About the Book
A LADY WITH A SECRET
The Ravishing Miss Burke has everything a young lady could want—beauty, status and suitors lined up just to beg for her hand. Until a blackmailer from her past holds her future for ransom.
A MAN HELLBENT ON REVENGE
Colonel Rupert Delacorte, Viscount Darling will go to any length to ruin the woman responsible for his beloved sister’s death. But the Ravishing Miss Burke is nothing like the icy murderer of his waking dreams—she’s nothing but a bluestocking with a shocking secret she’ll go to almost any length to keep. Even succumbing to his sinful seduction.
—-
A Sense of Sin was originally published in 2011. This new edition has been revised and reedited.
What They’re Saying…
Essex pits a delightful bluestocking against a mysterious blackmailer and a vengeful rake in late 18th-century Dartmouth in this well-researched but uneven tale, a loose sequel to The Pursuit of Pleasure. Rupert Delacorte, Viscount Darling, blames the beautiful Celia Burke, who would rather study botany than attend balls, for his sister Emily’s suicide. He vows to ruin her in return.When Rupert and Celia are anonymously blackmailed, they initially suspect each other, but are soon drawn together by their shared loss and an intense sensual attraction as they struggle to uncover the real culprit. Celia is effectively characterized as a would-be academic with a charming mix of intelligence and innocence. Despite some overwrought prose and clumsy handling of the mystery element, the slow buildup of the romance is skillfully handled and takes impressive advantage of the sexual tension created by delayed gratification. (Apr.)
~ Publisher’s Weekly