Oh dear! Oh Dear!
Where did all the nice guys go?

From the moment the heroine takes aim (with her earring) at the hero's naked humping butt, I was hooked. Yes, fellow Romanceland readers, I couldn't put this book down... and I was even further thrilled when I realized that this was the series with Winter and Silence in it. I don't know if you're like me or not, but I have a hard time keeping track of all the series' out there - except this one!!! I love the Maiden Lane series and all the wonderful characters that inhabit said lane. It is somewhat disheartening that I have to wait till November for the next installment. Ms. Hoyt is truly a gifted writer; she hasn't been around for very long, but she has become one of my favorite writers.

I'm giving Notorious Pleasures a pretty high rating; however, that rating has more to do with all of the secondary characters and the wonderful plots going on than it does with the hero, Griffin and the heroine, Hero. Not that their story was second rate. It's just that I was so enthralled with all of the other things that were happening that the love story became a secondary character. Although, I did love the bread and butter speech.

And, let me say this about the guys in this tale... what a bunch of immoral, stubborn, overbearing, nasty fellows...and they were the good guys. I am hoping that some of these gentlemen get books of their own, because they are s-o-o interesting, I am quite fascinated by the lot of them. Hero's brother the duke is an extremely cold man, and is very easy to dislike (warning: some of you will not like him). Then there is Winter, a very secretive guy - is he the Ghost of St. Giles or is that someone else? Most of the candidates for the ghost are being eliminated. There is also Hero's sister Phoebe, who I just loved in this book and am hoping she shows up again. And, did Silence's husband really die in the shipwreck?

Oh, yes, the last few chapters had me sitting on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book... more for the wonderful world we are seeing unfolding before us than the love story.