The Perils of Pleasure

Written by Julie Anne Long

Narrated by Justine Eyre

A rescued rogue . . .

Scandal has rocked the city of London. Colin Eversea, a handsome, reckless unapologetic rogue is sentenced to hang for murder and, inconveniently for him, the only witness to the crime disappears. Then again, throughout history, the Everseas have always managed to cheat fate in style: Colin is snatched from the gallows by a beautiful, clever mercenary.

A captivating captor . . .

Cool-headed, daring Madeleine Greenway is immune to Colin's vaunted charm. Her mission is not to rescue Colin but to kidnap him, and to be paid handsomely for it. But when it becomes clear that whoever wants Colin alive wants Madeline dead, the two become uneasy allies in a deadly race for truth. Together, they'll face great danger-and a passion neither can resist.

Contains mature themes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541430822

Julie Anne Long

USA Today bestselling author and Rita® Award winner Julie Anne Long’s books have been translated into eighteen languages, nominated for numerous awards, and have appeared on dozens of “Best of” lists. NPR named her Pennyroyal Green series as one of the Top 100 romance series of all time. She currently lives in Northern California.

Reviews for The Perils of Pleasure

[Hope Brennan Parnell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not bad. Had more potential but lacked character and storyline depth.

[WebEnchantressDE · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just hang in there the end is amazing and it will all be worth it!

[jorgeousjotts · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars rounded up. This was on the slightly weaker side, but not offensive or awful. As a story about two people trying to solve a crime it was fine I guess, but as a romance it missed the mark for me entirely. I didn't feel any love (attraction and maybe the beginnings of fondness perhaps), but then to add insult to injury, the 'other woman' figure loomed large over their relationship for nearly the entire book. Falling in love with a total stranger in just a few distraction-filled days is already leaning unlikely, but with one of them continually determined to make a love match with *someone else* for that entire time and it hardly stands any chance whatsoever. Then even when they did develop some attachment, it felt disloyal of him to the other woman, lol. And she stood in her own way as well. The romance just seemed so paltry and luke warm. It hasn't discouraged me from the series though.

[samnreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed both the humor and the adventure in this book. I thought the chemistry between Colin and Madeline was clear from the beginning and really well done. I was worried, though, that it would never feel like intimacy. By the 50% mark though, it definitely did.

I really loved Madeline, with her prickly no nonsense yet challenging manner. Colin's charm and humor were fun, and made it easy to see where he'd weasel his way in through her defenses. And even though I'm not giving this some spectacular rating-I can see reading this again. There's lovely dialogue and writing as is usual for JAL, and some hotter than sin sex scenes and sexual tension.

The thing that holds me back from a 4 here is that it definitely drags at points, and the plotting results in a lot at once at the end. I guess I'm not sure I hated that, but I might have liked it better if that hasn't felt so rushed. 3.5 for now.

[dgrachel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I picked up this book because I'd heard that JAL's books were funny. This definitely lacked the laugh out loud moments that characterize Tessa Dare's works. I'm a little disappointed. However, the plot was pretty good and there were definitely twists in the story I did not anticipate. JAL doesn't use weird euphemisms during her steamier scenes, which I appreciate. Therefore, I will pick up the next in the series and hope for a little more humor.

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Perils of Pleasure
4 Stars

A well-written and engrossing mystery but the romance is only so-so.

The plot is full of clever twists and turns, and it is fun following the clues along with Madeline and Colin as they try to unravel who is behind his rescue and the attempt on her life.

Madeline is an intelligent and resourceful character who has been touched by tragedy. Nevertheless, she comes across as aloof and lacking in emotional depth. Her grief is barely discernible and while she has an obvious physical attraction to Colin, her love for him is not as certain - the words are there but the emotion is not.

Colin is your typical rake on the path toward redemption. He is a jovial free-spirit who uses humor to cope with his dire circumstances - this is not necessarily a bad thing but my preference is for the dark, brooding and tortured hero. Another problem with his character lies in the fact that he is supposedly desperately in love with his childhood sweetheart but has no problem seducing other women (including the heroine), which grates on the nerves.

The secondary characters are an interesting mix and each adds nuance and development as the story progresses. Marcus and Louisa, the other two sides of the love triangle, are intriguing, however, their romance is, unfortunately, not as developed as it could have been. Moreover, Louisa's willingness to exchange one brother for the other so quickly makes her appear fickle.

All in all, a promising beginning to the series and I look forward to reading more about the Everseas and the Redmonds.

[jendoyle2000 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For some reason I kept pushing this book down to the bottom of the TBR pile, picking it up only when I'd reached the end of possible renewals at the library. What a mistake! I enjoyed this book from the moment I read the first few words until the all-too-soon end. As with all of London, apparently, I loved Colin; I'm still giggling a little at the vision of him walking down the road imitating Madeleine calling out his name in a moment of sheer exasperation. I thought the author did a remarkable job in keeping Colin's light-heartedness while still allowing the bitterness arising from his circumstances to come through. And Madeleine was his perfect match. I was also particularly impressed by her ability to build the attraction between the two in what can only be described as simmering. As a fan of the romance genre, I'm always willing to go along with the sure-they-can-fall-in-love-in-a-matter-of-days convention. But in this book I actually felt it every step of the way. I will eagerly seek out the next in the series.

