The Forbidden Lord, by Sabrina Jeffries

This weekend I read a book lent to me by a romance-reading Uruguayan friend (and I thought I was the only one!). The book was The Forbidden Lord, by Sabrina Jeffries. Do explore Jeffries' site, if you have time; it's one of the best author sites I've ever seen. I especially liked the extra info about the books (see here "Inside The Forbidden Lord"). I loved this book: A-. It appears I have a new author whose backlist to glom.

Jordan Willis, the Earl of Blackmore, is known for his exploits with experienced bedmates and his avoidance of innocents. Having never been in love, he's earned the nickname "the Lord with the Granite Heart." So he's surprised when a chance encounter prompts him to steal a kiss from the prim Emily Fairchild, a rector's daughter. Stunned by her passionate response, he nonetheless expects never to see her again. Then he meets the flirtatious Lady Emma, supposed daughter of a Scottish earl, who's a double for the lovely Emily.

When the earl recognizes her and demands an explanation, Emily is in a quandary. Her very life depends on convincing society that she is Lady Emma. But though she plays the coquette and succeeds in making the earl doubt his own eyes, no disguise can hide their fiery attraction. Can she trust the Lord of Granite Hearts with her secrets when he's so certain love is forbidden to him?

This novel very much follows the unwritten "rules" of the Regency-set historical: the innocent young woman, the experienced nobleman pretty much brought to his knees by the heroine's purity and goodness... Thing is, the author's so good that these rules yielded magic. And, after all, there's a reason they became the rules, isn't there? I usually resent them when the writting is subpar and the plotting awkward in the first place.

This is a story without a villain, but it has an interesting plot that isn't as far-fetched as it may seem at first sight. I found it believable that Emily would agree to Nesfield's plot; after all, she was being threatened with a murder accusation, and what she had to do to get out of it was something mostly innocuous. This definitely passes the resonability test.

Jordan was a little obnoxious at first, but it was lots of fun to see him so completely besotted by Emily and jealous of anyone who looked at her. The way his lust turned into love was very well rendered and believable, and very, very romantic. His whole refusal to accept love was what he was feeling could have been tiresome if it had gone on for much longer, but Jeffries displayed an excellent sense of timing and solved it just right.

Actually, now that I think of it, the timing of this book was perfect: Jordan accepting his feelings, Emily's Big Secret being revealed, love scenes....

Speaking of love scenes, this was probably one of the steamiest books I've read in ages. Maybe someone who doesn't care for internal lusting would be irritated by it, but me, I loved it.

All in all, this was great. It began with a very intriguing situation and didn't flag at all. The ending was beautiful, very sentimental and sweet (but not saccharine). I was reading this one at the same time as a PD James book, which I abandoned after 100 pages of TFL. Extra points for the fact that that bastard Lord Nesfield doesn't get away scot-free.