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Lessons of Desire, by Madeline Hunter
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Handsome, suave, and carnal as the devil, Lord Elliot Rothwell awaits readers in Lessons of Desire, bestselling author Madeline Hunter’s latest book in the Rothwell series and her most provocative novel to date. A man used to getting what he wants, Elliot is every woman’s most secret fantasy in the living flesh.
He first appears beneath her prison window as her savior—a sinfully attractive man whose charm and connections have ensured her release from an unjust arrest. But author and publisher Phaedra Blair quickly learns that the price of her “freedom” is to be virtually bound to her irresistible rescuer. For Elliot Rothman didn’t come solely on a mission of goodwill. He came to extract a promise that Phaedra won’t publish a slanderous manuscript that could destroy his family’s name, and he’s not above bribery, threats, or bedding her to get his way. And with each erotic encounter raising the stakes between them, Elliot discovers he’s ever more reluctant to lose this sensual game…or the one woman who’s every bit his match.
- Sales Rank: #1066480 in Books
- Brand: Hunter, Madeline
- Published on: 2007-09-25
- Released on: 2007-09-25
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.80" h x 1.14" w x 4.22" l,
- Binding: Mass Market Paperback
- 416 pages
About the Author
Madeline Hunter is a nationally bestselling author of historical romances who lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. In a parallel existence to the one she enjoys as a novelist, she has a Ph.D. in art history and teaches at an East Coast university.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One
A man who has committed a crime needs to cover his tracks, even if he made them while wearing the best shoes that money can buy.
In order to cover his, Lord Elliot Rothwell reentered his family's London home amidst the late arrivals to his brother's ball. He acted like a young man who had briefly gone out to take some air on this glorious, breezy May night.
With one step over the threshold he no longer entered but instead greeted. The tall, handsome, youngest brother of the fourth Marquess of Easterbrook—the Rothwell sibling considered the most amiable and normal—bestowed smiles on everyone and very warm ones on certain ladies.
A quarter hour later Elliot slid into a conversation with Lady Falrith as smoothly as he had just slipped back into the ballroom. He resumed a topic aborted two hours earlier, and flattered the lady so adroitly that she forgot that he had excused himself long ago. Within minutes Lady Falrith ceased to care about the passage of time.
While Elliot charmed Lady Falrith he scanned the crush in the ballroom for his brother. Not his brother Hayden, who along with his new wife, Alexia, was hosting this ball. He sought the eye of his other brother, Christian, Marquess of Easterbrook.
Christian's gaze never met his but Elliot's return to the ball was noted. Christian disengaged from a circle of lords on the far side of the room and walked to the door.
Elliot danced a waltz with Lady Falrith before continuing this night's mission. He did so in penance for using the lady, and in silent thanks for her unwitting aid. Lady Falrith's sense of time could be fluid, and her memory very optimistic. By the morning she would believe that Elliot had attended on her all night and was in pursuit of her. Her confidence in her own appeal would prove useful should something untoward develop regarding his activities in the city tonight.
The waltz over, he again excused himself. Unlike Christian, who had walked in isolation and with purpose for the door, Elliot strolled down the ballroom sociably, greeting and chatting until he sidled next to his new sister-in-law, Alexia.
"It is going well, don't you agree?" she asked. Her gaze swept the chamber, seeking empirical confirmation.
"It is a triumph, Alexia." And it was, for her. A triumph of spirit and character, and maybe a triumph of love.
Alexia was not the sort of woman whom society had expected Hayden to marry. She had no family and no fortune. She was so sensible that she had never learned how to dissemble, let alone flirt. Yet here she was hosting a grand ball in the home of a marquess, her dark hair impeccably styled and her headdress and garments the last word in fashion. The penniless orphan had married a man who loved her in a way he had never loved before.
Elliot trusted the marriage would be a good one. Alexia would see to that. History had proven that love was a dangerous emotion for Rothwell men. Sensible, practical Alexia would know how to use the love to keep the danger corralled, however. Elliot suspected that she had already tamed the beast several times.
