Book Review: Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt

At First Sight: Ever since her husband was lost at sea, widower Silence Hollingbrook has devoted her life to the Orphan Home her family runs in St. Giles, and to a particular little girl she found at her doorstep, Mary Darling. 

As far as both of them are concerned, Silence is Mary's mother, and she'll protect her with everything she has, even if that means striking a bargain with the notorious river pirate Mickey O'Connor. Mick claims to be Mary's father and that he left her in Silence's care to keep her safe, but now his enemies - and he has plenty of those - have found out and he has taken Mary to his palace so he can keep the baby girl safe. 

Silence doesn't like or trust Mick - having tangled with him once before with disastrous results - but her love for Mary makes her follow her to Mick's lair, just as he planned. Ever since that night when they struck a bargain that shattered Silence's reputation, he has been fascinated by her and will not rest until she's truly and forever in his grasp.

Second Glance: Though Elizabeth Hoyt has written some of my most favorite books ever, I've been struggling with her Maiden Lane series. I thought the first book, Wicked Intentions,  was okay, not nearly as good as I expected but OK enough. I could never get into the second book - Notorious Pleasures - because I just didn't connect with the characters. Still, I was so excited about Scandalous Desires since it featured a pirate.

And yeah, I liked Scandalous Desires more than I did Wicked Intentions but it was far off from the books I love the most from this author. Mick's past was a bit contrived and I'm not sure I believed it all the way - maybe believed it's not the word, I guess I just didn't care, and it's his past that's fueling the story.

Silence was likable and I enjoyed seeing her take care of Mary and how she starts to make a little place for herself at Mick's palace. But I don't care about her family - and from what I see many of the future books will be about her family - and she has a tendency to run after Mick a lot. 

Also there is this thing that really annoyed me, it regards Mick and his pirating and the dumb reasons he has not to quit and what ends up happening in the end, it felt like a bit of a cope out. 

Bottom Line: Scandalous Desires is an okay read, it's well written and the premise is interesting enough but it's not the best by this author and I actually don't think I'll be continuing with this series. 

2/3