Sabrina Jeffires writing is warm and engaging and her characters are well developed, witty and emotional. This is one of the best offerings from this series and I can't wait for the next one! Highly recommend!

A horrible incident caused Niall Lindsey to have to leave his beloved England and the woman he loved. Brilliana Trevor wanted so badly to go with Niall but the unknown future and the illness of her mother caused her to say no to leaving England with him. After years apart and lies and betrayal by those around them they run into each other when Niall is allowed to return to England. Neither is interested in seeing each other again but now they are being forced to pretend they are engaged. There are secrets that still need to be revealed if these two have a chance at a happy ever after.

It always hurts my heart a little when I'm reading a story where the H&H have been torn apart by lies and deception by those around them. I felt so sorry for Niall and Brie who only tried to do what was good for those they loved even though it cost them their love. Sabrina Jeffries has a fantastic way of writing the story where there is an edge of your seat - "will they or won't they get together" and then she throws in a bad guy or two to keep you guessing at who is causing trouble. This was such a good plot and I really liked the H&H from the start. They were both strong characters with neither being more so than the other. The balance was good between these two. I loved that Niall didn't give up on the relationship he wanted with Brie. The Great Aunt was a great addition with her saying the most outrageous things, which added fun to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I received an ARC from Negalley for an honest review.

Niall Lindsey kills a man in a duel for the honor of his sister. He is sworn to secrecy and he realizes he must leave England. He asks Brilliana Trevor to run away with him because he loves her and does not want to leave her behind. She refuses and he leaves alone. Seven years later, Niall has been pardoned and returned as an Earl. Brilliana is a widow with a small son.
Niall and Brilliana are forced to work together for the good of the country. There is forged currency being circulated and it is possible Brilliana's father is involved.
All the physical attraction between the two comes to the forefront. The lust is still the same but because of the past there is little to no trust between the two.
I would have liked both of them better if they were honest about things. Niall has worked as a spy while he was on the continent, so he is used to not being who he appears. Brilliana seems to fall right into misrepresentation very easily. But, the biggest lack of honesty is within their relationship. Neither one of them seem capable of talking to the other. The lack of communication became tedious for me.
Most of the misery from their past is because of the actions of others. Both had fathers with huge character flaws. And both fathers manipulated things until they each got exactly what was their choice, not the choices of their children.
Ms Jeffries is such a talented author who writes wonderful stories. Her writing brings this story above and beyond. She has created characters who are complete people. Niall, Brilliana and the supporting characters are interesting and entertaining. Brilliana's aunt and her son, Silas, add a great deal of humanity to the story. Their presence creates life in a real family.
The mystery of the forgeries moves things along, but the mystery is not too difficult to solve.
Ms Jeffries has presented us with a book about two people and their families. Along the way, love is rekindled and trust rears its very human head.
I enjoyed this book. I received the book from the publisher through NetGalley. I am voluntarily writing this review and all opinions are my own.

One of my favorite themes in Historical Romances is that of lost lovers finding each other again. In this case, Niall and Brilliana met and fell in love before she even had her come out. Niall was involved in a duel and had to flee the country. Meanwhile, Bree got married - not for love but to help her family. now, years later, they are both in London, he is an Earl and she is a widow and they must pose as an engaged couple to help solve a crime.
This is part romance, part crime story where the two try to find out whether her father is the counterfeiter that the government is looking for. To do this, they pose as an engaged couple. But, the longer they are together, the more the old feelings come back.
Sabrina Jefferies does a wonderful job with the characters. You can't help but love Niall and Bree and feel the pain of the betrayal they each faced in the past that kept them apart. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First time reading a Sabrina Jeffries’ book – and it was a good start, but it could have been better.

The entire book revolves around two connected plots: the main couple’s history and a counterfeit scheme.

Niall and Brilliana had met seven years before our story, and had had a secret relationship of love declarations and sweet gestures (nothing else). When Niall is forced to flee England and asks Bree to run away with him, she refuses because of her sick mother. Niall feels betrayed when Bree doesn’t send any news, and he only knows through his father that she married Mr. Trevor a few months after his departure. Bree knows he ran away because he killed a man in a duel, but she doesn’t know why, which made her vulnerable to speculation when confronted with a different idea about Niall’s true character.

All of these misunderstandings make them hate the reasons that kept them apart and of course, hate what each thinks the other had done wrong. Trust needs to be rebuilt, at the same time as they must find out if Bree’s father is creating and distributing counterfeit bank notes. With a fake engagement, doubts and suspiciousness, the book ends up losing something by repeating several times the same ideas of why the trust was lost and how it’s so difficult to regain it – but for us readers, it’s not necessary to keep pushing the same button so much.