He joined her in admiring the night's success. In the far corner a small, pale woman held court. One too many plumes flourished in the headdress decorating her blonde hair. All the while she kept one gleaming eye on the male attention being paid to a pretty girl nearby.
"The triumph is yours, Alexia, but I think that my aunt intends to take home the biggest prize this hunting season."
"Your aunt Henrietta is understandably happy about Caroline's first season. Two titles have paid addresses of late. However, she is vexed with me tonight because I did not invite one of those titles to this ball, despite her command to do so."
Elliot had little interest in his aunt's vexations. He did, however, have a strong interest in the guest list.
"I have not seen Miss Blair, Alexia. No black habits. No undressed hair. Did Hayden forbid you to invite her?"
"Not at all. Phaedra is abroad. She embarked over a fortnight ago."
He did not want to appear too curious, but . . . "Abroad, you say?"
Her violet eyes warmed with humor. She gave him all of her attention, which, considering the subject, he would rather not have.
"Naples first, then a tour of the south. I told her that you say it is unwise to visit Italy in the heat of summer, but she spoke of desiring to investigate the rituals and feasts of that season." She inclined her head confidentially. "I believe that her father's passing affected her more than she admits. Her final meeting with him was an emotional one. It distressed her. I believe she undertook this voyage in order to lift her spirits."
He did not doubt a deathbed parting with a father could be emotional. His own had touched him indelibly. Tonight, however, he was more interested in Miss Blair's whereabouts, and in matters that had been discussed with her father before they made that permanent farewell.
"If you know where she planned to reside in Naples, I will call on her when I go if she is still there."
"She did leave a residence that she hoped to use. She had learned about it from a friend. If she has not returned prior to your own journey, I will be grateful if you call on her. Her independence sometimes leads to carelessness, so I do worry about her."
He doubted Phaedra Blair took well anyone's worrying about her. Alexia was very good to do so anyway.
"Oh, dear," muttered Alexia.
He saw what caused the sigh that followed. Henrietta aimed for them, her plumes dancing and her dreamy, sparkling eyes displaying glints of determination.
"I think she is after you," Alexia whispered. "Float away, or she will bend your ear complaining how Easterbrook permitted me to host a ball without asking for her agreement. She thinks her residence in this house makes her the mistress of it."
Elliot could float with the best of them. He was long gone downstream before his aunt arrived.
After a quick cut to the servants' corridor and a fast nip up the back stairs, Elliot approached Christian's chambers. He entered the sitting room to find his brother lounging in a chair in the corner.
The sharp look Christian shot at him proved Easterbrook's mind was not nearly as relaxed as his body.
"I did not find it," Elliot said, answering the question those dark eyes asked. "If it is in his offices or his home, it is very well hidden."
Christian audibly exhaled. The sound carried his annoyance that this matter had recently interrupted his freedom to spend his days doing whatever it was that he normally did. Elliot had no idea what those activities might be. No one really knew what Christian was about anymore.
"On knowing he was about to die, he may have burned it," Elliot suggested.
"Merris Langton displayed a character that was unlikely to think of sparing others, even when he was at death's door." Christian crooked a finger under the top of his perfectly tied cravat and gave a little yank to loosen it.
Christian appeared splendid tonight, every inch the lord of the realm. His coats and linens announced their superior quality with every thread. His gesture with the cravat hinted at his discomfort with the night's formality, however, as surely as the long queue of his unfashionably long, dark hair indicated his eccentric bent.
Elliot assumed his brother longed to shed the sartorial symbols of civilization and swathe himself in that exotic robe he often wore. One normally found him barefoot in these chambers, not wearing silk hose and pumps. Currently the only hint of his normal dishabille in the house was the unbuttoned frock coat and the liquid manner in which his tall body molded itself to the chair's upholstery.
"You checked for loose floorboards and such?" Christian asked.
"I risked discovery to do so. I was in both buildings too long, and a constable passed by as I left the City offices. It is dark, there was no lamp near the door, however . . ."
