Sinful Surrender by Beverly Kendall

Rating: 4/5

I really enjoyed this book and the writing. It was sexy and compelling. The only thing that makes me not give this book 5 stars is near the end.

Missy is infatuated with James and James is close friends with her brother so he abstains from any relationship with her even though he is also attracted to Missy. (I actually really loved the fact that the shoe was on the other foot. Usually it is the man that pursues and seduces the woman, but it starts off with Missy having the confidence and perhaps naiveté to pursue James ruthlessly.) Missy throws herself onto James to the point where they end up having sex...although blaming Missy for the whole sexual interlude is a bit unfair since it takes two to tangle and Missy's intent was not to seduce James at that point.

Filled with remorse from deflowering Missy, James, unfortunately, also is told that he impregnated another woman, Victoria, while in a drunken, loss-of-memory stupor. Having gotten himself into this bind, he seeks out Missy and she informs him not to worry about her - she won't force him into a marriage and she is not pregnant by him. He then proceeds to do the honorable thing with Victoria and court her to marry her...much to his dismay. Distraught and angry, Missy finds she must find a way to forget James since he got another woman pregnant and they are on their way to being married.

Both characters are tortured at this point because they want to be with each other. James then finds out that Victoria lied, drugged him, and actually did nothing with him so he is set free. Free to pursue Missy now that he has realizes how much she means to him. He seeks Missy out and proposes marriage to her, explaining that he did not get Victoria with child. Missy refuses the proposal because she is convinced that he wants her for all the wrong reasons (honor, lust, etc.), is still upset over the previous events, and also she wants love or nothing at all. The tables are turned and James pursues Missy, much to her dismay and at the same time, I think, pleasure. Missy keeps resisting him and turning him down.

At this point, I understand and agree with the way the characters behaved. I understood James and I understood Missy's positions. The next parts, though, I did not like. I thought they dragged the story on more unnecessarily with more resistance of Missy and James coming together. At this point, they should have started softening towards each other more and readers could read more about their ACTUAL courting period and them falling in love without more angst and bitterness. Instead....

James' father dies and James finds out he has 2 bastard half-sisters. His mother is bitter about them and misleads Missy into believing that the two girls are James' daughters. Missy seems to be starting to soften towards James at the funeral but after finding out about the sister/daughters, she gets upset all over again and starts to believe more that James would not make a good husband for her, as he doesn't love her and could possibly be unfaithful.

Of course the story ends happily, but after all the anxiety between Missy and James throughout the book, I really wanted to just read a nice chapter or three about them really being on the same page (no pun intended) and going through their courtship and their heated romance/flirtation/etc. Somewhat like a rewarding, relaxing romance-filled portion after all the tension between the two lovebirds. I didn't want to read more about misunderstandings, lack of communication, etc. The ending where they were together was all too brief for me. In romances, I always like to learn a little bit more after the climax (another pun not intended) of the characters and their interaction.

For a debut, this book is a lot better than a lot of the recent historical romances that have been coming out of veteran historical romance authors! Beverly Kendall definitely has a lot of promise and I am definitely looking forward to the next book!