The Price of Pleasure (Sutherland Brothers #2)
by Kresley Cole
Blurb:
Kresley Cole returns with a
breathtaking romantic saga of love, honor, and passion unbound -- as a man of
duty faces his greatest trial, and a young castaway discovers her greatest
desire....
A
man noted for his courage and integrity, Captain Grant Sutherland journeys to
Oceania to find Victoria Dearbourne, an English girl lost at sea a decade
before. He's given her ailing grandfather his word -- as a gentleman -- to find
and protect her. But one look at a grown Victoria and Grant has never felt less
like one.
Tori
relishes freedom, untamed passion, and spontaneity above stifling order. Even
more so when a proud, cold British captain arrives to rescue her, though she
has no wish to be. As Grant tries to convince her to leave her island home, she
begins to see in him a man hungering for more. A man who once laughed. A man
who desires her but won't take what she offers.
Grant
struggles to control his own savage passions -- and fails, Tori must decide
what she wants more -- her unfettered independence or the only man who could
tame her wild heart....
Review:
The second novel
in the Sutherland brother series was not a letdown for me. I really loved seeing Grant come into his own
as a captain, landowner, and finally a good man. The series, based in early nineteenth
century England was a surprise from one of my favorite authors. I’d read a few of her other highland
historicals, but this series was intense, fascinating, and full of themes one
would expect to find in a modern storyline not this classical setting.
Grant, finally out from under his brother's responsibilities
has taken on an outrageous challenge. Find and recover the shipwrecked
granddaughter of a dying man, one who has been missing for over a decade, and
most believed dead. But he is determined
to fulfill his bargain so he can earn the one thing he’s always felt he needed
in his life: an established estate to
allow him to really become part of society and find himself a wife. He’s been
out to sea with his crew for almost a full year and they will soon be forced to
anchor through the storm season, but by some chance of fate they come across
an island not on any map, and are surprised to find their quarry running
across the beach.
Tori had made her island a home. Taking the terrible hand fate has dealt her
and making it into a win. She has built a
suitable home for herself and her former governess, dealt with the tragedy of
losing her parents, and is in no hurry to trust a stranger with her life and
her freedom. She is determined to keep
Grant at bay, but interacting with him leaves her feeling needy
and dealing with emotions she’s never experienced before and has no idea how to
handle. But slowly and surely he begins
to earn her trust, make her believe that he will get her home to her grandfather. So she decides to
return with him, but hard-won lessons
are sometimes the one thing a woman needs more than anything.
During the return voyage, Grant begins to see
more and more that Tori isn't just a desirable woman that he needs to run from
to keep himself protected. She is full
of life and verve and brings out the best in all of those around her. But even though he’s starting to see a
possibility for a future with her, he doesn't want anyone else to see this as
a weakness. Tori however, sees his reluctance to embrace their connection as a
challenge, until she hears part of a conversation never meant for her. Feeling
betrayed by the man she was coming to love, she determines that the only option
for her is to just get home to her grandfather and make her life the best she
can. Once again building her life from
the ground up no matter what it takes.
The love story between Grant and Tori is
great. There is passion from the
beginning, even though Tori doesn't really know how to handle the lust she’s
feeling and Grant is resistant to it.
The moments when they do finally give in to their desires are extremely
sensual and unexpected for the time period.
The innate sensuality and freedom Tori exhibits stems from her ability
to live outside the normal constraints of English society. Grant has lost
himself in recent years while being buried under so many responsibilities, most
of which were never his to bear. But being with Tori finally brings him back to
the man he once was and reminds him of the joys of life and how to embrace the
joy.
Tori was a favorite character of mine. I haven’t found a more interesting and lovable heroine in ages. She begins the
novel full of life and enjoying her freedom.
She’s never really had good experiences with men, only one scary attack
that she and her friend lived through the last time her island was invaded. This makes her determined to keep these new
invaders from disturbing their lives or putting them in danger. She uses all
her considerable intelligence and cunning to try to keep them safe. I cringed at one point when she played a
trick with a snack, but mostly because my brothers used to play the same
trick on me!
The lush setting through the majority of this
book, full of detail and beautiful to the extreme, leaves me wishing I could
find my own deserted island. And the
exotic ports that they travel to are also interesting to see. Never having traveled to many of those
countries I felt like I was seeing everything and it was like I was actually
there. Even the estate in England is beautiful
and the descriptions rich. Makes you
wonder if the author was really in all those places or if the worlds she has in
her imagination are that vivid.
I enjoyed every minute of this book. Full of emotional swings from the highest
high to the most depressing of lows, this story will leave you feeling wrung
out, but only in the very best of ways.
Grant and Tori are perfectly matched and once they both deal with their insecurities
and decid to enjoy the chance that fate has given them together, the love they
share will fill your heart. It was also fun to see Grant’s brother Derek and
his wife Nicola all settled down in marital bliss. I was thrilled with this
series and would love to see more stories from this world, maybe Ian (grant’s
cousin) will get his own story someday so we can see what happened to him. A great read and one that will leave you
laughing, weeping, and wishing you could hop on a ship and sail around the
world with a sexy captain all your own.
Rating: 4.25 stars
Rose Rating: 
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