Received from NetGalley
From the BLURB:A long string of tragic loves haunts Viscount Benedick Francis Alistair Rohan. Cool and cynical, he's weary of life's fickle games and wants a prim and proper wife he can ignore while indulging his sensual appetites. Lady Melisande Carstairs is nothing less than a tornado storming into Benedick's measured life. Possessed of boundless energy and the soul of a reformer, Melisande always conquers, whether it's saving the souls of soiled doves or seducing the man she's inconveniently fallen for. When she informs Benedick that his brother's newly revived Heavenly Host has graduated from simple carnal debauchery to sadistic violence, he's compelled to investigate, undercover. Under those covers, however, is Melisande herself, playing a dangerous game in the name of justice. And the Heavenly Host has just seen her hand, and more…Decades ago Benedick Rohan’s grandfather birthed ‘The Heavenly Host’. A decadently erotic party where the elite ton could let down their hair and partake of scandalous orgies and phony demonic rituals. The ‘Host’ tradition was passed down the Rohan line, to Benedick’s father and then it vanished into gossip oblivion . . . until now. Benedick Rohan is the eldest of the Rohan clan, and the most jaded. He has lost two wives to childbirth and a sister to the devilish Scorpion. His younger brother, Brandon, has come back from war horribly scarred and intent on opium oblivion. Benedick’s life has been an endless stream of heartache and sorrow of late, so it is with hellish intent that he decides to search for a new bride, get her with an heir (and a spare) and then cavort around London town with every prostitute, madam and widow who will have him.There’s only one catch to Benedick’s full-proof plan . . . and that is Lady Melisande Carstairs. While Benedick has been in reclusive mourning, London nightlife has changed dramatically. Lady ‘Charity’ Carstairs is a wealthy widow on a mission – to aid and reform London’s prostitutes. She is taking in tainted-ladies and educating them to be cooks, maids and dressmakers in a bid to get them off the streets once and for all.But Melisande’s do-gooding is putting a serious crimp in Benedick’s plan for fornication. She is taking all the best ladies of the night and turning them into . . . *shudder* . . . respectable women. Worse than that, Melisande has decided that she needs Benedick’s help in debunking the newly reformed ‘Heavenly Host’. She believes that Bendick’s familial ties to the Host will help her in disintegrating their horrific meetings – especially since Brendan Rohan has started participating, and the Host has become decidedly violent and degrading . . . especially against the unwilling prostitutes the members kidnap. ‘Shameless’ is the fourth book in Anne Stuart’s decadent historical romance series, ‘House of Rohan’. ‘Shameless’ really feels like a full-circle instalment in the ‘Rohan’ series. First book, ‘Ruthless’ was based entirely around ‘The Heavenly Host’ gathering. Second book ‘Reckless’ made the notorious ‘Host’ a little bit tamer, and by third book ‘Breathless’ the naughty gathering was barely a blip on the plot’s radar. Well, in ‘Shameless’ the Host has arisen from the ashes and distorted into something worse than idle gossip and faux-derelict. In this fourth book, the rumours of the Host have manifested into reality – members are kidnapping prostitutes and abusing them, they have become the ton’s own worst nightmare.So it’s only befitting that since the Host started with a Rohan, it should end with one too. Enter Benedick – a widower with a jaded heart and an awakening libido, reluctantly thrust into the role of hero. I loved Benedick. He really has been put through the emotional ringer of late – losing two wives to childbirth and his sister to a thieving husband. When he meets Melisande he is just about at the end of his tether – and a saintly reformer is the last thing he wants to deal with.But Melisande is unlike any woman he has ever met. She is outspoken and loyal, bull-headed and righteous. . . and Benedick is utterly in awe of her, while also disgruntled by his attraction. He released her wrists, but she didn’t hit him. An odd stillness has crept over her limbs, and it seemed to be affecting him, as well. She could see the glitter of his eyes in the darkness, but she couldn’t see his expression.
“Lady Carstairs,” he said in a soft voice after a long moment, “I’m beginning to believe you might be a very dangerous woman.”