His description of his adventure suggested more caution than he had experienced. He believed there were occasions when there was no choice except to break a law, but he had never expected to be so coldly indifferent to doing so when such an occasion arrived for him.
"You have been at this ball all night, should any questions arise," Christian said. "Langton owned a small publishing house that favored radical texts. He was also a man with a taste for blackmail, as we have learned. The pity is that he went and died before I could pay him off. Now Richard Drury's manuscript is God knows where, and its sordid lie about our father may yet see the light of day."
"I will make sure it does not."
"Do you think someone else got to it before you? I am probably not the only person Langton approached."
"I saw no indication that anyone had gone through his belongings yet. Not even his solicitor or executor. He was only buried this afternoon. I do not think it was in either place when he died."
"That is damned inconvenient."
"Inconvenient but not insurmountable. I will find it, and I will destroy it if necessary."
Christian's attention narrowed on him. "You speak with confidence. You know where that damned manuscript is, don't you?"
"I have a good idea. If I am right, we will be done with this soon. It may still cost you."
"Pay. Richard Drury was a member of Parliament and, despite his extreme views, a respected intellectual. If his memoirs include such an accusation against my father, many will believe it."
They will believe it because it fits with what they already think to be true. Elliot did not voice the response, but it had whi...
Most helpful customer reviews
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
I admired MH's Phaedra, but thumbs-down on her nonetheless
By Raithe
The comparison to a conqueror would apply in Madeline Hunter's LESSONS OF DESIRE if Elliot Rothwell actually did anything. Instead, he harbors a lot of emotional angst and he acquiesces to everything according to Phaedra's terms and conditions. I have to admire Madeline Hunter for writing a heroine so different from the historical-romance norm such as Phaedra Blair, but I can't say I liked Phaedra and Elliot together. The book belongs to Phaedra Blair, her eccentric individuality, her dogged pursuit to print her late father's explosive memoirs, and her investigation to discover her late mother's last lover. On his deathbed, Phaedra's father claimed this last lover of her mother's eventually caused her mother's morose decline. Elliot Rothwell accompanies Phaedra on this journey to discover her mother's last lover. Elliot tries to dissuade her from printing portions of the memoirs which vilify his family, but he mostly cheers her on from the sidelines. Throughout the second half, Elliot inappropriately grovels at Phaedra's feet quite a bit too. Even following the very last page of this 386-page paperback, it didn't seem like Phaedra really wanted to marry him. Although she finally agrees and thinks she wants marriage with Elliot, she unfairly tests Elliot quite a bit. She makes him beg and voice copious words of love and affection before nonchalantly agreeing to marriage. Phaedra really doesn't deserve Elliot, and I was a little sickened by Elliot's constant debased groveling at Phaedra's feet.
I found the plotting, prose and settings below-average in this novel, but my dislike of the characters may have something to do with that feeling. For many romance books with relatively weak plotting, it's usually a hit-or-miss deal resting on whether the characters work for you or not. Madeline Hunter is better in this respect than most because she usually intersperses some intriguing plotting aside from a gritty romance itself. In LESSONS OF DESIRE, I felt the incongruous h/h interaction took away from the plotting dealing with Phaedra's memoirs. STEALING HEAVEN (*****) also featured a confident, experienced heroine at odds with her hero. There however, the hero turned heaven and earth upside down for his heroine, and it was very compelling. The combative tension there was mutually acknowledged and anticipated by both. In LESSONS OF DESIRE, Elliot doesn't really do anything, and his excessive groveling at the end seemed very inappropriate for a woman who clearly doesn't want marriage. Her last-second turnaround towards marriage wasn't very convincing either.
In many ways, LESSONS OF DESIRE represents the antithesis of RULES OF SEDUCTION and its heroine. RULES OF SEDUCTION's Alexia was practical, sensible and amenable to marriage, while LESSONS OF DESIRE's Phaedra is the polar opposite. Phaedra doesn't believe in the very institution of marriage.
