Sinful (Addicted, #2) in Alpha Heroes & Spitfire Heroines

Oct 06, 2009 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: controversial-memorable-event-scene, hh-story-soap-opera-melodrama, erotic-romance-erotica-romantica, favorite-romance-couple-hh-pairings, hero-addict-excon-lawtrouble-thief, hero-titled-lord-wealthy, hero-cad-rake-rogue-scoundrel, hero-bad-boy-playboy-player, hh-sweet-nice-paired-vs-gruff-cynic, hero-authentic-uber-rake

5+ stars – Erotic Historical Romance

I’m a bit late writing my review for Sinful because I left for a trip almost immediately after I turned the last page, but I couldn’t resist doing a little bit of gushing over such an evocative, sensual, heart-wrenching, and lush read.

Addicted was one of my favorite reads of 2009, so my expectations for Sinful were extremely high, and I’m elated, ecstatic, and thrilled to say that it lived up to the anticipation, and more. In this emotionally hypnotic, darkly ...more

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Sep 25, 2009 Auntee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: made_me_cry, erotic-romance, 2010_reads, tortured-hero, i-ll-buy-for-the-cover-alone

Ahhh, this was a good one. I don't usually read many historicals but this one caught my eye because of the glorious cover, and I figured if it was half as good as its cover...I was pleasantly surprised when the story more than lived up to its cover!

I won't get into much of the plot, since the synopsis does a good job of it, and I doubt that I could write about it without giving away some spoilers. Just know that Sinful is a story about a devilishly handsome aristocratic, notorious, cold, jaded r Ahhh, this was a good one. I don't usually read many historicals but this one caught my eye because of the glorious cover, and I figured if it was half as good as its cover...I was pleasantly surprised when the story more than lived up to its cover!

I won't get into much of the plot, since the synopsis does a good job of it, and I doubt that I could write about it without giving away some spoilers. Just know that Sinful is a story about a devilishly handsome aristocratic, notorious, cold, jaded rake (Matthew, the Earl of Wallingford) who harbors an inner darkness and self loathing due to something that happened to him as a young teen. Matthew feels that he is broken and has no heart to give. Because of his horrible experience he is screwed up when it comes to sex and can't be emotionally intimate with a woman. Until one night after an auction for one of his paintings (he's also an artist) when he is beaten, hospitalized, and meets a shy, plain, red-headed nurse named Jane and his world turns around.

Jane, who has her own traumatic, disappointing background as a daughter of a woman who turned to prostitution after her lover dumped her as his mistress, works as a lady's companion by day, and at night she is a nurse at the hospital where she first meets Matthew. Matthew's eyes have been injured and he cannot see Jane, but he is drawn to her by her soothing voice and gentle touch. They forge a connection while Jane takes care of him, and then the story takes off from there.

I don't want to say any more because this is a story you'll want to just fall into and experience. It's emotional, it's romantic, it's stressful as you wonder "what will happen next?" There's plenty of highs and lows, pushing and pulling, disappointments and ecstacy, and secrets revealed in the Jane/Matthew relationship. The story is filled with heaping amounts of sexual tension that will keep you glued to the pages (the scenes where Jane helps to 'soothe' Matthew in his hospital bed...whew!), and there's also plenty of scenes that will leave you wringing your hands over the fate of the relationship. There will be a time or two when you'll want to slap Matthew upside the head for being deliberately cruel to Jane (in order to drive her away, you see) but you'll still be pulling for Matthew because you know it's his tortured past that's driving him to do the things he does, and you'll be praying that his relationship with the brave, wonderful Jane will help heal him of what he sees as his 'sin'.

This book grabbed me from the start, and except for a brief period about 2/3 of the way into the story where Matthew and Jane tried to figure out where their relationship was heading (would Jane be content to just be a mistress?) and if they could open up to each other, moved at a pretty blazing speed. A secret about Matthew's past that was revealed later in the book took me by surprise (I make a lousy detective) but did a lot to make me understand him and to understand CF's plotting. I was devastated about the direction that the story had to take after that, shed a few tears, but held out hope for a HEA. And I got one, even if it was a bit unconventional and surprising. But if you want to read more about the HEA, make sure you check out the author's website for a big, lush, juicy epilogue that will bring a big smile to your face and have you sighing in satisfaction.