Melisande and Benedick have one of the more complicated ‘Rohan’ romances. There are a lot of superficial things keeping them apart – like Melisande being intent on wrecking Rohan’s fornicating fun. But beneath all that is Rohan’s fear of losing another woman he loves – and it’s that undercurrent that makes their scenes so intense and luscious.‘Shameless’ takes a slight detour from Stuart’s previous books in the series. In all the other ‘Rohan’ instalments Stuart has given readers two-stories-in-one: there has always been a secondary romance running concurrently with the main couple. In ‘Ruthless’ it was between Lydia and Charlies, ‘Breathless’ included Jane Pagett and Jacob Connelly’s steamy romance. I have often preferred the secondary romance to the main relationship conundrum – so I was a little miffed to read no such secondary romance in ‘Shameless’. Stuart sets one up – between the scarred Brandon Rohan and Melisande’s good friend (and ex-madam) Emma Cadbury. Emma recounts meeting a wounded young soldier and nursing him back to health . . . but being scared off when she realized he was from the respectable Rohan family. But this story was severely under-developed, garnering pittance page-time and ending on an unsatisfactory, open-ended note. I only hope that the reason for this lacking is that Stuart has more ‘House of Rohan’ books planned, and she has deemed Emma and Brandon worthy of a book unto themselves.I love Anne Stuart’s decadent ‘House of Rohan’ series. Her rakes are dark and dangerous, seductive and sensual and her romances are twisted delights. ‘Shameless’ feels like a full-circle of the series; harking back to the Heavenly Host and their dangerous fun. I do hope that Stuart has more ‘Rohan’ stories planned – especially for the wounded Brandon Rohan, whose romance was sadly lacking in ‘Shameless’.4/5 
From the BLURB:Ruined beyond repair and shunned by London society, lovely Miranda Rohan rebelliously embraces the freedom that comes from having nothing left to lose. However, this dangerous course throws her under the power of the darkly enigmatic Lucien de Malheur—known to many as the Scorpion. Seeking to destroy the Rohans, Lucien traps Miranda in a marriage she thinks is based on friendship but instead is rooted in vengeance. Yet even when she realizes the truth, their enmity fuels a shocking passion—and perhaps even more. Such a man might drive anyone to murder....Miranda Rohan lost her virginity and her social standing with one stupid flight of fancy. But while the ton turned their back on her, Miranda discovered freedom – freedom from social obligation and standing on ceremony. As a fallen woman without a husband, she could live on her own, go out by herself and enjoy a life free from stifling norms. And with her powerful and loving family behind her, Miranda feels she has lost nothing with her fall.Little did Miranda know that her fall from social grace was a precisely orchestrated debauching . . . planned to the letter by one Lucien de Malheur, aka ‘The Scorpian’. Lucien hates the Rohan family, believing the oldest brother to be the reason for his half-sister’s suicide. So he plots his revenge on the Rohan’s by stealing away their sister . . . forming an unlikely friendship with her, and then proposing marriage. A life lived with him in abject misery, and the Rohan’s won’t be able to do a thing to stop him, since he will be her rightful husband.What Lucien doesn’t count on is falling for the beautifully exuberant Miranda Rohan, and realizing that revenge is not best served cold, but piping hot . . . ‘Breathless’ is the third book in Anne Stuart’s delectable ‘House of Rohan’ historical romance series.I loved the first book in this series, ‘Ruthless’. It was my first Anne Stuart read, and I was introduced to her signatory blend of hotly-villainous heroes. I was less impressed with the second installment and the love between a shallow woman and bored man in ‘Reckless’. So I went into this third book with mild trepidation, wondering if I would be putting this series to bed if the third novel was another miss. . . Thankfully, ‘Breathless’ offers up more debauched brilliance from Anne Stuart, even if I found the secondary romance to be the more compelling. Lucien de Malheur is an evil hero to rival all of Anne Stuart’s previous dastardly bastards. Not only is he the type of man to orchestrate a young woman’s fall from grace, he is also a slighted brother hell-bent on familial retribution. Coupled with immense facial scarring and a permanently crooked leg, he is a veritable ‘Beast’. She shivered. Shivered because he was touching her, shivered because she reacted to it, to the caress. But she didn’t move, and her eyes flashed fire.
“You wouldn’t do it.”
“You think not? I had no qualms about endangering your life with a carriage accident. Trust me, the name Scorpian isn’t an accident. I’m cold and lethal – society shuns me for good reason.” He leaned his face down, and brushed his lips against her cheekbone. “I’m sorry I’m such an ugly brute, my precious, but you can always close your eyes and pretend I’m someone else.”
She did close her eyes then. Not because of the scars – those she’d ceased to notice long ago. The sight of his betrayal was new, though, and she couldn’t stand it.
