Review: Engaged in Sin

Engaged in Sin by Sharon Page
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Miss Page has once again proved to be one of the best erotic-romance writers.

                     CONTAINS SPOILERS

I must say this book wasn't as sexually intimidating as some of her other books like Sin. It was emotional, thrilling and wonderfully put together.

This book follows the story of Anne, forced to turn to prostitution due to circumstances,and on the run from a false accusation of murder. She tries to seduce the Duke of March into keeping her as his Mistress until she is able to earn enough money to leave England.

I was apprehensive when I first started the book. But as I read, I realized it was simply beautiful.

Anne is a strong, albeit, a broken woman who is in desperate search of some security. She does not have false notions of some knight in shiny white armor and relies on herself to achieve all the security she wants.

The Duke is blind and wallows in self-pity for quite some time of the book. I like it that, the Duke is not shown as a powerful, arrogant hero who just sweeps her off her feet. He is genuinely broken by war, has nightmares, and hates the fact that he has to rely on somebody to even walk without. He has temper tantrums and refuses to see his family because he is ashamed. Anne helps him to come out of his own shell.

This again isn't one of those books where they both desperately fall in love in the third chapter. She becomes his mistress and stays as one for a long time. All he feels is a fierce sense of protection and thankfulness towards her.

There were 3 things I found disconcerting.

The first - In the beginning of the book she is shown as a very insecure, desperate and a pitiable creature and suddenly when the duke's sister goes into labor, she is shown to possess enormous courage and presence of mind, even if it is said she had witnessed her mother had assist in childbirths, she herself has never done before and for a person who hasn't. And after that she is continued to be shown as a very fierce character.

The second - I expected more fury and mistrust from the duke when he found out about her lies and betrayal. But he did not and rushes to save her. I am not sure whether to find this sweet or a flaw in the book.

The third - I found it quite unbelieving and unnecessary for Anne's long lost great-grandmother to suddenly come out of nowhere ans stake a claim on her. The move was justified form all angles and I even found it nice. Bit, it just seemed unnecessary and the story would have gone great without its addition. Moreover, in the end it was not clear on whether she was announced to be the great-and-the-only-grand-daughter of the very powerful Countess Something.

And it was quite long.

Apart from these, the story moved very nicely. And apart from the romance there was the mystery of the actual murderer, and so many other side thrillers that gave the book more depth.

All the secondary characters seemed very original. I loved the duke's mother the best. She was a strong character and played a major role, along with the duke's sisters', in bringing both of them together.

Once again Miss page has proven to be the best, but not the best of her works.

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