If you're looking for a historical with some fantastic storytelling, erotic moments, wonderful, vulnerable characters who grow by leaps and bounds, and an emotional love story that will have you biting your nails one moment and then later sighing in pleasure, check this book out! This was the first book I've ever read by Charlotte Featherstone, but it won't be my last. Now I must check out its predecessor, Addicted. 5 stars ...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Eastofoz rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-regency, erotica, 2010

Why do erotic historicals more often than not have to be seeped in a dark and depressing misery? It seems to be that they all have something sordid about them and this one is no different. What is different is that while the others have a non-stop sex-athon with various “what the ** ?!?” acrobatics and a modicum of story, this one stays stuck in the same place for over 300 pages. The plot just doesn’t move.

I had so much hope for this novel, thinking that I’d like it even better than Featherstone Why do erotic historicals more often than not have to be seeped in a dark and depressing misery? It seems to be that they all have something sordid about them and this one is no different. What is different is that while the others have a non-stop sex-athon with various “what the ** ?!?” acrobatics and a modicum of story, this one stays stuck in the same place for over 300 pages. The plot just doesn’t move.

I had so much hope for this novel, thinking that I’d like it even better than Featherstone’s Addicted. Matthew, the Earl of Wallingford, is a jaded rake who cares for no one except himself, but he has a secret past that made him into the man he has become. Emotionally he's horefrost and your basic use-‘em-and-lose-‘em mean sobofabitch kinda guy towards women in general. That’s the teaser you pretty much get from “Addicted” making you itch to read his story in “Sinful”. The novel starts out well enough with Matthew meeting Jane the plain spinster heroine at the hospital where he ends up after being beaten. Unfortunately it started to nosedive from there on in with this left-field lust-fest between the two. There’s no tension building at all so you can’t really appreciate this “need” that the two have for each other. If the author had tried to pull it off as just a physical thing then I probably could’ve bought it, but because she was trying to aim for some emotional plane it wasn’t believable because they had only just met and barely spoke to each other. Sure she nursed him for a day or so but she was hardly being nurse-like what with wanting to check out and play with his weenie and all which of course didn’t match her proper character either.

As the pages go by you realize that nothing is happening and everything is just being repeated. He’s a jaded rake, he wants her, she’s a spinster, she wants him, he is bad, she is good, it's intense (!), fondle here, fondle there, he tells her to get away because he is so bad, she tells him he is a good soul deep down, cue fondle/intense moment. That’s it. Nothing else happens. They’re stuck, so for me this book needed some major editing. There are some parts that are sad, like when he sees Jane for the first time or when he talks about his life, there are also a few OMG surprises but all this isn’t sustained and it’s gets to be a case of too little too late.

I was surprised with how the author handled the end and even without an epilogue I thought it was fine. Frankly the epilogue (which you have to read on the author’s website because there was no more room to stick it in the book apparently) killed the book even more for me because everything was peachy pretty and la-di-da nice –you could practically see the lovely butterflies flitting about –gag, gag, gag! Sure you want the HEA but there’s no need to go overboard already. It was like the author was saying “yes it was such a depressing read I know so here’s the sweetest sugar and stickiest syrup to make up for it —dig in!” The writing style didn’t seem to match the book and it felt forced or shoved onto the reader, it was also too long with more of that sex for sex.

