Another Guilty Pleasure Book

I caved and got this second novella in the Fallen series – it sounded like it would be better than the first one!  And it was in a lot of ways, so it’s really one of those guilty ‘pleasure’ reads!  As opposed to the first book, Grayson “Devil” Devereaux and Eliza are already married, but have been estranged for some time.  Their marriage started off happily, but after Eliza listened to her mother’s advice and tried to be the proper, obedient wife, Grayson began to retreat from her.  She’s confused about this and runs back to her parent’s home, while he immerses himself in keeping the ledgers for the pleasure club, Fallen.

Then Eliza returns to London for the wedding of Sin and Grace (from the first book), and their old passion is reignited. She unwittingly reverts to her original strong personality traits, which is what Grayson loved her about at the start.  You see, he is only aroused when he is being disciplined, which caused his father to banish him.  He’s tried to change and hide his shameful secret, but it doesn’t work.  Until Eliza’s return, he’s been unable to sleep, consumes vast amounts of brandy and keeps to himself in his office.

Once she’s back in his life, things slowly become clear to both of them and they find their true selves are suited to each other.  It’s better than the first book in that this isn’t just insta-lust, there’s real growth of the characters, as they learn to accept their sexual roles as normal.  It’s unusual to find the hero of the book as the submissive, and maybe the book is still somewhat modern in tone, but it was a good read.  It’s erotica, and deals with mild bdsm, so be forewarned if that isn’t your thing!