Anne Stuart takes her rakes and villains seriously. She revels in writing anti-hero protagonists and love interests, and their villainy is never watered-down or tame. She writes dark-chocolate heroes – rich and blackened, bordering on too bitter. Lucien is more of the same, but without Adonis good looks to endear him to society. I loved him – scars and all. What I didn’t love was the lack of back story about him. . . I wanted a little more concentration on how he got those scars and on his dangerous journey from Jamaica to London at a young age. I felt like Stuart rushed the culmination of his character, she wrote so many great lead-ins to his history and dark character, but left many of them dangling by book’s end.Miranda was a lovely counter-point to Lucien’s brooding. She is a fiery and beautiful young woman, not easily intimated but able to see beyond Lucien’s brutish exterior. Since this is the ‘House of Rohan’ series, I would have liked more interaction between Miranda and her family . . . particularly her brothers, the eldest of whom is the hero of the fourth book in the series, ‘Shameless’. I liked Lucien well enough and thought Miranda was lovely. But the real selling-point of this book came in the unlikely secondary romance. This is a staple of the ‘House of Rohan’ series; a second romantic plot running alongside the main couple’s. I always enjoy Stuart’s second-fiddle romances, such was the case with Lydia and Charles in ‘Ruthless’, and once again between two unlikely opposites in ‘Breathless’. In ‘Breathless’ this two-for-the-price-of-one romance is between Miranda’s plain best friend, Jane Pagett, and Lucien’s thief-on-hand and London's notorious King of Thieves, Jacob Connelly. Jane is to be married in three months time, to the stuffy and cold-lipped Mr Bothwell. In the mean time, she is happy to take Miranda up on her offer of masked-soirees and scandalous balls, in the hopes of experiencing some real fun before her stifling marriage. It is at one of these masked balls that Jane stumbles upon a robbery-in-process, as Jacob Connelly steals the jewels of their lady host. Jane and Jacob share a heated kiss, and he stakes his claim by slipping a stolen diamond on her finger.Jane puts their delicious kiss in a darkened room down to a one-off encounter, one she will cherish well into her dotage and unhappy marriage. What neither Jane nor Jacob count on is their affiliation with Miranda and Lucien, respectively, which throws them together and helps their romance along. I loved Jane and Jacob. She is a veritable plain-Jane, succumbing to an unhappy marriage in order to avoid being underfoot in her parent’s household. By contrast, Jacob is the king of London thieves – a notorious rake and debaucher of innocents. Theirs is a glorious opposites-attracting love affair that I enjoyed far more than Lucien and Miranda’s. And I think Stuart started to feel the same towards the end of the book . . . Jacob and Jane’s scenes came more frequently and were lengthy towards the end, and their romance seemed fuller than Miranda’s by book’s finale. Bloody hell. “Lass, you can’t imagine the things I want to do to you. I want to take you to bed and not let you out for days. I want to take you every way I can, so hard that neither of us can walk. I want you in my bed and in my life, for the rest of my life, and if you don’t want to believe it you can check your hand.”
“My hand?” she echoed, confused. She looked down, and saw the huge, winking diamond on it. “When did you do that?”
“Just now, love. You’re mine, Miss Jane Pagett, and you know it, too. I was just trying to be polite about it.”
I loved Jacob, best of all. He spends a good deal of the book wanting Jane, but believing himself to be beneath her. He was such a bad-boy hero, and so damned romantic by the end. He definitely stole the spotlight from poor, beastly Lucien.I really did enjoy Anne Stuart’s third book in the ‘House of Rohan’ series, but not for the reasons I thought I would. I wished for more back story about the villainous hero and in the end was more invested in the second-fiddle romance between a plainly unhappy affianced lady and London’s King of Thieves. 4/5 
Received from NetGalley
From the BLURB:Adrian Alistair Rohan lost his faith, and now, a dedicated member of the depraved Heavenly Host, he loses himself in his only pleasure: the seduction and debauchery of beautiful women. Rich, charming and devastatingly skilled in the arts of love, he never fails in his conquests.until Charlotte Spenser. Charlotte is facing a desolate, passionless future, none of which matters to Adrian, who imagines her a toy until better prey arrives. But beneath her drab exterior, Charlotte is a woman as enchanting as she is brilliant and, lured into Adrian's world, soon she becomes the seducer, and he the seduced...