Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman

By Lorraine Heath

As the black sheep second son of an Earl, Stephen Lyons has gained a reputation in the art of seduction, but when his wicked ways result in scandal, he joins the army to redeem himself. On the battlefield, he proves courageous . . . until he is seriously wounded. Returning home to recover, he discovers he can't remember the angelic beauty who arrives at his doorstep, his babe nestled in her arms.

Mercy Dawson will risk everything to protect the son of the dashing soldier she once knew and admired. When Stephen offers to do the honorable thing, she is determined that London's most notorious gentleman will desire her and no other. But Mercy fears that what began as an innocent deception could destroy her dreams and their blossoming love if Stephen ever learns the scandalous truth . . .

They are masters of seduction, London's greatest lovers. Living for pleasure, they will give their hearts to no one . . . until love takes them by surprise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Nov 30, 2010
• ISBN: 9780062078513

Lorraine Heath

Lorraine Heath always dreamed of being a writer. After graduating from the University of Texas, she wrote training manuals, press releases, articles, and computer code, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she not only became hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She’s been writing about them ever since. Her novels have been recognized with numerous industry awards and have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists.

Reviews for Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman

[ladywesley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book turned out to be much deeper and much more moving than I expected. Both Stephen and Mercy have been deeply affected by their experiences in the Crimean War -- Mercy as a nurse and Stephen as a cavalry officer. When they meet again in England, Stephen has no memory of Mercy (or of anything that happened to him during the war), and Mercy has an infant who she claims is Stephen's son, the result of just one night of passion.

Mercy and Stephen do not immediately fall in love. Indeed, they aren't even very comfortable around one another at first. Stephen has no interest in being tied down, especially given his precarious mental state, and he doesn't know if he can bring himself marry her. Mercy doesn't truly expect marriage, and even if they did wed, she knows he will not be faithful. His pre-war reputation as one of London's greatest ladies' men is well known to her.

Nothing comes easily to this couple, and that's one of the things that makes their story so enjoyable and touching. As in the other two books of this series (about Stephen's brothers), Stephen's family members play important roles, and their duchess mother sometimes steals the show. I wish Heath had given her a book of her own.

I read these books out of order; each works well as a stand alone. But why not read the entire series? The Kindle versions are priced at only $2.99. A real bargain for such an outstanding author's work.

[tarenn_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

PLEASURES OF A NOTORIOUS GENTLEMAN by Lorraine Heath is a delightful historical romance set in 1855 Northamptonshire, England. It is well written with depth,details, twists,turns, a page turner, and a keeper. It is the second in the "London's Greatest Lovers " series but can be read as a stand alone. It has deception,romance,love, sweet sensuality,family, lies,wounded war hero, disgraced war nurse,aftermath of war, redemption, love scandal,loss of memories and trying to do the right thing for the sake of a child. The hero, Stephen, is a wounded war hero, has scars from the war, is a notorious rake,has bedded numerous woman, even during the war in a far off country,has no memory of the last two years in which he was in the war and has no intention of ever marrying. Enter, the heroine, Mercy, is strong-willed, determined, a disgraced war nurse, homely, has taken the responsibility of raising another woman's child and deeply in love with our war hero. When Mercy, takes Stephen's son to his family, she only tells them he is Stephen's and John's mother. She does not know Stephen is not dead. John's birth mother left them in Paris after he was born. She didn't want him. He would mess with her life.So Mercy takes him, cares for him and goes back to England as a disgraced unmarried woman with a small child. When Stephen enter the drawing room of his family's estate Mercy is shocked and happy to learn he is not dead. She does not know Stephen has no memory of his time in the war nor does he remember her. Stephen saved Mercy after she was brutal attacked by three men. They marry are happy for a while, but all does not stay that way. When John's birth mother learns of Stephen being knighted she decides to blackmail Mercy. Of course trouble follows.Will Mercy and Stephen remarry happy or will John's birth mother(Fancy) destroy their love and happiness?Pick up Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman to find out you will not be sorry you did. Also if you have not read Passions of a Wicked Earl, the first in this series, I would also recommend you do. I would highly recommend this book especially if you enjoy high drama, some sweet sensuality, learning to trust, love and finding happiness in a blurry world with no memories of the past two years and all that happened during war time.This book was received for review from Net Galley and details can be found at Harper Collins Publishers and My Book Addiction and More.