Review: A Passion for Pleasure by Nina Rowan

Title: A Passion for Pleasure
Author: Nina Rowan
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Grand Central

Prelude to a Kiss

A brilliant pianist and notorious rake, Sebastian Hall indulges his passion for music and women with equal aplomb. But now that his elder brother has married, his father insists he pursue a more respectable path and find a suitable wife.

Music to Her Ears

As a girl, Clara Whitmore quietly loved her piano teacher from afar. Yet her youthful crush cannot compare to the powerful desire she feels when she unexpectedly meets Sebastian again. Perhaps the man who once dominated her dreams could be the husband she has hoped for—and save her from the fate she most fears.

Love Strikes a Chord

Risking scandal, ruin, and their own reputations, Sebastian and Clara enter into a marriage of convenience. But the pair soon discovers that their undeniable attraction is anything but convenient. Swept up in a crescendo of desire, Sebastian and Clara take each other to new heights of ecstasy—until secrets from the past threaten to doom the duet forever. Now Sebastian will have to change his tune—and prove his love is true.

Review:

Sizzle, spice, intrigue, and exceptional writing are what you’ll encounter in A Passion for Pleasure by Nina Rowan. The second installment of The Daring Heart Series, set in London England during the Crimean War, has the second oldest Hall brother Sebastian as the tormented hero. Tragedy as befallen Sebastian and the cultured Bon vivant of the Hall family is a broken man, gone is his jovial devil-may-care attitude; for he is a husk of his former self.

Enter Clara Winter née Whitmore, a former piano student of Sebastian’s as well as a girl he didn’t bother to notice at the age of sixteen despite the fact that he was only a few years older. Sebastian was then the elegant sought after musical genius. What did he need with a girl like Clara who swoons while hanging onto his every word? He in truth had not even noticed her when she was his student. Clara is in Sebastian’s sight, as he is he now on a secret mission for his brother Darius, and he will stop at nothing to fulfill his familial obligation, and set his own life’s course. Clara too has deep familial obligations that she will do anything to fulfill. Both Clara and Sebastian are dealing with tragedy and hardships, and how they weather them will either unite or destroy them. What will happen when these two cross paths, both looking to accomplish their goals? Guess you’ll have to read the book to find out.

What I love the most about Nina Rowan’s books is the tapestry of emotions that she weaves with her words. The emotions of the characters are palpable, and you’ll experience the story with its twists and turns right along with the them. Her plots are written in bright technicolor with colors added that you didn’t even know were part of the literary palette until she revealed them, and then you’ll wonder why all books don’t have the same depth of texture to them. She paints a setting with such vibrancy that you can not only imagine it in your mind’s eye but almost reach out and touch it. Rowan is an author not to be missed, and even if you have never read a historical romance, this series should be on your “to be read list.” You just might discover a new genre.