Review: A Tempest of Desire

A Tempest of Desire by Lorraine Heath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

He’d cried out for a woman and fate had seen fit to deliver to his shore London’s most infamous courtesan. 

A Tempest of Desire is fifth in the Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series but you'd have no problem jumping in here. This was a more quiet book, it's character driven with the vast majority focused on these two alone and wanting to reach for each other. There were a couple flashback scenes in the beginning to show their, we have the tingles, first meeting one another, it's what can some times come off as insta-lust but Heath is a capital W-riter, so it's instant attraction; emotions and thoughts are there enough to be shown, explored, and felt. 

But then she’d never had to deal with anyone who bothered her as much as Langdon did, in ways she didn’t quite understand.

If you've read this series and the one it's a spin-off from, you'll know Langdon is the son of the Devil Earl, and he feels the responsibility of carrying some of that weight, he doesn't want to in anyway ruin his family's carefully built reputation. So, when he's in a railway accident and gets diagnosed with Railway Spine (A+ historical additive) that causes him to not understand numbers anymore, he sequesters himself to his family's private island. Men and their Drama King ways. While he's on the island, Marlowe, who he knows as one of his peer's courtesan, washes up on his shore unconscious. Turns out Marlowe is an aeronaut and her balloon crashed when she encountered a storm while flying. Langdon's number issue and Marlowe's glimpse at PTSD from her crash are, there, but this is really just about the feelings between the two. 

He thought he knew her. All of London thought they knew her but all they truly knew was what the ink in the gossip columns revealed and it was shaped by those who resented her. 

Over half of this book is the two on the island eyeing each other up and wanting one another. The bond over sharing their traumas and we get a good look at how and why Marlowe ended up a courtesan at the young age at nineteen, she's now twenty-two, help give layers to the characters. I liked the in-depth look at her and how it realized her character, we don't quite get as much from Langdon but he's fine for the role he's in. 

He spun her so her back was to him and he draped her hair over one shoulder before he began loosening the lacings on the gown. 

After some open-door bedroom antics, the second half moves us back to society and London. They have some separation as Marlowe is hurt that Langdon asks her to be his mistress when she wants more of a commitment from him, knowing that 1879 London society is not very forgiving regarding their current statuses. We get some mooning from both, Langdon trying to stay in her life by sending her gifts, as he works through the “remember this is why the story can't just wrap up in 100 pages” given impediment that he worries about ruining his family's reputation. 

He wouldn’t take what she wasn’t willingly offering. 

The ending, is of course, predictable but, you know what, I'm a sucker for when someone gathers the troops (Landgon's family and friends) and throws everything they have and puts it on the line for the one they love. The only thing I kind of missed (sort of get it with the epilogue) was more meaningful scenes with Marlowe and her mother, working out how her father's actions hurt them both. If you're looking for more of a quiet, focus on the characters, and wade through the emotions, then this would be one to pick-up.

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