‘Reckless’ is the second book in Anne Stuart’s ‘House of Rohan’ trilogy.This trilogy spans three generations of Rohan’s. ‘Ruthless’ was about Viscount Francis Rohan, who started the orgy-delights of the ‘Heavenly Host’ and went down as a Paris legend for his wicked sojourns. ‘Reckless’ is about Adrian Rohan, son of Elinor and Francis. Adrian is a twenty-eight year old rake. He is following in his father’s footsteps, doing what he pleases and uncaring of what others think. Adrian is attending the reincarnation of the Heavenly Host where he bumps into Charlotte Spenser... Charlotte is a thirty-year-old spinster; ginger-haired, freckled and awkward. Charlotte is also besotted with Adrian. She has watched him for three London seasons; watched him bed women and throw them away, watched his beautiful form across numerous ballrooms and lusted after him. Charlotte was dragged to the Heavenly Host by her strumpet cousin, Evangelina Whitmore, but she never thought that she would run into the notorious Adrian Rohan. And she never in her wildest dreams thought that Adrian would offer her three days in his bed. Three days introducing Charlotte to pleasures of the flesh and then sending her own her way to a lifetime of spinsterhood.... I loved ‘Ruthless’. That book was my first introduction to Anne Stuart and her wonderfully rakish male protagonists. Stuart’s bad-boy heroes are her forte – she writes truly villainous men who seem impossible as love interests, but whose redemption makes for compelling reading. Unfortunately, Adrian Rohan didn’t live up to his father’s level of rakishness. I can’t quite put my finger on why Adrian wasn’t in the same rake league as his father.... It might be because when he meets Charlotte, Adrian is instantly (if unknowingly) besotted, whereas in ‘Ruthless’ Francis Rohan’s affections were never crystal-clear to Elinor or readers. It was also a matter of never reading much evidence of Adrian’s libertine behaviours, beyond other character’s gossip and innuendo. Charlotte was also not of the same heroine-calibre as Elinor of ‘Ruthless’. Where Elinor had a backbone and stubborn-streak to admire and put Francis Rohan in his place, Charlotte is a bit of a whiner. Charlotte sees herself as an ugly, unwanted and unmarriageable spinster. She spends a lot of time telling Adrian of her short-comings and convincing him that he can’t possibly want her frumpy self. All of Charlotte’s self-flagellations started to get on my nerves and wore away my sympathy for her. There’s only so much pity-partying I can take, especially when all of her protestations are unfounded because Adrian shows his enthusiasm for her, repeatedly. Finally she said, “You sick bastard.”
“Oh, my love, not sick at all. It’s quite lovely, and some women, the very best women, enjoy it as well. So I gather this means you don’t want me inside you, riding you, pumping you, making you cry and scream with pleasure?”
“You’re a pig,” she snapped.
“It’s a pig’s world. So the answer is no, my precious?”
Overall I didn’t particularly like Charlotte and Adrian’s romance. Beyond good sex, these two had no reason to fall in love. Adrian is intrigued by Charlotte because he knows she is lusting after him (egomaniac). And Charlotte is attracted to Adrian because he’s very, very handsome (shallow). Not exactly the most romantic of couplings.Like ‘Ruthless’, ‘Reckless’ has a second romantic storyline. This one concerning Charlotte’s somewhat slutty cousin, Evangelina, and a reformed rake turned vicar, Simon Pagett. I don’t think these two got enough page-time to really draw me in. And honestly I kept thinking that the romance of a slut and a vicar could have easily carried its own book – especially because Evangelina’s reasons for sluttiness are quite sad and worthy of deeper exploration than Stuart gives them in ‘Reckless’. I am beginning to see why Anne Stuart has earned her reputation for writing brilliant bad-boys... but ‘Reckless’ just didn’t do it for me. The bad-boy didn’t titillate, the heroine grated and their ‘romance’ was nothing but good sex. ‘Ruthless’ was brilliant, ‘Reckless’ is a poor follow-up. 2.5/5 
Received from NetGalley
From the BLURB:Few outsiders will ever witness the dark misdeeds of the Heavenly Host. And among this secret society, where exiled Georgian aristocrats gather to indulge their carnal desires, fewer still can match the insatiable appetite of their chief provocateur, the mysterious Viscount Rohan.Pursuit of physical pleasure is both his preferred pastime and his most pressing urge, until he encounters the fascination of a woman who won't be swayed. And while his dark seduction appalls the pure and impoverished Elinor Harriman, she finds herself intrigued.and secretly drawn to the man behind the desire.This is the first book in Anne Stuart’s ‘House of Rohan’ series.... and it is sublime!Comte de Giverney is known among Paris high-society as the King of Hell. He also goes by Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Heavenly Host and Francis Rohan. Viscount Rohan throws wild, debauched invite-only parties. Rohan opens his home for three-day-long revelries and orgies known as the ‘Heavenly Host’ where