His Not-So-Sweet Marchioness

His Not-So-Sweet Marchioness
Lustful Lords # 4
Sorcha Mowbray
January 26th, 2021

He’s shrouded in shame, fighting with his demons in the shadows. Until she sets her sights on him…

Mrs. Rosalind Smith once followed her heart and love to the battlefield and left a widow. Spending the remainder of her life alone is enough… until she meets a man who’s need for pain sparks an answering flame deep within her soul.

Matthew Derby, the Marquess of Flintshire is a fighter, it is all he’s known since childhood. Throwing his fists is the only way to keep his need for pain at bay, and a certain gentle woman off his mind. She deserves a better man than him–Lord or not. Though when faced with the prospect of losing Ros, Flint realizes he has found something to fight for…something to live for.

To Ros’ dismay, everyone around her believes her demeanor too sweet for someone like Flint. When his world begins to unravel and his dockside violence bleeds into the drawing room, a shocking family secret won’t be the key to all the answers. Questions remain, can he solve the mystery, tame his dark needs, and still win Ros’ heart?

Amount of sex 5 / 5
How explicit are the sex scenes 5 / 5
Amount of BDSM/Fetish 4 / 5
Story 5 / 5
Overall 5 / 5

Where’s my fan! Sorcha Mowbray has topped herself with His Not-So-Sweet Marchioness: A Steamy Victorian Romance (Lustful Lords Book 4). If you have ever read my reviews of Ms. Mowbray’s before, you know she is by far my favorite historical romance writer because she is willing to write detailed steamy scenes! Mowbray being my favorite, I was willing to come out of retirement to read and review any of her books!

The story is a fun continuation of the Lustful Lords, this time featuring Flint. Flint is a big, likes to fight (in actual planned bouts), keep everything inside kind of guy. The battlefield widow, Ros, is not as obviously beautiful as her sister Julia (that subject of the last Lustful Lord’s book). She is quiet, but not exactly shy, more that she just isn’t as openly charismatic as her sister. She is a woman willing to go after what she wants, and it is very clear she wants Flint.

Ros and Flint’s love story starts with a fiction – they are happily engaged. Instead, it is a ruse to drive away an unwelcomed advance from another (although not much is said about the other suitor). The ploy was to appear engaged until the other person gave up and moved on, but Ros finds she likes Flint’s unconventional -“I don’t care what society thinks” attitude. However, Flint wants to protect Ros from his rough personal interests – you see, Flint likes a bit of pain with his pleasure.

Mowbray did not disappoint – it was steamy from the get-go (you know, widows are more likely to be physically adventurous). I think I was blushing in the car as I read the book (this was probably too steamy to read in the car). The characters are fun, and Ros was very unpredictable in her choices. My only complaint was that it had been so long since the last book (almost two years) that I forgot some of the plot points from the previous book that pertained to Ros. I could have used a little bit more exposition. However, my lack of memory doesn’t impact my rating of the Lustful Lords’ latest installment – a big 5’s stars!

Voluntarily Reviewed an Advanced Copy

His Hand-Me-Down Countess
Lustful Lords # 1
Sorcha Mowbray
September 20th, 2017

Amount of sex 5 / 5
How explicit 5 / 5
Amount of BDSM/Fetish 5 / 5
Story 5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5

Ok – where is my fan, because OMG His Hand-Me-Down Countess is super hot! I have read many historical romances set in 19th century England to get the pattern – she’s a virgin and worried she’s going to be ruined- oh but he has a sexual past and can she handle it? (oh sorry – was that a yawn?). This is such a prevalent pattern, it has impacted my reviews – if I give it a 1 for the amount of hot and steamy (sorry Amazon has rules about certain words). That usually means it was 1 time, maybe 2 rolls in that hay in the barn or in the field. I still enjoy those stories because they are fun if the author does enough to make the obstacles the two lovers have to overcome worth reading.

With that said, His Hand-Me-Down Countess doesn’t fit the pattern at all – thank goodness! Stone is part of a group of men who frequent at a club that allows their patrons to dabble in anything that meets their fancy (ding, ding big clue about historical novels). The first chapter does a great job of taking the reader into the club and enjoying the exploits of these lustful lords – who definitely like sharing women, domination, and sometimes each other. Stone is about to marry a lovely girl, Theo, who was supposed to marry Stone’s brother but darn it, he died and now Stone is the earl. The marriage takes place quickly, but not without showing innocent Lady Theo what is to come with her marriage to Stone as he shows her the ways of passion without technically ruining her.

