dates, and leave it at that? And what of Camellia, will her taste of lust with Lord X be enough to last her a life time, and the memories sustain her through her upcoming marriage? Or will she stand up for herself for once and even if she doesn't get to be with Lord X, will she tell her parents she will not marry the old man they want her to.

This book was absolutely fabulous, from beginning to end I was absolutely enthralled. I loved that Camellia and Wainwright knew each other in two separate situations, and how they were such different people in each situation. Waiting to find out how they would react to each other when they found out who each other was kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning. Until that discovery of course was the delight of Lord and Lady X's passionate, honest moments at the balls. The freedom they both felt to be themselves instead of what others expected from them was obviously such a relief for them both. This was a beautiful love story, such a feel good one, and it was a pleasure to read. I look forward to the next one in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers' copy of this book.

[Tracy Emro · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*

Michael, Earl of Wainwright aka the Lord of Pleasure is tired of being the subject of gossip and caricature etchings. He has made a bet with his friends that he can clean up his image and stay out of the scandal sheets for 40 days.

Camellia Grenville is the perfect daughter, quiet, unassuming, peacemaker and wallflower. But Camellia has dreams that do not include marrying the perfectly respectable, staid and well to do Mr. Bost - the man her parents have decided would be perfect for her.

When her sister is unable to attend the scandalous masquerade held by the infamous Duke of Lambley - Camellia rashly decides to take her place and so begins an adventure that will change her life. Camellia is accosted as she enters the ball and is saved by a masked man - Michael aka Lord X, they spend the evening together and thanks to anonymity of the masks - they share their secret desires and dreams - up to a point. When Camellia aka Lady X has to leave, Michael begs her to return for the next masquerade and she agrees.

Back in her real life, Camellia keeps running into Michael - a man she detests and takes every opportunity she can to tell him what she thinks of him. Michael is taken aback by this mousy woman, one of the few women he has ever met that doesn't fall at his feet. In his attempts to evade scandal, he has had the misfortune of running into Camellia and he is beginning to understand that while his reputation is grossly exaggerated - it is not entirely undeserved. He wants to be a better man and his meetings with Lady X have made him want to be a better man for her.

Michael is not perfect - he often speaks without thinking about the ramification his words might have, but once he realizes his error - he really makes an effort to set things right. I really liked him and thought that he sincerely wanted to change and I believe he succeeded. I personally found Camellia a bit too judgmental, she was fiercely loyal to her family and had their best interests at heart - but I felt like she was incredibly rude and even mean to Michael, especially when he had not really done anything wrong.

When their identities are finally revealed - Camellia decides that Michael's tarnished reputation will ruin her sisters chances for good marriages and walks away from him. A HEA will not be simple for these two, but when they finally get it - it is really lovely.

While I liked the book, I agree with other reviewers - the whole mask thing was a bit over the top - that they kept running into each other, yet don't realize it, was unbelievable. The book was well written and flowed well, but I didn't really care for Camellia's sisters and I never really forgave Camellia for her treatment of Michael. But the ending was great and made me love Michael all that much more!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW

Lord of Pleasure is book two of Erica Ridley's new series Rogues to Riches. This is another great story by Erica Ridley, the characters are likeable and the whole situation is humorous. It's a fantastic Cinderella type story. Camellia is the perfect daughter she does as she's told, she sings when they want her too and what they want her to sing, she's also the sensible one, but her parents go too far when the arrange her marriage to a much older gentleman who doesn't even have the courtesy to actually ask her, then leaves for a month. Lord Wainwright, Michael, is tired of getting his image drawn as a caricature in the paper linking him to all sorts of gossip and rakish behaviour, sometimes it's true but he's tired of being made fun of, as a joke his friends bet him he couldn't stay out of the gossip column for 40 days.

In an atypical act of rebellion Camellia accepts the invitation meant for her sister to the notorious Lambley's masquerade ball. Once there she is swept off her feet by a masked man who seems to not only listen to her but enjoys talking to her. She has four weeks until her fiance returns and has the banns announced so she decides to enjoy her time with the masked man and returns to the masquerade ball every week.

So far Michael is succeeding in avoiding the gossip rags, he's seen in all the right places and attends his duty in the House of Lords and is terribly bored the only thing keeping his interest is Lady X a wonderful woman whom he has no idea who she really is. The other perplexing thing he comes across is the obvious dislike the Grenville sisters have for him. He has no idea that he made one off hand remark that caused the backing out a charity that was run by one of the sister and out of loyalty all the sister must hate him too. It doesn't take very long before Camellia discovers her masked man is none other than Lord Wainwright. Camellia is despaired that the man she has fallen in love with the same man who is a notorious seducer and who inadvertently hurt her sister. Camellia needs the strength to finally stand up to her parents and shake things up a bit, but can she find the courage Michael knows she has or will it all be for nothing.

