Beauty and the Earl by Jess Michaels

Violet Milford has been called to the home of the Duke and Duchess of Rothcastle and she can't imagine why. When she arrives, she learns that the Duchess would like Violet to gather information about her brother. He has been in seclusion after a horrible accident and the loss of his beloved.  The Duchess would like Violet to use the skills she has learned as a courtesan to seduce his secrets from him.
Liam, the Earl of Windbury, has been in seclusion since he lost his fiancee and his sister wed his greatest enemy. He has been staying at one of the family homes near Bath, but rarely ventures to town. On one of those rare visits to the healing baths, he gets an unexpected visitor.  Violet has made her move and Liam is intrigued enough to invite her to stay at his home.  While exploring their attraction, Liam and Violet open up to each other about their past. But just as they get closer, the truth about why Violet is visiting Bath is exposed.  Will their relationship survive the truth?
I was so looking forward to Liam's story as he appeared in both of the previous Pleasure Wars books and Jess Michaels did not disappoint.  Michaels has a way of slowly telling a character's back story without the reader feeling like it is being dragged out. It just makes you want to read faster to get all the details.
The chemistry between the H/H was almost instantaneous, but they soon connected on an emotional level as well.  Because of this, Liam and Violet were able to open up about their past and confide in each other like they never have before. Michaels books are classified as erotica, but to me they are very sensual historical romance. A lot of erotic stories don't have much of a story line. The story is the driving force behind Michaels' work and the love scenes enhance it. Seeing the growth of character in both Liam and Violet is a perfect example of this.
Bravo, Jess Michaels! I can't wait for the next book in the series which comes out in June. It stars Olivia and Malcolm whom we met in this story.

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