[scoutmomskf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun book. Colin has been convicted of a murder he didn't commit and is moments from hanging. But Everseas have the reputation of being able to cheat fate and Colin is rescued in a puff of smoke and disappears. Madeleine has been paid to rescue him and then hold him for the person who paid her. But when someone takes a shot at her, Colin saves her and they go on the run to discover who wants her dead and him alive.Colin wants nothing more than to prove his innocence and make it back to Sussex in time to keep the woman he loves from marrying his brother. The only way he can do that is by working with Madeleine to discover the truth behind his rescue. He is fascinated by her and her cleverness and the way she can resist his blatant attempts to charm her. He soon discovers that she understands him far better than anyone else he knows. He also begins to understand her the more he learns of her past and seems to know just what to say to her to revive her spirits when they start to wear down. I really enjoyed the banter between him and Madeleine as they have to first overcome their distrust of each other, then deal with their growing attraction. He seemed to be pretty oblivious to the fact that he was falling for Madeleine at the same time he was obsessed with getting back to Louisa. Colin is basically a nice guy who uses humor to hide his own insecurities while doing nice things for other people. Even as he was on the run he was still polite even to the people who were involved in his troubles. I liked the way that he realized what was most important to him at the end, though frustrated by the way he didn't pursue it.Madeleine is a widow who has made a career out of "planning" rescues for people. Her rescue of Colin is simply a way to earn the money she needs to move to America. When the planned turnover of Colin is interrupted by someone trying to kill her, they go on the run to find out who is behind the rescue and murder attempt. I really liked Madeleine's intelligence and ability to think on the fly. It was really nice to read a book where the heroine rescues the hero. Madeleine is attracted to Colin but has no intention of doing anything with it. She spends the first part of the book not trusting him because she isn't sure that he is truly innocent of the charges. As they have to work together she begins to get to know him and trust a little bit. She also sees that he uses his humor and charm to hide behind when he feels vulnerable. Having been on her own for several years since the death of her husband she is moved by Colin's protectiveness. Her feelings begin to change even though she knows that he is far above her. As they get closer to solving the mystery she admits her feelings to herself, but refuses to allow herself to think of a future with him. She denies herself what she really wants because she wants him to be happy. I loved seeing her face her fears at the end and allow herself to go after what she really wanted.The mystery itself was pretty interesting, though certainly convoluted. As Colin and Madeleine pursued their investigation they only got small pieces of information at a time. Each bit that they got came from interesting occurrences, from a lady and her footman to gravediggers. There was also an interesting revelation about Colin's parents that rocked his world.

[luvlylibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The ending is rather dull, but the journey along the way is fun. Madeleine is a complex character with a sad history. 

[kaetrin_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a delightful book! I'd been a bit put off by the title but I've heard so many good things about this author, I finally decided to give her a try. When I was able to pick this book up on a $2.99 e-special, I thought the risk was low. I'm so glad I did. The story was very good and not the usual - the hero is a "Mr" and the heroine actually worked for a living (shock, horror). I very much enjoyed the wit and charm of the story and the characters and the style of the writing. Here's a taste. She looked as though she'd been ravished. He doubted she would welcome the observation. "You look as though you've been ravished," he said, as he was in a mood to make unwelcome observations.I enjoyed how many of the standard romance tropes were turned on their heads - a very capable older, experienced woman (I didn't see an actual age mentioned but she would have had to have been around 30 I believe which is quite old for a heroine in 1820) who saves the hero (he saves her too of course, as heroes are wont to do) for example. It's also a "road trip" story and the characters are together for almost the whole book, so there's plenty of interaction and dialogue and being shown the how and why these characters fall in love. It's very, very good. I feel a glom coming on! :D It's my ** Pick of the Month ** for July.

[rainrunner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really, this is a 3.5 but I bumped it up cause it's JAL. I don't know, I just didn't get even remotely thrilled or come close to sighing blissfully. At the beginning of the book I grinned, for a few minutes, but then it all just fell apart and it seemed there was too much narrative and repetition of events. I found myself skimming through parts and then backing up to make sure I didn't miss something important only to find out I missed nothing important.It was "eh".

[phyllisd_5 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. The first 200 pages dragged and actually put me to sleep. The author gave little information about the female character and the male character was less than desirable for a romance novel. After all, he was the biggest rake in London though in love since the age of 9 with the girl his upstanding brother was about to marry. A lot of the urgency in this novel is his need to clear his name so he can stop this wedding. It's hard to push through a novel when you have no emotional involvement with the characters. Then the book is pretty good for about 150 pages only to be wrapped up in a convoluted way in the last twenty-five pages with a bomb dropped and overlooked by the impacted characters. And, what money from Mr. Hunt? Truthfully, the whole story made little sense.