From a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author:One look at the towering ocean-side manor that is to be her new home, and exiled socialite Susan Stanton knows: This is a place haunted by secrets, and riddled with menace.For Susan, there is no escaping the most dangerous element of all—dark-haired smuggler Evan Bothwick, a man whose rakish countenance cannot hide his wicked intent.But Susan … rakish countenance cannot hide his wicked intent.
But Susan has a secret of her own—a special gift that renders her privy to the darkest mysteries lurking within the walls of the manor and in the labyrinthine cellars beneath. And the only man who can help her is the very rogue she would do anything to be able to resist…
more
Too Sinful to Deny (Gothic Love Stories Book 2) by Erica Ridley This is the second in this series and I am thankful to the author for letting me preview it. Susan Stanton …sent away by her parents.. Evan Bothwick …smuggler…They are drawn to each other… Add in ghosts ..pirates..suspense…a few laughs..mystery..steam..angst..all leading to a HEA. I am looking forward to ..TO TEMPTING TO RESIST.
A charming rogue, a debutante who sees ghosts, a dungeon prison, and pirates – what a wonderful combination. The characters are drawn well and the action keeps the story moving along nicely.
I received this book as a free copy with the understanding I would leave an impartial review. I did.
TOO SINFUL TO DENY is the second book in the Gothic Love Stories series. Each will stand on its own, but I highly recommend all four.
An old gothic manor on the cliffs of a beach town filled with smugglers and those who enjoy the goods being smuggled into their town. What could go wrong?
Did I mention ghosts? Susan started seeing them after she temporarily died in the Thames River. Moreover, a captain that wants to do more than smuggle – piracy sounds like even more fun to him! Conspiracy and abuse are being hidden in this small town as well.
Susan has to decide who to trust, who to believe, and if her own heart will lead her astray. I have to say, I loved Susan. She’s an absolute brat with a new paranormal talent to figure out while banished to a boring seaside village with no outlets for a society miss. Her answer seems to be to make as much trouble as possible to entertain herself and those around her!
This was a fantastic read with a proper amount of paranormal fun, teasing, passion, and romance. Speaking of romance, let’s mention Evan Bothwick. He is a smuggler with an offer to become a pirate. Is that a line he wants to cross? There is a difference between adventure and murderous greed! He’s also handsome, a gentleman at heart even though he’ll deny it, and a loyal brother. Another character with whom I have fallen deeply in love.
Together, they are fire. They are steam. They are volcanic!
Note: While I received this book as a gifted ARC, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
Title: TOO SINFUL TO DENY
Series: Gothic Love Stories #
Category /Genre: Historical Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Grammar/editing: received as an unedited ARC
Received from: Erica Ridley
I Absolutely Loved reading this Book.
An Absolutely Wonderful & Crazy adventure is putting it lightly.
I truly couldn’t put the Book down.
Susan Stanton a Young Lady who is always getting into trouble. Is sent away to a Extremely small town without any money. She does have a gift that she doesn’t wish to have but is needed by Evan.
Evan Bothwick a Rogue & Scoundrel is in search for answers & has to look for Susan for them even though he doesn’t want to endanger her.
As Susan tries to find a way to get back to London, Evan is looking for people who keep disappearing.
These 2 Characters are witty, funny ah & both attracted to each other.
This Gothic Romance Novel holds it all.
Too Sinful to Deny is the second book in the Gothic Love stories series and I was looking forward to this book as Susan was one of my favourite characters from the first book but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. There is plenty to grab a reader’s attention with smugglers, ghosts and pirates and an atmospheric, sinister setting but for some reason I kept having to go back and re-read parts because I just wasn’t taking in. Maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll give this one another go.
Just finished the second book in this Gothic Love series and can’t wait for the third. The story of Evan and Susan is the most intriguing I’ve read so far. All the characters have a hidden agenda which makes it difficult to decipher who is the real culprit in the story. Great book!
Spoiled London debutante Susan Stanton has finally taken her gossiping and reckless curiosity too far and been banished to live with a distant cousin in a remote seaside manor house. As soon as she arrives, Susan realizes something is off about the house and nearby town and that’s before she starts seeing ghosts. To make matters worse, it seems the only one with a chance of helping her figure out just what is going on is roguish smuggler Evan Bothwick, the farthest thing from the wealthy, titled husband Susan hopes to secure. For his part, Evan is trying to solve his late brother’s murder and doesn’t have time for feminine distractions, though keeping his distance may be easier said than done.
