October 15, 2020
Adieu Trewlove Family
https://www.lorraineheath.com/
https://www.lorraineheath.com/
And, so it is time to bid a fond farewell to Lorraine Heath’s Trewlove family series, aka Sins for All Seasons. Beauty Tempts the Beast brings us the last man standing: Benedict Trewlove, aka the Beast. Benedict and his “siblings” have been raised by Ettie Trewlove, a baby farmer. Unlike most real baby farmers, Ettie has a heart, and has loved all of the abandoned children that were dumped on her doorstep. Raising those children may have been a struggle, but they all overcame the hardships, and formed a lasting, strong bond of kinship.
Benedict owns a brothel. Wait a minute! Wait a minute! How can a man who is selling women’s bodies be a hero? Oh for Pete sake, remember this is Romanceland, and of course our hero doesn’t really want to own a brothel. We can’t have that. First of all, he does not partake of the women in the brothel. Second of all, he has been working on a plan that will allow the women to find a different method of earning a living. It’s been a little rough finding them a different way of earning a living. For the most part, they aren’t refined enough to do other skills that were available to women. He is a little rough around the edges himself, so he cannot be their teacher. What to do, what to do? Then one evening while hanging out at his sister’s pub, his eyes alight on a barmaid. Enter our heroine, Althea Stanwick.
If the women in the brothel are out of place in genteel households, then it should come as no surprise that Althea Stanwick is out of place serving drinks in a pub. You see, Althea used to be a part of the aristocracy, but then her father was branded as a traitor to the crown. Her family lost everything, her mother died, and she and her brothers were left to fend for themselves. By the way, her brothers, Marcus and Griffith, are future heroes. We are only given little hints as to what’s going on with the brothers. We do know that they are trying to exonerate their father, and whatever they are doing is dangerous. Because of that they are not there to protect their sister…mostly; it’s all very convoluted. Anyway, Benedict is a protector of people, and he instantly wants to protect Althea. She’s not so thrilled with his protection, but she doesn’t have too much of a say. So, Benedict follows her around, makes sure she arrives at her small room in Whitechapel, and lectures her one brother on responsibility. Yes, Benedict is an “I’m in charge” kind of guy. That’s probably a good thing because even though Althea thinks she can take care of herself, she’s out of her element in Whitechapel. Don’t worry my little Petunia’s, Benedict has a Romanceland plan.
Killing two birds with one stone plan. If Althea can teach the prostitutes manners, Benedict could close the brothel, and Althea could earn enough money to find herself a better place to live. Althea on the other hand also has a plan, maybe the prostitutes and Benedict could give her some pointers on how to seduce a man. That way she could set herself up as a rich man’s mistress, and not be a drain on her brothers. Now, we all know that neither her brothers nor Benedict are going to agree to Althea’s plan, but this is fiction and I’ll play along. And, it is a way for the author to introduce sexual tension into the book.
I liked both Althea and Benedict, even though Althea’s stubbornness became a little irritating and her mistress plan was ridiculous. But, I absolutely loved Benedict. He was an alpha hero, but not the Steve Morgan type alpha. No, I would say he is the Alan Alda alpha male. Yes, there can be an Alan Alda alpha! Gentle, but strong, always there to help the downtrodden, but a very manly man. Hmmmmmmm, manly man vs. Alan Alda, let me rethink this. Maybe Benedict is an alpha male like Dwayne Johnson. Wait a minute, I’ve got it! I know, I know! Benedict is an Alpha male like Dwayne Alda! Anyway, I loved Benedict.
There is a sharp turn in this story; we are directed away from the tutoring prostitute’s storyline. Benedict’s ancestry is solved. Just when Benedict and Althea are becoming comfortable with each other, Benedict finds out who dumped him on Ettie’s doorstep all those years ago. This leads to a big struggle, a separation, and an eventual satisfying conclusion. Other than Althea’s stubbornness, the only other issue I had with this story was that there were two stories being told, and there wasn’t enough pages for either of those stories to be fully developed. I liked both storylines, I just wish they hadn’t seemed so rushed.