Featherstone paints a good picture but the problem here was the lack of development in story and the repetition. It was as if she didn’t know what to do with the characters apart from saying how miserably depressed (and depressing) they were, how sexually proficient he was but she wasn’t and how not so attractive she was. Yeah, and? Usually the author makes the heroine attractive somehow even if she is plain but Jane seemed like a scarecrow to me from start to finish. Some parts of the story didn’t make sense like Matthew’s mentally handicapped sister who a few years later seems "well-enough" to have someone court her. What the?!? Everybody had to get their HEA I guess. Also having the heroine call this bear of a man “Matty” in the throes of sex just didn’t work for me. Sounded like what you’d call a child. The only thing sexy about Matthew was the artist’s depiction of him on the cover (the book gets a 5 star keeper shelf spot for that alone :D ) . He does nothing in life, doesn’t want any kind of power and is a borderline loser. The author could’ve played up his painting side a bit more to give him some kind of grounding. There’s nothing appealing about him especially since he’s just like a grey cloud over everything. The sexy alpha Earl of Wallingford from “Addicted” just never cut it in his own story.

The first hundred pages are just almost-sex without story, the next two hundred are a repetition of the first one hundred with more focus on the misery that’s also repeated 12 000 times. The characters are intriguing, even the secondary ones, but some of the things they do/say are outright stupid and there are just too many extremes all the time making the reader roll their eyes at the absurdity of the situation. 2.5 stars is about the best I can give this read. On to the keeper shelf it goes though right beside Dawn Thompson’s Lord of the Deep–another dud of a read but a mighty fine piece of exceptional eye candy nonetheless ;p
...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Jen rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Matthew and Jane

For about two thirds of this book I could see why everyone loved it. The character were deep, tortured and well written. The love scenes were lush and detailed. I could see and feel why this book was so popular.

Matthew had suffered childhood abuse from someone who is unnamed (at the beginning of the book). He cannot women to touch him in certain ways. He cannot have someone on top of him and he cannot have sex in a bed, only up against walls. Jane is the one to change this. Jane ...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Kelly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010-read, favorites

Sinful the follow up to Addicted does not disappoint, in fact it well surpassed my expectations.

Most people will at one point or another find it very hard to like Matthew. I never encountered this. I loved watching his journey from Wallingford to Matthew. I loved Jane too and although her journey was a bit more subtle than Matthew's it was not less harrowing.

The thing I love most about Featherstone's writing is in the way she never fully spell things out for the reader and although at times I ...more

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Feb 11, 2010 Colleen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-book, 2010, historical-romance

Holy Moly, I thought I loved Addicted, but Sinful literally blew me away. I didn't want it to end!!! Speaking of ends, I was fine with the ending in the book between Matthew and Jane. Yes, I would have preferred something different, but let's remember the era here. Of course, then I read the epilogue posted on the author's website and I was thrilled to read what later transpired between Matthew and Jane. I would give this book 10 stars if I could - truly one of the best books I've read thus far ...more

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Apr 19, 2010 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, ebook, favorites

What an incredible moving story. I only wish that it didn't have to end.

There is nothing remotely cliché about Matthew or his actions throughout his journey in this book. He is often times cruel and more times than not heartless, as he so often refers to himself. In reality he has been so damaged by his past that instead of making peace and moving on, he lets him define who he becomes as an adult.

Jane is a tortured and damaged soul also, but instead of wallowing in self pity she moves on from ...more

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Sep 30, 2014 Julianna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: desert-island-keepers, historical-romance, heac-white-collar-heroes, read-2015, erotic-romance

Reviewed for THC Reviews
Charlotte Featherstone is masterful at writing emotional, deeply sensual, and incredibly touching love stories. She's also extremely talented with creating emotionally broken and deeply flawed characters who despite their failings, still manage to capture my heart and make me want to root for them to get their HEA. Addicted, the first book of the series, completely engrossed me, so that I had a hard time putting it down and never wanted it to end. Perhaps because of his c ...more

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May 21, 2010 Kris H. rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-romance, erotic-romance

I had a hard time getting into this one. Didn't care for the Hero. Waaaaaaaaaaaay too much melodrama for me. Not really my cuppa. Awesome cover, though. ...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Rochelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2011, historical-romance, romance

Wowza!
The ending kind of took me by surprise. Heading over to http://www.charlottefeatherstone.net/ to read the epilogue!

Edited to add: Epilogue was awesome and a must-read! ...more

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