The Art of Sinning

Veteran historical romance author Jeffries (the Hellions of Halstead Hall series) launches her Sinful Suitors Regency series with two effortlessly crafted charismatic protagonists. Edwin Barlow, Lord Blakeborough, commissions brash American artist Jeremy Keane to paint a portrait of his sister, Lady Yvette, in exchange for introducing Keane’s sister, Amanda, to amenable suitors. Yvette is trying to find the child that her irresponsible brother Samuel left behind in a brothel; Jeremy offers to help in exchange for Yvette modeling for another, more provocative painting. When the two meet in secret at night and Yvette poses for his painting, their meetings become erotic encounters, and Jeremy opens up a world of sensuality for her. Yvette is revealed as a strong, smart woman driven by her quests to rescue her brother’s child and to find a man to love; Jeremy could be that man, but the scars of his past get in his way. Jeffries’s talent is clear, and readers will delight in the multidimensional characters, fast-paced plot, and heaps of emotional passion and sensuality. (Aug.)