Overall, it is a great Cinderella retold story.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of Pleasure ; Rogues to Riches #2 , well I could review this with one word, and probably should Phenominal being that word , but I suppose you would like to know why that word fits.

Pleasure to read
Handsome Lord
Extrodinary handsome
Never ending source of gossip
Ordinary spinster
Mousy Daughter
Intelligent women
Nice couple
Akward situation
Lovers to marriage?
So, I tried but seriously Lord Wainwright is to handsome for words and the focal point of the ton gossip wether it is true or not, but being tired of other bets his friends that he is going to change his life to avoid the gossip columns , forty days without being a caricature or in the gossip columns.

Lady Camellia Grenville has only ever been the good dutiful daughter, considered the mousy intelligent spinster by the ton and content with that until informed y her mother at the age of six and twenty she will be married of to a Mr Bost, whom she has never met nor did he stay to meet her in two months time and shipped off to North Umbria with him; take. For. All she loves in London including her two younger sisters. Her life takes a change when her sister gives her a hard won invitation to one of the Dukes infamous masquerade balls. Lady X meets Lord X and they fit together well, both able to talk intimately and be themselves ; hidden behind their masks. Camellia becomes hooked and becomes a weekly attendee just to see Lord X. Lord X, Michael Wainright has never felt this way for a women before , he can not imagine not having more time with Lady X.
But what happens when both want more how to broach the subject when the rules of the masquerade require complete anonymity.
So worth the read to get to the resolution!
Arc copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounding up.

The sibling relationship in this is strong, which is almost worth the rounding up for. But this, as a whole, just doesn't work. It involves a random dude agreeing with the heroine's father to marry her (sight unseen), because she's sensible and will make him a good wife. So she goes to a masquerade, for plot reasons (reasons which she never achieves or tries to, so it's more than a bit hand-wavey), meets the hero, where they form a connection. It would have worked quite well for me, had the hero not been quite so oblivious and quite so "I'm scandalous because all the women titter and fall at my feet." He's annoyed because he's in all the scandal sheets and mocked for it. I'd have more sympathy if all the women didn't consistently fall at his feet/titter, minus our heroine (most of the time). It's irritating, especially since he seems to have no sense of the consequences of his actions (i.e. maybe I shouldn't state that I think a random unmarried woman I barely know would make a wonderful opera singer - that might be embarrassing and potentially scandal-inducing for her).

In the end it has its moments, but Camelia's too trapped, Wainwright's too oblivious and entitled, and the flow of it is slightly off. Also, it felt too modern.

It did hold my interest enough that I wanted to finish it, but I'm not sure I could say I enjoyed it entirely...

[Kazen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid entry in the Rogues to Riches series, and miles better than book one.

Lord Wainwright's public image as a womanizer has eclipsed his actual personality, aided by several believable foot-in-mouth moments. At Lambley's masquerades he's able to shed his public persona and fully relax. Camellia is betrothed to a man twice her age whom she doesn't know. She fenagles an invitation to the masquerade as a last hurrah - a chance to steal a kiss (or more) before being shipped off to a remote country estate.

"I want to be known (and loved) for who I really am" is catnip to me, and I liked watching these two fall in love anonymously at the masked balls. It turns out they also know each other in real life, where the relationship is strained to say the least. The identity reveal happened in a way I did not expect, and Wainwright's letters to try and win Camellia back? Art. Consent is highly respected, even if the results aren't letter perfect.

There are flaws, though. We spend too much time in the characters' heads early on, listening to them fret over their internal conflict on repeat. I have a hard time believing that they fell so completely in love over the course of four nights, and that they didn't recognize each other outside of the masquerade. There are a a couple of moments where a voice would have given someone away, for sure. But all in all it's a fun ride in the mold I expect from Ridley, and just the thing when I've been DNFing all kinds of books lately. 3.25 stars if I did quarter stars.