Just in case you were wondering. All of the Trewloves put in an appearance. We even get an epilogue with all of them in it, and they are grandparents. It was rather sweet. Overall, I thought this was a strong finish to a series that I mostly liked, except for the one I didn’t finish. I do recommend Beauty Tempts the Beast. It was nice to see all the Trewloves find their HEA, maybe I’ll even go back and try to read The Earl Takes a Fancy – in my spare time. Anyway, go ahead, enjoy! Read Beauty Tempts the Beast.
Benedict owns a brothel. Wait a minute! Wait a minute! How can a man who is selling women’s bodies be a hero? Oh for Pete sake, remember this is Romanceland, and of course our hero doesn’t really want to own a brothel. We can’t have that. First of all, he does not partake of the women in the brothel. Second of all, he has been working on a plan that will allow the women to find a different method of earning a living. It’s been a little rough finding them a different way of earning a living. For the most part, they aren’t refined enough to do other skills that were available to women. He is a little rough around the edges himself, so he cannot be their teacher. What to do, what to do? Then one evening while hanging out at his sister’s pub, his eyes alight on a barmaid. Enter our heroine, Althea Stanwick.
If the women in the brothel are out of place in genteel households, then it should come as no surprise that Althea Stanwick is out of place serving drinks in a pub. You see, Althea used to be a part of the aristocracy, but then her father was branded as a traitor to the crown. Her family lost everything, her mother died, and she and her brothers were left to fend for themselves. By the way, her brothers, Marcus and Griffith, are future heroes. We are only given little hints as to what’s going on with the brothers. We do know that they are trying to exonerate their father, and whatever they are doing is dangerous. Because of that they are not there to protect their sister…mostly; it’s all very convoluted. Anyway, Benedict is a protector of people, and he instantly wants to protect Althea. She’s not so thrilled with his protection, but she doesn’t have too much of a say. So, Benedict follows her around, makes sure she arrives at her small room in Whitechapel, and lectures her one brother on responsibility. Yes, Benedict is an “I’m in charge” kind of guy. That’s probably a good thing because even though Althea thinks she can take care of herself, she’s out of her element in Whitechapel. Don’t worry my little Petunia’s, Benedict has a Romanceland plan.
Killing two birds with one stone plan. If Althea can teach the prostitutes manners, Benedict could close the brothel, and Althea could earn enough money to find herself a better place to live. Althea on the other hand also has a plan, maybe the prostitutes and Benedict could give her some pointers on how to seduce a man. That way she could set herself up as a rich man’s mistress, and not be a drain on her brothers. Now, we all know that neither her brothers nor Benedict are going to agree to Althea’s plan, but this is fiction and I’ll play along. And, it is a way for the author to introduce sexual tension into the book.
I liked both Althea and Benedict, even though Althea’s stubbornness became a little irritating and her mistress plan was ridiculous. But, I absolutely loved Benedict. He was an alpha hero, but not the Steve Morgan type alpha. No, I would say he is the Alan Alda alpha male. Yes, there can be an Alan Alda alpha! Gentle, but strong, always there to help the downtrodden, but a very manly man. Hmmmmmmm, manly man vs. Alan Alda, let me rethink this. Maybe Benedict is an alpha male like Dwayne Johnson. Wait a minute, I’ve got it! I know, I know! Benedict is an Alpha male like Dwayne Alda! Anyway, I loved Benedict.
There is a sharp turn in this story; we are directed away from the tutoring prostitute’s storyline. Benedict’s ancestry is solved. Just when Benedict and Althea are becoming comfortable with each other, Benedict finds out who dumped him on Ettie’s doorstep all those years ago. This leads to a big struggle, a separation, and an eventual satisfying conclusion. Other than Althea’s stubbornness, the only other issue I had with this story was that there were two stories being told, and there wasn’t enough pages for either of those stories to be fully developed. I liked both storylines, I just wish they hadn’t seemed so rushed.
Just in case you were wondering. All of the Trewloves put in an appearance. We even get an epilogue with all of them in it, and they are grandparents. It was rather sweet. Overall, I thought this was a strong finish to a series that I mostly liked, except for the one I didn’t finish. I do recommend Beauty Tempts the Beast. It was nice to see all the Trewloves find their HEA, maybe I’ll even go back and try to read The Earl Takes a Fancy – in my spare time. Anyway, go ahead, enjoy! Read Beauty Tempts the Beast.
Time/Place: England 1873
Sensuality: Hot
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