Phaedra Blair believes in a philosophy espoused by her late mother, "free love" (a forward concept for the time period). Later in the novel, Elliot accurately recognizes the philosophy for what it is: "free pleasure." Phaedra also scorns a marital relationship which in her view chains a woman to a man. Poor Elliot; more than once, Phaedra fervently rebels against marriage with Elliot. When Elliot disconsolately provides Phaedra with the names of lawyers who help women in divorce cases, Phaedra hypocritically feels a "twist of disappointment" that Elliot would not contest her wishes for undoing their marriage. When Elliot writes to her expressing concern for her safety at her home, Phaedra almost blames Elliot for not asking her to come live with him. All this after Elliot practically begs her to continue with the marriage only to have her reject the marriage, and by extension, him! And over what? A feminist philosophy which repudiates the notion of marriage and how it always has to be: the woman chained to the man. If anything, it was Elliot enslaved by Phaedra, not the other way around. I thought it was incongruous to have Elliot use the words "love" first when it was always Phaedra who rejected and rebelled from him.
Elliot chances on too many opportunities to protect Phaedra from herself but he never seizes them. The book makes Elliot too much of a romantic goody boy: in Italy, he arranges to liberate Phaedra from an imprisonment of her own making twice, he protects her, he submits to her conditions for intimacy, he accepts Phaedra's lifestyle of "free love" and defends Phaedra's mother and her way of life when Phaedra expresses hatred towards her mother, he honors Phaedra's oath to print her father's controversial memoirs, he never coerces the witness Merriweather to retract statements which impugn Elliot's family, he never asks Phaedra to omit the portions of the memoirs which malign his family's name, he doesn't even abscond with the manuscript when Pheadra didn't want to print them herself.
Some of the transitions from a grave, quarrelsome tension to a sensual undercurrent seemed unsuitable at best, very jarring at worst. They're arguing over the gravity of how these memoirs could sully families' names and all of a sudden there's all this sexual chemistry. Other times, Elliot's thoughts over his mother's cheating and his father's cold imprisonment segues into his desire for Phaedra (p. 69). It didn't work for me, but maybe it did for others.
Finally, I didn't like this book weighing the greater evil between their father-the-jailer and their mother-the-adulteress. Elliot's mother loves another and in response, his father incarcerates her. Of the two evils, LESSONS OF DESIRE taints Elliot's father the late Marquess of Easterbrook's actions as the greater evil. I'm not so sure. He tragically loved someone who loved another. The father responded unfairly, but I don't believe their mother's betrayal in wedlock was somehow "less wrong."
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Her Weakest Book
By LBM
I usually really enjoy Ms. Hunter's books - but this one was weak. First - the heroine was what myself and my romance-reading girlfriends refer to as a "feminist ninny". Not a genuine feminist - one of those ones who seem to populate romance novels purely because they are supposed to create drama through their "difference". What they actually create is a lot of irritating banter-for-the-sake-of-merely disagreeing banter; and they disagree with the "hero" just because his opinions are those of a man. They also make stupid decisions, based on their rigid "principles", which are actually just plain foolish, and even dangerous. My other major issue is - nothing really HAPPENS in this book, plot-wise. It - and its heroine - rapidly grow tedious. Ho - hum!
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
Pearls Before Swine
By Mae Adamson
I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately I was very disappointed, mostly because of the heroine. She is not someone I would know or want to know. I am no prude, but in my opinion, "free love" and romance are oxymorons.
Even though Ms. Hunter went to great lenghts in her depiction of how Phaedra was raised to be a free thinker, I found her to a selfish, closed minded ideologue. She did not care about how her choices impacted those she cared about and who cared about her. She was unyielding in her opinions and not open to discourse unless it reinforced her own positions.
The strangest thing about her philosophies was that she refused to reconsider them even though she was fully aware of the negative impact her mother's lifestyle and choices had on her.
I would not call her a free thinker. She was a mouthpiece for her mother, but what were her own opinions? A free thinker does not agree with everything they are told. Rather, they think independently and critcally and come to their own conclusions.
My own conclusions are that Phaedra is one of the worst heriones ever featured in a romance novel and that wasting a fine hero like Lord Elliot on her is like throwing throwing pearls before swine.
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