I couldn’t stand Susan as a secondary character in the previous book in this series and I disliked her even more as a main character here. I hoped there would be some depth and redemption for her vapid character, but alas there really was not. She was honestly just too stupid, vain and shallow for me to cheer for her. The rakish Evan wasn’t much better, but he was rather charmingly noble in his underhandedness. Despite the fact that she recognizes that her big mouth and recklessness continue to get her into trouble, Susan fails to learn and continues to jump to conclusions and display a general airheadedness. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the gothic vibes and plot of this one, though the pacing was a little slow to hold my attention, I did keep picking it back up. I always love when a rake gives up his wild ways for the perfect woman and this did not disappoint on that score.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book had it all – mystery, intrigue and romance. There was pirates and smugglers. The book kept me interested. I do not think there is any Erica Ridley book I do not like.
This book will have your head in a spin: parents exiling their only child, a daughter; ghosts appearing regularly, some talking, some mute; giants, scarecrows, witches and porcelain dolls; smugglers and pirates; disappearing murdered corpses; innocence chained in dungeon; indestructible treasure box without keys holding unknown proof of perfidy; passionate love affairs with no desire for marriage; etc.; etc. It seemed to me too much to hope for a happy ending, yet in the last chapter, everybody seems to get the just deserts I wanted for them! Recommended read.
This book is filled with intrigue, romance and quirky humor. I felt like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole and emerging into another world. Some characters are bright and vivid while others are partially hidden behind a pale curtain. But once the curtain is pulled back, the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways. The heroine is Susan Stanton from Too Wicked to Kiss. She leaps off the page in this book and has quickly become a favorite character for me. Susan accidentally falls through the ice and dies but then is resurrected with gifts she didn’t have before. I also liked Evan Bothwick the handsome rogue of a hero. “Just one kiss, he told himself. Just one kiss, one touch, one taste, and he would leave her alone forever, no harm done. They were alone. Nobody would have to know. He brushed his lips against hers, slowly, softly, dragging the unhurried contact from one side to the other, trying to coax a response. She sucked in a breath. ‘Do you want me to stop?’ he murmured. She shook her head. So he kissed her.” I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. I was given a copy of this book.
Within the very first chapter Miss Susan Stanton, the spoiled, bratty friend to Evangline from “Too Wicked to Kiss”
Drowns. She dies and is brought back by a stranger’s kiss. After she heals from her injuries her mother sends her to Bournemouth. A small town of less then a hundred people. A distant cousin, Lady Beaune who lives at Moonseed Manor is suppose to take care of her.
When she arrives the manor turns out to be dark, forbearing place. The new owner is a giant of a man, who supposedly
is married to her late cousin’s daughter ! The new Lord Beaue. As if finding out her cousin is dead, and she is now under the care of a dark and evil looking stranger. Isn’t bad enough she also meets Evan Bothwick who is with the Giant but talks about shooting him ! He looks like a gentleman, but sure doesn’t act it. Even thru she was sent here for punishment of spying and gossip, she can’t help but follow Evan when he leaves Moonseed Manor.
If she only knew then what trouble lays ahead, smuggler’s, ghost’s, a murder,pirate’s, a magistrate who may or may not
be what he seems. Wow what a story, poor Susan can now see and talk to ghost’s since her near death experience.
She founds herself haunted by not one but two ghost’s in town. This story goes from being hilarious, to dark and mysterious, with voices coming from the walls, floor ? While trying to solve or at least figure out everything happening in this town, Susan and Evan can’t help being drawn to each other. The attention they both feel is hard as both are keeping secrets, and not trusting the other.
This is a very fast moving story, with lots of character’s and going on. You will not want to put is down.
It’s got something for every one, get your copy and enjoy.
So many twist and turns, it was great….
I received a ARC from the author and am giving my own option. Am off to start book three, “Too Tempting to Resist”, hope it is as good…
Pirates, Smugglers and Ghosts – Since she almost drowned after the 1814 Frost Fair collapsed in the Thames, Sarah has been able to see and hear ghosts. Having been exiled to Bournemouth by her parents, she soon finds herself embroiled in the murders of the recently dead with no idea who she should trust, including the handsome rakehell to whom she is attracted.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Erica Ridley has upended the tables in her gothic romance, Too Sinful to Deny. Rather than a tale based upon a dark brooding hero and a demure heroine, she has provided us with a shady rake and a viper tongued, banished socialite. Susan Stanton has a special gift which she strives to keep secret. Evan Bothwick has questionable friends and secrets of his own to hide. There was enough laugh out loud and tongue in cheek humor to maintain my interest throughout the whole work. Throw in a creepy, ocean-side manor, an assortment of unusual characters, both alive and dead, a slow, simmering romance, and voilà, an entertaining gothic romance.
