"Exciting historical romantic suspense thriller"

Lord Ryderbourne is stunned when Lady Belinda rejects his proposal of marriage as she gave no hint that his attentions were unwanted; instead she accepted a proposal from impoverish Lord Asterly while informing Ryder she felt he was too dangerous and powerful for him. On the way home, his ire and humiliation vanishes when Ryder notices a dinghy containing a nearly naked female that looks ready to tip over. He rescues the battered unconscious woman, who he assumes is running from an angry abusive husband. Ryder takes her to the nearby Merry Monarch Inn where after she awakens they spend the night making love. In the morning she is gone.

When Ryder continues his journey home he finds a note from her thanking him as Sir Lancelot and informing him that she is Miracle Heather, the most notorious harlot in London and now a killer too. Unable to resist, the heir to a dukedom follows Miracle's trail not yet realizing the danger to his heart from a woman he is falling in love with and from those who pursue her under the cloak of justice, but want to insure she is silenced from revealing secrets that could harm them.

GAMES OF PLEASURE is an exciting historical romantic suspense thriller that never slows down from the moment that Ryder rescues Heather from the small boat until the final confrontation. Ryder is a courageous heroic individual while Heather is a caring damsel in distress. Though that first night of lovemaking when she was battered and unconscious just before their NIGHT OF SIN seems implausible, fans will not care as Julia Ross provides a pleasurable passionate tale of love on the run.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 15, 2005

Summary

Riding home after a rebuffed marriage proposal, Lord Ryderbourne notices a small boat dangerously adrift. Impulsively, he plunges his horse into the sea and saves the boat's unconscious occupant—a beautiful, bruised, and nearly naked woman...

Hiding a terrible secret, Miracle Heather has no desire to be rescued—especially by a virile young aristocrat. Yet Ryder drags her to shore, wraps her in his cloak, and carries her to a nearby inn, where he insists on taking care of her. A skilled courtesan, she knows of only one way to repay his gallantry, and Ryder is helpless to resist her seduction. The ensuing night of passion shakes them both to the soul, but—fearing the pursuers at her heels—she flees before he wakes.

Irresistibly drawn after her, Ryder soon follows, but Miracle cannot risk losing her heart. No honorable future is possible for a duke's son and a lady of the night. With her life in danger, they agree to travel north together on England's hidden byways as comrades, not lovers. Yet even as their journey leads them both into the unknown, desire threatens to defeat principle...