It seemed like there were some plot holes: what really happened to Bree’s mother? Did she end up living with Bree and her husband or did she stay with her husband until her death? What was her condition? How long was she sick, did she pass away shortly after Niall’s departure or was it years later? Bree wrote to Niall – why didn’t he write to her? He knew where to find her and England knew exactly where he was so that’s no excuse. These questions, among others, were left unanswered.

The most interesting part for me was the counterfeit scheme and how, even though they were forged to pretend to be engaged to discover the criminal (who I identified from the very moment he first showed up), every character just worked like a well-oiled clock. Without question, the best characters were (the eccentric) Aunt Agatha and the mysterious Lord Fulkham.

It was a pleasant book, a quick read, read at ease, which kept me interested the entire time.

Like always the book from Sabrina Jeffries is just wonderful. The story gets you interested until the end of the book. The characters are well described and interact well with one another. Like always a great book.

Another great read from Sabrina Jeffries’ The Sinful Suitors series. The world she has created is fascinating and the characters we meet are entertaining. This book tells the story of Niall and Brilliana. These are characters previously introduced in the series, and now we get to learn their story.
Young and in love, they have a secret relationship that they keep from their families. In protecting his sister, Niall must leave England. He asks Brilliana to go with him, but due to her mother being ill she remains in England. Each agrees that they will be together when they are able, however, meddling fathers keep them apart. Niall receives a pardon for his killing a man during a duel; and he returns to take control of his estate. A scheming government official, Fulkham, blackmails Niall and Brilliana into faking an engagement to find the source of counterfeit bills, which may be coming from Brilliana’s father. Niall and Brilliana are keeping secrets from each other, and must learn to trust each other to find the love they once had for each other. During the course of the investigation, they learn to trust each other again, and realize that they never stopped loving each other. In the end, they get their happily ever after.
The intrigue and romance of this story makes for a delightful read that I couldn’t put down.
*I received an ARC in exchange for a review.

4.5*
I love the second chance at love troupe and Sabrina Jeffries did a fabulous job with this book. Tragedy, secrets and mistrust kept them apart for seven years, now a possible criminal act has brought them together. Niall Lindsey, the Earl of Margrave left Brilliana "Bree" Trevor behind after a duel went bad. He wanted her to leave with him but she could not leave her sick mother behind. After lies and a forced marriage Bree had to move on with no hope of Niall returning. Blackmailed by the government to act as a betrothed couple to find a counterfeiter that could be Bree's father. Being forced together they have to deal with the past and present and their ever growing feelings that seem not to have ended with their years of separation. Doubts and mistruths of the past may keep them from trusting each other enough to see a possible future. I loved Niall's he was so sexy and Bree was witty and strong willed and feisty that they made a great believable couple. This is a great series and should be read in order.
If you have not read Sabrina Jeffries and you love historical romance then you can not go wrong with her books.

"Niall tore his gaze from Brilliana. "Because while I admire her beauty, I also regard her as a woman of intelligence, capable of great things. "

Sabrina Jeffries is one of my most favorite romance authors. Her books are always filled not only with great emotional love stories, but also with intrigue and adventure. The Pleasures of Passion, #4 in the Sinful Suitors series is no exception. Although we’ve met the main characters, Niall, the Earl of Margrave and Brilliana Trevor (great name!), in the previous book, I believe this could be read as a standalone, but read this series…it’s great!
Niall and Brilliana (Bree) are young and in love when Niall is suddenly sent to Spain after killing a man in a duel. Although he cannot explain to Bree why he was dueling, he begs her to travel with him to Spain to be married. Unfortunately, Bree must stay home to care for her very sick mother, especially since her father is incapable to do so. When he returns after seven years in exile, he finds Bree has been married and widowed and has a young son. Of course he wants to continue their courtship from before, but Bree finds she cannot trust him since he still hasn’t explained the reason for the duel. But her heart is betraying her sensibilities, as she still has feelings deep down for Niall. He gets his chance to convince Bree of his love for her when he is forced, because of his pardon, into doing a job for the government which involves looking into the possible shady dealings of Bree’s father.
I found myself cheering Niall on in his quest to win Bree’s love again. The rekindling of their relationship made for a most delightful and entertaining read. 4 wonderful stars for another winner from Sabrina Jeffries!
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Seven years ago Niall killed a man in a duel and was forced to flee to the continent. He tried to persuade Brilliana (bizarre name - thankfully often shortened to Bree) to go with him, but since he would not tell her what the duel was about and she could not leave her sick mother, she refused. (She also claimed to be unable to go as she had no passport, which struck me as historically anachronistic, but maybe I'm wrong).

In the present day (1830) Niall is pardoned and returns to England full of bitterness that Brilliana married months after he left (she is now a widow). Brilliana is bitter that when she tried to contact Niall through his father she was rebuffed. However they are forced to agree to pretend to be engaged (of course they are!) so that Niall can get close to Brilliana's father and determine if he is a counterfeiter.

