What a wonderful story! Marlowe is a courtesan who was raised to believe she was the daughter of an Earl. Her father loved to sail in balloons.. One day, he left and never returned. When Marlowe and her mom traveled to London to discover his family, they found out he was a fraud. All of the bills he had accumulated over the years demanded payment. Marlowe got a job as a seamstress to repay the monies. While there, she met the Earl of Hollinsbrook who became her protector. Marlowe’s father had instilled the love of balloon flying and she continued to do that. Caught in a storm over water, where she was forced to abandon her vessel and she washed ashore at Langdon’s remote residence. He has his own past and nightmares he is trying to escape. But there is no escape for the love that blossoms between the two. An interesting journey to their HEA. Loved the book.

I just finished Tempest of Desire and it was classic Lorraine. It felt like a hug as we returned to the Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series, this time our hero is the heir of the Devil Earl who was conceived in the book that started this fantastic Victorian world she’s created. I always hoped Viscount Langdon would get a story as he has often floated in and out of scenes in many of her novels and his parents book, In Bed With The Devil is one of my comfort reads so I was very excited when this ARC was in my inbox this week. Langdon survived a horrific railway accident and is taking time to recover from his PTSD at his family’s ancient ruins on a small private island near Heatherwood, their estate in Cornwall when a storm drops London’s most notorious courtesan out of the sky and on to the beach. If driving a hot air balloon in a storm is a sure fire way to be stranded on an island with a swoon worthy hottie, sign me up! We have some forced proximity, her being another man’s mistress and class difference which make for wonderful conflict, hot air balloons, familiar old characters, carriage sex, and a grand romantic gesture where he says to hell with societal censure at the end that had me in tears as per usual.

Marlowe’s backstory was interesting and tragic but she makes the best of her situation. Her relationship with Hollingsworth, her protector was really well written too, he came off as so endearing and was a catalyst in pushing Marlowe and Langdon together because he wanted her to be loved and happy! It could have been so weird and messy that she was in love with Langdon while being another man’s mistress who she also loved in a different way as they were friends and lovers but Lorraine Heath, the master that she is, writes these complicated characters and relationships effortlessly and makes you love all of them.

This book comes out in December 24th so Merry Christmas to Lorraine Heath fans 🎄❤️ this is a good one. Thank you @avonbooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy! It was absolutely brilliant!

I love Lorraine Heath as an author since her books are simultaneously romantic, sexy, and heartfelt, and this one was no different.

Something unique about Heath’s books is that they’re emotionally resonant and poignant and romantic but they’re also just a bit unhinged and I mean that in the best way possible. In this one, the heroine and hero become properly acquainted on a deserted island after her hot air balloon goes down the wayside like I’ve never read a book with that particular plot and Heath managed to pull it off without getting remotely campy.

I liked both Marlowe and Langdon, and I believed in them both as individuals and as a couple. I really loved Marlowe’s backstory as well as her approach to being a courtesan and I appreciated how practical she was about the whole thing because that particular framing could have gotten extremely maudlin at the hands of a less skillful author. I liked Langdon too but I found myself wishing for more depth to him since it almost felt like besides his trauma from the railway accident, he wasn’t super complicated as an individual and he almost existed as a love interest for Marlowe. That said, he was a very good love interest and besides, women have long existed as side characters to men’s stories so that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Also, oddlt enough, I also appreciated that Marlowe’s relationship with Hollingsworth and Hollingsworth himself weren’t demonized because it would have been an easier choice to make him an unequivocal villain. In a sense, it was a departure from other historical romances where the main heroine is the Effie figure, a shy, somewhat plain wallflower whose eventual husband has a beautiful mistress that he ends things with to be with the heroine. In this book, Heath basically flipped the classic historical romance trope and wrote a book from the perspective of the ~mysterious, beautiful courtesan that usually exists as a means to the hero and heroine getting together.

As for the love scenes, I liked the choice of making it a slow burn romance, because given Marlowe is a mistress, it would have been easy to start out the book with a bang so to speak. I thought it was sort of poignant that Langdon and Marlowe waited to be physically intimate even though she was practically throwing herself at him from very early on in the book. That said, when the sex scenes started, they were very well done, and honestly, it surprised me how long they were since while Heath writes open book romances (most of which I’ve read), the sex scenes are generally shorter and marginally less explicit. That said, I liked Heath’s rhetorical choices in this realm.

Anyways, all in all, a lovely book, and a solid 4-4.5 stars based on how important the internal development of men is to you (jokes).

L.H. hope you are better now!!! You did a great choice with this book about choices and love.

Circumstances make Marlowe cultivate a fame as a kept woman at 19. She has been with only one man, but society deems her unworthy. Behind this facade, likes a sensitive, loyal, sensual and beautiful woman.

And then Oliver Langdon comes into her life. He suffers from trauma after an accident and has been Marlowes admirer for long.

Passion simmers and then flares when they are stuck together on an isolated island. But it's deeper, more evocative than just physical love. Can they both make choices that with put them in the path of scandal but hea?

Well written, lots of push and pull, steamy and great relationship building

I loved this one!! I thought the hot air balloon thing would be dumb when I first read the description, but I actually loved it. Some parts were far-fetched (like her hot air ballooning sheister of a father), but ultimately they didn't pull me out of the story. Great for fans of forced proximity.

Lorraine Heath never disappoints, and the romance between Viscount Langdon and Marlowe is one to remember. The book's settings and secondary characters add much to the narrative. I am so glad that the author chose to return to her Scandalous Gentlemen of St. James series and look forward to whatever comes next.

Heath has truly outdone herself with this one! The romance between Viscount Langdon and Marlowe is as tempestuous as the storm that brings her to his island. Their magnetic pull and the intense, secret-filled connection between them create a captivating read. And, Heath’s portrayal of their emotional and passionate journey is both thrilling and deeply moving. I was completely engrossed in their story, and the blend of romance and intrigue made this book an absolute delight.