Content notes: betting (not to excess), drinking

[Romanticamente Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“La signorina Camellia Grenville era fuori dal salotto di sua madre, troppo nervosa per convincersi a bussare. Controllò se ci fossero pieghe sulla sua gonna. Perché era stata convocata nel salotto privato di sua madre? Camellia non veniva mai convocata da nessuna parte. Lei era la figlia brava. Le sue cocciute sorelle minori venivano spesso chiamate a rendere conto delle loro azioni, ma Camellia? Lei, mai. Era quella assennata. Quella timida. La vecchia zitella felicissima di trascorrere il resto della sua tranquilla esistenza negli stessi quartieri in cui aveva vissuto da quando aveva lasciato la nursery, anni prima. Camellia non faceva mai baccano, perché la vita le piaceva esattamente com’era. Comoda. Prevedibile. Mai lontana dalla casa e dalla famiglia. Circondata da libri, musica e risate. La sua paura più grande era che, un giorno, i suoi genitori si sarebbero stancati dell’inopportuna mancanza di disciplina delle loro due figlie minori e avrebbero fatto sposare Bryony e Dahlia ai primi corteggiatori decenti, lasciando la casa innaturalmente tranquilla e Camellia tutta sola. Le sudarono le mani. Forse era proprio quello che stava succedendo. E lei, in quanto sorella maggiore, avrebbe dovuto dare la notizia alle altre.”
.
Michael, Conte di Wainwright, è un uomo giovane e di aspetto piacevole, affascinante e ricco, e tutte le donne del ton, sposate e non, vorrebbero avere le sue attenzioni, e la possibilità di diventare la sua Contessa. Da tempo è perseguitato da vignettisti che creano caricature di ogni avvenimento a cui partecipa, disegnandolo come un impenitente dongiovanni sempre attorniato da bellezze, e ignorando completamente le tante qualità che possiede. Ora è veramente stanco di tutto questo, al punto da fare una scommessa nella sua bisca preferita: riuscirà a rimanere fuori dai giornali per quaranta giorni, e riuscirà a rifarsi una reputazione.
Se Michael è conosciuto da tutti, Camellia Grenville è il suo opposto, la figlia perfetta in una famiglia di originali, quella che passa sempre inosservata. Ora però, dopo averla quasi sempre ignorata, i suoi genitori hanno deciso per lei un fidanzamento che la porterà lontano dal fratello e dalle sorelle che lei adora, in una tenuta vicino alla Scozia. È stato scelto per lei un uomo maturo, privo di umorismo e che, forse, la priverà di ciò che le ha permesso di sopravvivere a una vita monotona: il suo canto, che la madre utilizza come richiamo nelle serate danzanti della sua famiglia, in cui le è permesso usare la sua straordinaria meravigliosa voce. Manca poco al fidanzamento ufficiale, ed è per questo che, spinta dalle sorelle, per una volta si concede qualcosa che non ha mai fatto, essere ardita, prendendo il posto della sorella Bryony a uno degli scandalosi balli in maschera del Duca di Lambley, personaggio che abbiamo conosciuto nel libro precedente della serie. Ed è proprio al ballo che Camellia viene in contatto con un uomo affascinante e mascherato, che la salva dall’essere importunata e comincia a parlare con lei. Per Camellia la maschera è l’opportunità di dire, ed essere, ciò che ha sempre nascosto e trova in Lord X, come si chiamano tutti gli uomini che partecipano al ballo in incognito, un’anima affine. La fine di quella strana serata la porta a desiderare di rivederlo, e vi sono ancora quattro serate in maschera prima che l’uomo che deve sposare ritorni. Nessuno dei due sa chi sia l’altro, eppure settimana dopo settimana si sentono sempre più in sintonia, ma cosa accadrà quando scopriranno le loro vere identità e Camellia scoprirà di essersi innamorata dell’uomo che le sorelle odiano?
Michael è ben diverso da come appare, ma il ton non riesce mai a guardare oltre le apparenze. Gli uomini lo ammirano e lo invidiano, senza sapere che oltre alla bellezza, e alla bravura come amante, è uno studioso delle stelle e ama l’arte, soprattutto la musica. Nel suo passato il dolore per la perdita dei genitori, soprattutto della madre molto amata, una donna che adorava suonare l’arpa, e per questo Michael le colleziona, strumenti bellissimi che però non ha mai imparato a suonare. Eppure anche questa sua passione viene travisata, e la sua sala della musica piena di arpe preziose viene citata come un luogo in cui avvengono perversi baccanali. Le sorelle di Camellia poi lo odiano, per qualcosa che il nobile non si è nemmeno reso conto di aver fatto: ha privato Dhalia, l’altra sorella di Camellia, del supporto economico di nobili patronesse. Dame che stavano per fare una congrua donazione al suo istituto e che, alla sua entrata nella sala da ballo, si sono immediatamente dimenticate della giovane attirate dalla sua presenza come da una sorta di pifferaio magico. Ignaro di ciò che stava accadendo, Michael si troverà spesso incapace di capire come mai le sorelle Grenville lo detestino tanto.
Dhalia, del resto, scopriremo, ha un modo tutto suo di sovvenzionare il suo istituto, e il prossimo capitolo la vedrà messa alle strette. Solo dietro una maschera entrambi i protagonisti possono essere se stessi, e la tela di attrazione che si intesse incontro dopo incontro è molto piacevole e intrigante. Il loro innamorarsi senza mai essersi visti in volto risulta convincente, non è la bellezza fisica per una volta a contare, ma il sentirsi in sintonia, sentendosi compresi. Ma le loro rispettive identità, una volta venute alla luce, porteranno un sacco di problemi, ma anche un inaspettato coraggio e voglia di libertà.
Scritto in modo molto piacevole e scorrevole, è sicuramente un capitolo migliore di quello che lo ha preceduto e avremo modo anche di rivedere il protagonista Del signore della Fortuna alle prese con il suo nuovo lavoro e ancora felice. Una storia non banale, che pur con la parte finale abbastanza inverosimile, fa trascorrere ore piacevoli e senza grandi affanni, regalando una storia d’amore dolce e a tratti divertente.
.
Lucia63 - per RFS