This was an enjoyable read overall, although too much of it was taken up with Niall and Brilliana rehashing the past and (really very) slowly revealing to each other what actually happened. This novel has a lot of backstory and many big misunderstandings. I thought the romance was sweet, although Niall never really seemed to take seriously the fact that he had asked Brilliana to abandon her mother. The counterfeiting plot occupied very little of the page count, although things got going with a vengeance during the last few chapters. Nice to see Aunt Agatha helping to catch the baddie.

I wasn't convinced that Niall's engagement was absolutely necessary to the cunning plan - Oswald seemed pretty accepting of new friends. His character was problematic to me - one minute he is totally evil and Brilliana never wants to see him again after what he did to her; the next he is bit of a bumbling fool and she'll be bringing Silas round so he can meet his grandson. Silas was well done, I thought - age appropriate and not sickeningly endearing.

Fun when it wasn't bogged down in angsty conversations.

If you’ve read Sabrina Jeffries’ Regency romances before, you know what you’re getting in this one. My problem is that I have a hard time remembering the plots from the previous ones and need to go read some previous reviews to remember who the recurring characters are who show up in this one.

The plot involves Brilliana and Niall who were in love with each other when they were younger. But their romance never got very far because Niall had fought a duel and had to flee England since he killed (deliberately) his opponent. Bree (as Niall calls her) refused to flee with him because she needed to stay and take care of her dying mother. While he is gone, she is forced to marry a man to save her father from his gambling debts. Now it’s seven years later and she’s a widow with no interest in anything except raising her baby son and recovering her son’s estate that her husband had bankrupted. Niall is still resentful that she didn’t accompany him and got married soon after he fled.

Now they’re being forced by a government spy chief to work together to find out who is passing counterfeit money. Just go with this totally unlikely plot. The reader knows what is going to happen as they start working together. Over half the book is the two characters fighting their attraction to each other while still resentful of what happened in the past. I find these plot set-ups that could be settled if they just got together and had a conversation about what happened when they were separated, but there would go over half the book if they just behaved like adults. Instead we get a lot of angst as they’re attracted to each other despite themselves. And they have to figure out who is feeding the counterfeit bills into society. I could have done with a little less focus on their continued misunderstandings and perhaps more on Niall figuring out if he wants to be a stepfather to Bree’s adorable little boy while they work together to find the counterfeiter, but I still enjoyed the book.

I was given a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jeffries deftly weaves the reunion and misunderstanding troupes with a touch of mystery to force our h/h together into a sweet yet passionate story of new beginnings and healing. the story starts with a glimpse of young love (and the hope and uncertainty that often accompanies it) as our couple are separated by circumstance as the hero must quickly leave the country but our heroine worries keep her from running away with him. this also leads to the "big misunderstandings". This particular troupe is not a favorite of mine. it is too often dragged out too long, suffers from instant resolution &/or is the result of some silly foolishness that should never have been left to "blow up". However, in Jeffries handles all three issues resulting in a realistic story that doesn't make one want to smack a character or throw the book. Instead the both the h/h reasonably placed their trust in someone that neither had any reason to believe would mislead them (and truth it could be said that it was done in "their best interest" although the effort was most likely prejudiced by his own perspectives) and resulted in heartache, anger and doubt on both sides. while they finally confront the truth after being forced into a pretend engagement they also have to deal with the lingering pain and doubt as they learn to readjust to new realities of what actually occurred 7 yrs earlier when they parted as well as the impact of those events and time (as well as maturity) on who they are currently and how they fit as well as their lingering feelings. trust lost must be re-earned and a bruised heart can be hesitant, even if willing, to jump back into the fray. there is sweetness and tenderness as they rebuild their relation but not without some bumps as well as passion. they mystery of the forgery issue wraps up rather quickly but serves it primary purpose as being a reason for the couple to be forced together again though she does give it a little bit a twist at the end to keep it interesting.

My number one dislike in romance fiction is when the plot turns on the unwillingness of the H&H to simply talk to each other. With plenty of opportunities to communicate, Niall and Brilliana sullenly refuse to tell each other what they are thinking and why they have acted as the did. I realize that these characters are barely older than high school students, but if they are old enough to have sex, aren’t they old enough to *talk* to each other?

