The Perils of Pleasure: Pennyroyal Green Series

This is a really great, off the beaten path story! Both main characters are wounded in different ways: Colin is accused of murder he never committed and narrowly escapes exaction, and Madeline is a tough survivor, trying to start her life over after loosing her family and everything she had. They are not looking for love and happily ever after; they are just trying to resolve an impossible situation they both find themselves in. The book is full of unusual twists and turns, and the answers in the end are pretty unexpected. And on the side note, as someone who comes from a decently sized family, I really loved the descriptions of Colin's interactions with his oldest brother Marcus - brilliantly written and, oh, so true and timeless!

This is perhaps a 4.5 star book, but I just couldn’t hit the five star button. The writing is excellent, and the plot kept me on the edge of my seat. There is, however, an off-kilter rhythm to this book like how the world looks through a brand new pair of spectacles. I read Book 5 first, by accident, and it was similar. Very lyrical. Somewhat strange.As in Book 5, one of he main characters spends the whole book professing love for someone else. I hope this isn’t the theme in every one. It was frustrating when it was the heroine (Book 5), but it was beyond frustrating in the Hero (this book.) He professes undying love for his childhood sweetheart since age 11, meanwhile he beds half of England including the heroine of this book. He is rushing to try and stop his “true love” (Louisa) from marrying his brother Marcus all the while lusting after the woman who saved his life (Madeleine). I know men and women are different, but just no.It ties up the HEA I suppose that the hero realizes in the 11th hour that he didn’t really love the girl he knew his whole life but did the one he knew for a week, but did no one have a problem with how cavalier Colin was with his precious Louisa? She dodged a bullet for sure. It’s one thing for a rake to enjoy women before he finds the woman he wants to marry (for love), but during? But given the plot twist at the end, this might just be par for the course for a supremely dysfunctional family.If the “love story” were the main plot of this book, it would have been 2 stars, but thankfully the “framing an innocent man for murder” eclipsed the romance.I was disappointed there wasn’t an epilogue because the twist at the end wasn’t expanded upon, and I still wasn’t sure Redman wasn’t directly involved.

So many Regency Era romances follow a tried and true, if hackneyed, formula. The Perils of Pleasure is anything but typical or formulaic. It is a deep breath of fresh air in a genre burdened with over sexualized tripe.The male protagonist, Colin is a young London rake making his march to the gallows for a crime he didn't commit. Fortunately he is saved quite dramatically by Madeleine, a woman hired to choreograph his rescue. The successful rescue sets off a series of adventures, discoveries and resolutions that are surprising, intriguing, inventive and original.Apart from a few formatting errors, this is one of the best stories in this genre I've read in a long, long time. There is humor, intrigue and great poignancy. The main characters are likable and sympathetic as they grow and develop throughout the story. The intrigue is well developed and unpredictable and the plot twist at the end was truly surprising. The ultimate resolution for our two main characters was by no means assured but was ultimately, deeply satisfying.Be advised: there are two fairly graphic sex scenes between the two main characters, but rather than being gratuitous sexual interludes, I felt them to be a natural element in their developing relationship. In my opinion, the scenes were not included to heighten prurient interest but to show character and relationship development and as such are some of the best I've read.Bottom line: If this is a sample of Ms. Long's prowess as a writer, I will happily read more of her work. Well done, Ms. Long, very well done.

I really liked this book. I think this is the first book by Julie Anne Long. If so, she's off to a great start.I especially loved Madelaine! So unlike most ingenues. She is a widow who has lost her husband and child, and. Although she loved them dearly, she perseveres relying on her extraordinary talent of coming up with solutions to difficult problems. She tends to be super serious, but she has a delightful time teasing Colin (who, by the way, is now my favorite rogue). Madelaine is not from the nobility, and makes no apologies for it. The mystery that they are trying to solve is also a cut above what you usually find in a romance.All in all, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Applause for a truly captivating plot line, where we follow the hero & heroine go after each clue, suspense holding up all the way. However all of this is at the sacrifice to the actual love story, which plays second fiddle. Especially the heroines backstory. I admire her and think she’s full of character but I have no idea who she is, how she really felt about her husband, her past life and it’s a shame cos she’s a great character. I felt the ending was a bit of an anti-climax romantically speaking too

I had never read a book by Julie Ann Long before but I was intrigued by the blurb. I had avoided romance for a while after getting a bit fed up with the same old plotlines and the flimsiest excuses for incorporating sex in the storyline.Julie Ann Long delivered a few things I wasn't expecting with this book. Not only does it have an original plot, Long writes entertaining characters with a wonderfully strong female lead and has achieved an unforced inclusion of sex scenes.It is a pity a few errors found their way in but I do recommend this book to other readers who might be feeling a bit fed up with the 'norm'.

There's some lovely writing here; an example:"Sacks of what appeared to be flour were stacked at one end, and other smaller sacks that no doubt held coffee beans and spices leaned against the big sacks like bashful children"I found that was an image that slowly grew in my head until I could just SEE that store room, and maybe even smell it as well!There's a lot of gentle humour and a few laugh out loud moments, and two lovely leads, both strong and capable people, who slowly and reluctantly feel their way towards a relationship - it isn't lust at first sight, he's in love with someone else and she has plans - big plans that don't allow for any attachments.There's a lot of family background that will no doubt feed into the next books in the series (this is Book 1), but the individual family members are barely introduced at this stage, apart from one or two.Starts well, totally snagging your interest from the off, and never really lets go. Why not 5 stars? Well, I know books like this are fantasy, but I like a brush stroke of reality with my historical romance, and while this covers countesses, hangings and resurrectionists, not to mention convoluted blackmail and attempted murder, I never quite managed to suspend my inner realist.The series goes, this one, Like no Other Lover, Since the Surrender, I Kissed an Earl, What I did for a Duke, and coming next year, How the marquess Was Won.

This is the third of her books I have now read in fairly rapid succession and I can't tell you how nice it is to discover a new (for me) author in this genre who is as good as this. Julie Anne Long writes beautifully and with great subtlety. Her plots are well constructed and believably told, not too predictable and wonderfully romantic. I've not read the Pennyroyal Green books in any particular order so far and they do all stand alone very well - they are essentially about two families from Sussex, the Everseas and the Redmonds, bitter rivals since forever. This book is all about Colin Eversea - the youngest of the Eversea brothers who has been framed for the murder of a Redmond cousin. He's sentenced to death, is rescued at the last moment by Madeleine and then their adventures begin. I won't summarise the plot further - it's essentially a tale of their adventures together as they try and establish Colin's innocence. It's wonderfully done with funny moments, tender moments and a couple of very erotic moments too. Can recommend this book highly and also the other two I've read so far which are "Like no Other Lover" and "What I did for a Duke". They've all been good and 5 stars worth but my favourite so far is "What I did for a Duke".

Colin Eversea is about to be hanged (yes that is the correct verb) for a murder he didn't commit. He has to follow a thin thread of clues to find out who set him up, and who arranged for his rescue. And less easily, why. Be prepared for twists.