[Iza Brekilien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick review, the children will soon be back !
Let it be known that I never believe in a story when a character meets another while they're both wearing masks, but they don't recognize each other (even their voices) when they meet without masks !
That said : it was a fun and entertaining story, as always with Erica Ridley, but with a serious note about appearances. And women literally swoon in the mere presence of Lord Wainwright !

[Jen Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what they say - don't judge a book by its cover! (Note to the author: Please consider changing out this cover, because it doesn't do your book justice.) Erica Ridley has written more than a romance, she weaves her story so well you fall in love with the characters!
Camellia deserves to find happiness and not be forced into a marriage. Lord Wainwright is a man tired of being pigeon-holed into a role he has outgrown. They both want more.

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read many books by Erica Ridley already and on the whole I always enjoyed reading them but somehow this book didn't do it for me. It is still nice to read but I found myself skipping pages and I couldn't really get into it.

Alright, many of the historical romances are not very realistic and you just have to cut them some slack because they are just, well, romances. Most of them work out for me well despite that because the romance part is the reason why I read those books, I need my HEA and everything around it and reality wasn't always that accomodating.

Unfortunately apart from being very nice and likeable, Lord Wainwright, our eponymous Lord of Pleasure, is not very convincing in his quest for bettering himself. Well, he is convincing in his wish to become respectable but in my eyes he appears to be a bit pathetic.
Miss Camellia Grenville is sweet and nice and everything else but especially at the end, it was a bit too much and she took more risks than I would have felt were even remotely realistic. Maybe I'm too critical and should rather applaud Camellia but somehow - nope.

Apart from that the book is well written, it's just a problem with the story and its characters that makes it less fitting for me, other people may be less critical there (and more romantic) and might enjoy it much more.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nondescript “good girl” Miss Camellia Grenville only ever opens her mouth when forced to sing at her family’s musicales. That is, until the night she infiltrates the ton’s most scandalous masquerade ball held by the Duke of Lambley on behalf of her sister Bryony, and finds herself in the arms of Lord X who happens to be Michael Rutland, Earl of Wainwright who has insulted her sister Dahlia
Irresistibly arrogant and unapologetically sensuous, infamous rake Lord Wainwright always gets his way. When he accepts a wager to turn his rakish image respectable in just forty days, he never anticipates falling for an anonymous masked lover, Lady X or that discovering her identity would destroy them both.
Oh I couldn’t put it down, was absolutely hooked from the start. Nothing better than a rake trying to reform & a ‘mouse’ who develops claws. Carmellia is not the wallflower she is made out to be & Michael is anything but the unfeeling arrogant rake. They are both totally delightful & although I realise that they surely would have recognised each others voices or perfumes but it didn’t matter what was more important was they managed at last to act as themselves not as how society wished to portray them. The pace of the book was good & each masquerade was hotter than the previous one. The other sisters were well portrayed & I look forward to their stories

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would probably end up being just an average three star read in the end but I haven't the patience to stick around and confirm it. Dropped it halfway because I found the judgemental heroine and her tendency to overreact to things very annoying. As are her sisters. Which reminds me of another plot point that bugged me from the beginning of the story -there is little explanation as to WHY these three single women are afforded so much freedom like attending scandalous masquerades unnoticed, being a freaking headmistress of a charity school, having a personal solicitor, etc. The author seems to just gloss over it by labelling them spinsters and having the parents arbitrarily refusing to let their younger daughters of 24 and 25 get married before the the eldest (the heroine) does but the WHYs of everything goes unexplained in any detail. It just doesn't make much sense.