To say the beginning got my attention quickly is an understatement! The heroine of the story Susan almost drowned! Yes, that was the beginning of some very strange happenings to come! This seemed to be her last escapade (not the drowning but what led up to it!) before her parents banished her to remote Moonseed Manor.
Arriving she looked at the “scarecrow” of a butler and tried to introduce herself. “She was the twenty-year old sole offspring of a loveless titled couple who had banished their ostracized disappointment of a daughter to the remotest corner of England rather than bear the sight of her.” Is that what she should say? But then it got interesting as she went to meet her relative at the manor. A giant answered the door the scarecrow took her too and then a very handsome man came forward. Wait are you confused? You just have to read this amusing, tangled story that was truly fascinating and I could not stop once I started!!
I knew I like Susan immediately with her quirkiness and humorous thoughts. Plus the characters were priceless!
A gothic romance filled with a haunted mansion by the seaside, smugglers, murder and mayhem but a lot of humor which is usually not the case. But I loved it! The handsome guy she met at first was Evan Bothwick, smuggler and soon to be attracted to Susan and she to him.
Alas, there is a bumpy road to the happy ending, that is if they can make it past the murder and mayhem!! Don’t miss this one!
Susan Stanton is very curious, a bit rebellious, and loves gossip. These charming qualities do not please her mother. Her last clandestine unapproved foray into town caused her to drown (sort of) and to be sent to stay with a distant relative, probably forever, as punishment. Evan Bothwick is a smuggler who is suspicious of recent activity connected to his ship. Now his brother has been murdered. He wants answers and he wants revenge. What Susan wants is to find a way to return to London as quickly as possible. What she finds in this rather quaint seaside town is an adventure, a creepy scary one, but an adventure just the same.
Too Sinful to Deny has everything a good Gothic story should have, creepy mansion with strange secrets and a village to match, scary villains, stormy weather, and mysteries. There are also pirates, smugglers, damsels who need rescue, ghosts, and a heroine with a special gift left behind by her near-death experience. Susan and Evan have almost nothing in common, but are so much alike. They are snarky and funny, totally distrust each other, and are drawn to each other even though they don’t want to be. This was a enjoyable story with likable characters.
I loved book one of the Gothic Love Stories “Too Wicked To Kiss” by Erica Ridley. Book two was a sad disappointment. It was too chaotic, too much happening at the same time, too confusing. The lead female character Susan Stanton, the expectations as the heroine were not met. Maybe I have seen too many movies or read too many books but Susan’s reactions were not realistic at least not in the beginning. I had a hard time getting through this book. I read a little and put it down several times. But I was determined to finish it. It was not until over 60 percent through the book that Susan’s attitude started to change and she became a little more relate-able. There were too many distractions from the romance between Susan and Evan Bothwick is was totally lost and rushed through the story. Creepy mansions, ghostly spectrals, murders, clandestine treasonist activities, pirates, smugglers and an innocent shackled in the dungeon. This story had too many loose ends and plot holes that did not make for a satisfying conclusion. I despair at giving this a two-star rating but it could not be helped. I do love Erica’s work and I do look forward to book three. I hope it will be as good as book one.
This book is funny at times. Does Susan and Evan make it together? There are many factors t going on in this book that keep it interesting.
Too Sinful to Deny is the second book in the Gothic Love Stories series. It has everything you’d want in a gothic book; mystery, ghosts, missing body and of course romance. Susan Stanton has been banished to Bournemouth, an isolated town, to stay with a cousin. When she arrives she realizes things are not as they should be. She is determined to return to London and marry a titled, rich gentleman. Evan Bothwick is a smuggler that is looking for the person who killed his brother. The plot was great and the characters were well developed. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
ONE INCREDIBLE DELIGHT!!!
Holy hot sauce! Erica rocks this baby from the start. One tumultuous wild ride with a surplus of vexing circumstances and a bevy surprising incidents that blasts all of your emotions bursting into play perfectly. One delectable storyline and compelling plot jolts this baby together fabulously. All the drama, angst, danger and suspense make for one incredible experience. Twists and turns, ups and downs, along with a few bumps and bruises bring this baby together smoothly. A non-stop action packed, fast paced, page flipping delight that grabs your attention and holds it until the last page. The characters and scenes are written in true to life form that brings this little guy bursting to life delightfully. Amazing job Erica, thanks for sharing this bad boy with us.
This story was a little hard to get into but it was well worth reading until the end.