4.5 stars
When Niall Lindsey, the Earl of Margrave, was forced to flee after killing a man in a duel, he asked Brilliana Trevor to go with him but she felt she couldn’t leave her sick mother. Seven years later, Niall has returned, disillusioned and cynical - so being blackmailed by the government into helping his former love Brilliana catch a counterfeiter connected to her father doesn't improve his mood.
Brilliana who is now a widow with a young son Silas, wants nothing to do with the reckless rogue who she believes abandoned her to a dreary, loveless life, but she will do anything to save her father.
Another well written very good book by the author. This could well be read as a stand-alone book but to fully appreciate it I’d recommend reading the three earlier books in the series. The plot is very well paced & the characters as you’d expect from the author are well drawn & have plenty of depth. There are plenty of misunderstandings & secrets that both Niall & Bree need to resolve but they’ve been given a second chance. I thoroughly enjoyed the book & hope there are more to come in the series.

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Jeffries at her best
5 stars

When Niall Lindsey, the Earl of Margrave, was forced to flee after killing a man in a duel, he expected Brilliana Trevor to wait for him. Seven years later, Niall has returned, disillusioned and cynical - so being blackmailed by the government into helping his former love catch a counterfeiter connected to her father doesn't improve his mood.

The now widowed Brilliana wants nothing to do with the reckless rogue who she believes abandoned her to a dreary, loveless life, but she will do anything to save her father. Yet as their fake engagement brings long-buried feelings to the surface, can she let go of the old hurt and put her pride aside? And will the pleasures of their renewed passion enable them both to rediscover love?

—

The Pleasures of Passion is the fourth novel in the Sinful Suitors series and while you probably could read it without reading the others first, I would suggest you do read the books in order so that you can fully understand the dynamics of the characters (especially the secondary characters in the book). Plus, then you’ll have been excited for Niall and Bree’s story since they were first mentioned.

I liked both Niall and Bree and their relationship together was delightful. The way that Niall brought out the best in Bree was really uplifting and while there were plenty of times I wanted to shake Niall for being a dunce when it came to Bree’s feelings, together they were definitely better than they were alone. It’s hard not to enjoy a couple like that.

I’ll admit that I was worried that with the couple’s long separation and each blaming the other for it, we would be in for a whole heap of drama and tedious emotional angst with this story. Luckily, that was not the case. While there was plenty of emotion and chemistry between the characters, I found it never strayed into pointless drama which made me root for them both even more than I had been.

I’m a huge fan of Sabrina Jeffries’ work and this book didn’t disappoint. It had her trademark humour, banter and sparkling chemistry coupled with the great writing, scene setting and ever-present sensuality. I would definitely recommend this book but probably would suggest you buy it alongside the first three books in the series (The Art of Sinning, The Study of Seduction and The Danger of Desire) if you haven’t already done so. 5 stars.

So many what ifs. Scandal and subterfuge take center stage in The Pleasures of Passion. Brilliana isn't very good at the subterfuge part, it's quite funny actually. Niall is a pro at it though.
I think my favorite thing is how easily Brilliana stands up for what she thinks is right, and isn't shy about putting Niall in his place.

I loved the book! Jeffries doesn't disappoint. It was exciting to see how actually the person we would least expect was the counterfeiter. The right amount of suspense and romance at the same time, doesn't let the reader get bored. I honestly look forward to her books. This is the first one I've read in this series so I was a bit lost at first. As I wasn't familiar with all the characters. But regardless, It was an amazing book and worth the read! The last 40 pages I read in one sitting that I couldn't keep it down.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. The Pleasures of Passion was a 3.75 star book that I rounded up to 4 stars. Brilliana (Bree) Payne and Niall, the future Earl of Margrave are secretly courting when a duel fought over Niall's sister force him to flee England. He begs Bree to travel with him, but she refuses due to her mother's prolonged illness and her father's tendency to gamble away all their funds. Niall's father promises to help Bree if she ever needs help in Niall's absence. 7 years later, Niall is back in England and finds himself in Bree's orbit due to family relations. When Bree's father is suspected of forgery, Niall agrees to help find out if he's guilty by pretending to be her fiance to get in her father's orbit. The forgery bit serves more as a way to bring the Niall and Bree together and almost feels like an after thought throughout much of the book. Fans of second chance love stories will enjoy this title. Niall is a kind man and his loyalty to his sister throughout the story is admirable if at times frustrating to the reader. Bree faced a less than happy first marriage where she was treated as little more than a beautiful object by her husband and refuses to ever experience that again. Niall's refusal to provide the exact story being reason for the duel makes it hard for her to trust him with her wounded heart. The are a couple of funny bits featuring Bree's young son Silas as well as her aunt by marriage. I enjoyed this latest title in the Sinful Suitors books, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the previous titles. I am looking forward to Sabrina Jeffries's next title as she always delivers a solid, well written story.

Although I found this book slow going I did enjoy it. I found it was not a book that I was eager to find out what comes next and consequently it took longer than usual to read. The characters were ok but predictable and there were no surprises, but I would still recommend it for lite reading on holiday.