I think another reason I quickly lost interest is because I'm not a fan of the author's style of showing instead of telling; even from the start there was so much time spent on the hero and heroine's inner thoughts that everything was laid bare instead of layer by layer being slowly revealed to the readers. I feel like I already got the whole picture of who these people are and frankly, I'm not that interested in seeing if there's more to them. Especially not the heroine.

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts that were good and parts that were rushed. I often felt like I must have skimmed on accident because I didn’t understand how we got to where we were. But nope. I’d go back and reread just for it to be entirely unclear how we escalated to here. I rarely want books to add, but in this case, there could have been better detail in some scenes to help prevent that rushed feeling. Maybe compensate by deleting some of the repetitive scenes.

I also have a hard time believing that just because someone has on a mask, you can’t recognize them. She mentions his perfect golden wavy hair the first time she meets him at a ball, next time you see the dude in the mask you won’t be like “huh, looks familiar.” Wasn’t aware they were wearing balaclavas.

Lastly, the FMC was too judgmental and obnoxious throughout almost all of the story. I wanted some scene where she actually has to eat her snobby words and feel bad about it. But no. Also, she’s supposed to have this reputation as a wallflower, but we never see that.

[🦉Maggie Whitworth]

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋
A brilliant romance
A rake , wanting to change his ways meets a young woman in a sapphire dress at a private masquerade.
A touching and heartfelt romantic story , that will make you swoon with pleasure.
Michael Rutland Earl Of Wainwright is the Lord Of Pleasure, Camellia Grenville is the Lady in Sapphire .

[Robyn Echols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written

This well-written romance offered a great cast of characters that moved the plot forward and kept me interested. I enjoyed watching the development of the characters as they each discovered what was truly important to them as the romance progressed.

[Alondra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me estaba gustando mucho pero el libro es muy cortó y los protas no tuvieron suficientes escenas juntos, el final tampoco me gustó del todo, lo sentí muy apresurado. En serio me hubiese gustado que fuese más largo 😭

[Vania Nunes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The power of fame... Are you really what they talk about out there?

Camillia Grenville has the voice of an angel; she is a great daughter and prefers to be surrounded by books and her family than to live with other people.
Her two younger sisters, Dahlia and Bryony, seem to have a more adventurous life.
But Camellia will always be the good daughter.
Exactly so, now, she knows from her mother that she will marry Mr. Irving Bost.
Camellia would have nothing against Mr Bost except that he is mature, respectable and will take her to live in Northumberland, Scotland, six days away from her family.

She does not want to marry him.
Although already considered a spinster, she always believed that she could choose her future husband. No longer.

As she looks at her siblings, Camellia sees the possibilities she has deprived herself of having.
His brother Heath is one who seems to always do what is not expected of him; Dahlia was already caught stealing (even though it was because of a noble cause) and was almost disinherited by her parents; Bryony, the youngest, had a solicitor for whom she nursed fodder and would not stand at home waiting for him to come to her. So tonight she would go to Lord Lambley's infamous masquerade ball. But just before leaving, a missive from her solicitor arrives. Not wanting to miss the invitation, Bryony tells one of her sisters to go to the ball and then tell them how it went.

Camellia is the one who ends up going to the ball.
There the rules were severe. It couldn't insist that any guest reveal their identity. The guests were called Lord and Lady X.

At the ball, Camellia is almost dragged by a more insistent Lord X, but she is saved by another, who takes her to breathe the garden air. Other than what she thought, he did not try to kiss her, but they began a conversation that made her feel safe.

Lord X was impressed with her and wanted her to return to the next ball for a week.

Lord Michael, Earl of Wainwright was handsome, with very light blond hair. Even his friends admitted it, which made him a target of women. His fame came before him, like the rake he was. He was rich and had a title.
But this sometimes became a burden, and it was worse because there's a caricature of him, surrounded by women who admired him as a god.
He had so much more to offer! He was a connoisseur of Nature, Music and Astronomy. Why were people only talking about his romantic achievements?

Going to masquarade balls gave him a sense of freedom because he could be himself without having to live up to his friends' expectations.
Michael did not imagine that he would be fascinated by a Lady X, with a beautiful sapphire dress and a princess posture. And he wanted to see her again, and again...

In real life, they could not be more enemies, since thanks to a comment from Michael, Dahlia's charitable work was doomed to failure. Camellia would never forgive him for that.
But when fate makes them stay in the same environment, where the gossip rushes faster than a gazelle, even though she has a commitment to Mr Bost, Camellia found herself trapped.

Could the famous rake be Camellia's intended husband, giving her the freedom she so badly needed?
I loved the characters, their strength, their fears and their frustrations.
Not everything is what it seems ... people can surprise.
5 stars

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review