Lauren's Review of Beauty and the Earl (The Pleasure Wars #3) by Jess Michaels

*ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review

Summary: Liam, the Earl of Windbury, had everything when he held his secret lover in his arms. Until a feud between their families left her dead, his body broken, and his sister married to his bitterest enemy.Wracked with guilt, simmering with rage, he’s spent a year in seclusion, seeing no one except a few servants as he does his best to forget the past and patently refuses to think about any kind of future. When courtesan Violet Milford enters Liam’s lair, she’s on a secret mission to gather information for Liam’s desperate sister, who fears for his sanity, even his life. What she finds is a man scarred inside and out, whose dark, controlling sensuality hides the kind, wounded man within. Violet awakens a sexual desire more powerful than Liam has ever known, and her stories weave a spell that begins to work its way past his defenses. But when the truth inevitably comes out, it could well destroy the love that is saving them both.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Side Note: I took a little break from writing reviews. Life got hectic and I needed to take a mental break from reading.  It was getting to the point where one story would blend into another story and I found that my reviews were becoming too similar. I am still trying to find my voice and my style with these reviews so I took a tiny break but no worries…I am back and ready to read some SMUT!!!!

What I Loved: This is my first historical romance novel so I was a little leery about reading this.  However, this story has opened my mind for future historical reads.  Jess Michaels creates a beautiful love story between Violet and Liam that kept me interested the entire time. What’s not to like about a story of a courtesan who falls in love with an Earl? Haven’t you seen Pretty Woman? We want the happy ending, the fairytale!!  Violet is a likeable character who has overcome a lot to be where she is.  You cannot help rooting for her even under the circumstances with how she came to meet Liam.  I had a knot in my stomach waiting to see when Liam was going to discover Violet’s reasons for being there and I could not wait to see the outcome of their story. 

Not SO Much:  I wish there was a little more background on Violet. I think she has a very interesting back story and I wanted to know more about her and how she got where she was.  This was a light, easy, enjoyable read.

Next on the TBR: Round One (Dom Wars #1) Lucian Bane