Theo is a very likable character. She has her own investments, she funds an orphanage, and most importantly, dear reader, she’s curious and wants to make her new hubby happy. Most of the book is with our young lovers as they discover themselves and what at the time would probably be considered depraved behavior – oh lordy! The book does have a conflict that keeps it entertaining, but the clear crux of the book is the relationship between Stone and Theo. Hot, steamy, and panty-melting – by far one of the best historical romances I’ve read!

Voluntarily reviewed a Gifted Copy

His Hellion Countess
Lustful Lords # 2
Sorcha Mowbray
May 22nd, 2018

Amount of sex 5 / 5
How explicit 5 / 5
Amount of BDSM/Fetish 3 / 5
Story 5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5

What’s a girl to do when she is stuck in the 19th century and craves the independence of the 21st-century women? That is the struggle for Emily. Being a member of “Society,” Emily can’t work a traditional job. The expectation is she will marry well and be a good wife and mother. However, she doesn’t want to get married and feels by doing so she will lose her limited independence. She shies away from men at the balls she attends. Oh, and she uses her time as a wallflower to support her family by stealing at society balls to try to pay off her brother’s gambling debts.

Meanwhile, Cooper (from the first book) has decided he needs to find a meek and biddable wife with no scandals. He thinks Emily is that girl (haha – yeah, he doesn’t know what she does at society balls). When he realizes Emily is far from the docile wife he is hoping for, he falls for her fiery independent woman that he hopes can one day be a match for him in the bedroom.

Being the second Sorcha Mowbray book, I’ve read, I have to say I really love her work. Her books are super sexy (particularly for the Historical Romance genre). She takes what is a little taboo in the 21st century and is downright scandalous in the 19th century. Her first book had multiple partners and BDSM furniture. This second book also peeks at the club the Lustful Lords frequent and includes dominance. However, it is not as heavy with the BDSM aspect as the first. Rather, the taboo in this book is more about different ways to make love.

Mowbray has a way of making me think while enjoying the exploits of this couple. Emily is trapped in her time despite her free-thinking. How Emily’s choices play out as well as those that are taken away from her made me think. It also made me consider: With the genre of Historical Romance must suspend our modern sensibilities to accept this is just how it would be? I don’t know. At a certain point in the book, I did have to accept it was a is what I had to do. I loved the book and I love it makes me think about these issues rather than just give me a great story and the characters’ spicy antics.

Voluntarily Reviewed a Gifted Copy

His Scandalous Viscountess
Lustful Lords # 3
Sorcha Mowbray
February 15th, 2019

Amount of sex 5 / 5
How explicit is the sex scenes 5 / 5
Amount of BDSM/Fetish 1 / 5
Story 5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5

Let me start with I didn’t really have time to read this book. But when I saw Sorcha Mowbray had a book coming out- I made the time. And I have not been disappointed! This book is so steamy, particularly for a historical novel.
Julia has been abroad for a decade after a brief, but bad marriage. She auctions herself off at the sex club – the Market. Recognizing her at the Market is her former love who left her on the street on the night they were to elope, Lord Wolfington. Wolf and a fellow Lustful Lords buy the firey haired Julia and fulfill her fantasy of two men. See while Julia was abroad she found herself lovers and learned that carnal pleasure was something to enjoy and not fear.

Wolf, still in love with Julia, seeks her attention and then offers her protection when a threat looms. Julia never wants to marry again after such a disaster of a first marriage, but Wolf wants her body, mind, and soul.

Mowbray is a master of the sexy historical romance genre. She is perhaps the very best naughty mid-19th century time period storyteller. She tells a great story and never fades to black. Her characters have wants and desires and are not shy about acting them out. This book is naughty and steamy while telling a fun story with a few twists!

Voluntarily Reviewed a Gifted Copy

Sorcha Mowbray is a mild-mannered office worker by day…okay, so she is actually a mouthy, opinionated, take-charge kind of gal who bosses everyone around; but she definitely works in an office. At night she writes romance so hot she sets the sheets on fire! Just ask her slightly singed husband.

She is a longtime lover of historical romance, having grown up reading Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught. Then she discovered Thea Devine and Susan Johnson. Holy cow! Heroes and heroines could do THAT? From there, things devolved into trying her hand at writing a little smexy. Needless to say, she liked it and she hopes you do too!