Libertine's Kiss (Hqn) [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Libertine's Kiss" by Judith James.

Product Description

Abandoned by his cavalier father at a young age, William de Veres grew up knowing precious little happiness. But William has put the past firmly behind him and as a military hero and noted rake, he rises fast in the ranks of the hedonistic Restoration court. Though not before he is forced to seek shelter from a charming young Puritan woman…

The civil wars have cost the once-high-spirited Elizabeth Walters her best friend and her father, leaving her unprotected and alone. She flees an unwanted marriage, seeking safe haven, but what she finds is something she never expected. When her kindness and her beauty bring her to the attention of William, and then the king, she will have a choice to make. After all, can a notorious libertine really be capable of love?

About the Author

Judith James has worked as a legal assistant, trail guide, and for fifteen years as a psychologist. Her personal journey has taken her from the Arctic to the West Coast and she’s finally found her home beside the Atlantic Ocean. An avid reader and history buff, she loves music, adventure, and traveling to new places. Her writing combines a love of history, romance, and adventure, with her keen interest in the complexities of human nature and the heart’s capacity to heal.
 
Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: HQN Books (August 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373775059
ISBN-13: 978-0373775057

My Review:

Much wine had passed, with grave discourse,
Of who ___ who, and who does worse.

"License my roving hands, and let them go
Before, behind, between, above, below."

In this time and age, William de Veres would be labeled an alcoholic and a sex addict. Luckily he inhabits the seventeenth century where he is known to Charles II's court as a libertine. In Libertine's Kiss, Judith James has turned him into a romance hero.

Deep inside, William is actually a romantic, idealistic man, but he hides it beneath a veneer of cynicism. He shows his true self to only one person, Elizabeth Walters. As children, they spent an idyllic year and a half acting as each other's escape from the harsh realities of their world. They pretend to be characters from Spenser's "Faerie Queene" while William teaches Elizabeth to defend herself from bullies. Their friendship comes to a tearful end when William is sent away to school.

Years pass before they see each other again and William does not recognize his childhood friend. Taking him in one night, when he arrives, wounded, on her doorstep, she heals his physical wounds and offers him comfort of a more baser sort. In the morning, she sends him on, and as a result of this one night, she loses all her properties.

William, it turns out, is a proponent of Charles II, at this point in exile in Europe, and he is hunted by Cromwell's men. They miss William but arrest Elizabeth, who stands trial and pays a heavy price.

The pair do not find each other again until Cromwell is overthrown, and Elizabeth goes to King Charles' court to petition for the restoration of her lands. William has progressed from the "tax collector," a highway man whose proceeds go maintaining the exiled king's lifestyle, to court poet, whose pointed verses insult the king as often as they flatter.

He drinks to excess and beds women at random in an effort to forget his past. This time, when he meets Elizabeth, he recognizes her instantly, both as his childhood friend and the woman who took him in three years previously. He makes her his mistress while he teaches her the ways of the court so she can successfully petition the king.  William is known as Lord Rivers.

William and Elizabeth are a great match because when they talk to each other even in anger they are honest with one another.  The love scenes were really scorching hot and I was eagerly awaiting for the next love scene!

5/5