his guests ‘do what thou wilt’. These lascivious affairs are the talk of town, and have turned Rohan into a coveted legend. Elinor Harriman leads a very different life... she is elder sister and protector of the beautiful and desirable Lydia. She is main provider for her loyal Nanny Maude and coachman, Jacobs. And Elinor is the dutiful and patient daughter to Lady Caroline, her pox-ridden poor-excuse for a mother.It is her delirious and sickly mother who reluctantly leads Elinor to Viscount Rohan’s door-step on the night of his Heavenly revelries. When the innocent Elinor crosses Rohan’s path he is enchanted and intrigued, his interest pricked for the first time in years and now that Elinor is in his sights, Rohan has no intentions of letting her go without a fight...I loved this book. This is my first-ever Anne Stuart novel, and I am officially converted! Let me just start by saying that ‘Ruthless’ doesn’t have as much sex in it as you’d think, but that also won’t bother you as much as you’d imagine...When we meet him, Viscount Rohan is a ruthless rake somewhat disenchanted with his orchestrated orgies and contrived risqué. Elinor stumbles into his life right at the moment when he is most bored and looking for a distraction. Anne Stuart does what so few romance writers are willing to risk... and that is, write a truly devilish rake. Viscount Rohan is not a nice man and he lives up to his ‘King of Hell’ title. He is laconic, brutally honest, egotistical and wholly consumed by his own amusements. I loved him! I mostly adored Rohan because he was so well-written and so intensely awful. Viscount Rohan is a very rare male character in historical romances – whereas most ‘rakes’ are easily cured by true love; Anne Stuart kept up his character’s pretences to the point that Rohan was a mystery unto himself. Rohan’s redemption became a suspenseful side-story that kept me guessing until the very end. Elinor was equally wonderful and a perfect heroine for Rohan. She has had so much heartache and unfairness in her life that she could have turned into a ‘woe is me’ misery guts. But Anne Stuart has written Elinor with guts of steel and an unbreakable backbone. I adored her, and could very easily understand what Rohan found so fascinating about her;“And I’m not particularly worried about you finding me attractive, pet.”
“Because you have no designs on my body,” Elinor supplied.
“No, sweetness. Because you’re already completey fascinated by me, and nothing’s going to change that. It doesn’t matter what I say or do. You’re trapped, like a sweet little moth in a spider web.”
“You may find you’re mistaken, my lord. You may have a wasp in your web.”
“Oh, I do hope so, child,” Rohan said, rising.
‘Ruthless’ is really two romances in one. Rohan and Elinor are the main romantic focus, but Elinor’s little sister Lydia also gets a HEA in the form of Rohan’s scarred second-in-command, Charles Reading. The moment I read Lydia and Charles’s first encounter I thought “I hope their book is next in the series” – and then, lo and behold! Anne Stuart writes their romance alongside Rohan and Elinor’s. Lydia and Charles get less page-time and focus, but theirs is still a thrillingly sweet romance.I will say that I thought there would be more smut and gratuitous sex in the book. After all, the ‘Heavenly Host’ is whispered about in equal parts reverence and disgust by several characters... but we never actually read much of the goings-on at Rohan’s estate. Anne Stuart’s lack of description about the orgies isn’t a hole in the novel; in fact the minimal explicit accounts keep things mysterious and a little bit edgy. It is up to readers (and Elinor) to let their imaginations run wild and put their heads in the gutter where the Heavenly Host is concerned... There also isn’t much in the way of smut between Rohan and Elinor, because the romance for them is in the chase. Reading Rohan and Elinor duck and parry with one another is half the fun. And because their romance is a real ‘will they or won’t they’, as a reader you get more caught up in Rohan and Elinor’s weird courtship than their coupling. I will warn that if you are in the mood for a good steamy read, then ‘Ruthless’ is less about the release and more about the build-up. Don’t expect this to be a historical romance with light erotica; it is instead a high-brow historical romance with an intense storyline and unique romance.My one complaint about ‘Ruthless’ is a somewhat rushed conclusion. In the last couple of chapters there is one too many happy coincidences and easy resolutions. I would have appreciated more time with Rohan and Elinor, and a slower slide into the ending... but it’s a small complaint in a whole book of wonderful. ‘Ruthless’ is brilliant. I would recommend this historical romance for lovers of the genre, as well as apprehensive readers who have been too sceptical to delve into such books. The smut is light, the characters intense and the story a real page-turner. 4/5
Received from NetGalley 
