[Livro] The Pleasures of Passion, de Sabrina Jeffries

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Título em Português: --
Série:Sinful Suitors #4
Autor(a): Sabrina Jeffries
Editora: Pocket Books
Páginas: 400
Data de Publicação: 20 de Junho de 2017

Sinopse:

When Niall Lindsey, the Earl of Margrave, is forced to flee after killing a man in a duel, he expects his secret love, Brilliana Trevor, to go with him, or at the very least wait for him. To his shock, she does neither and sends him off with no promise for the future. Seven years and one pardon later, Niall returns to England disillusioned and cynical. And being blackmailed by the government into working with his former love to help catch a counterfeiter connected to her father doesn’t improve his mood any. But as his role as Brilliana’s fake fiancé brings his long-buried feelings to the surface once again, he wonders who is more dangerous—the counterfeiter or the woman rapidly stealing his heart.
Forced to marry another man after Niall was exiled, the now widowed Brilliana wants nothing to do with the reckless rogue who she believes abandoned her to a dreary, loveless life. So having to rely on him to save her father is the last thing she wants, much less trusts him with....But as their scheme strips away the lies and secrets of their shared past, can she let go of the old hurt and put her pride aside? Or will the pleasures of their renewed passion finally enable them both to rediscover love?

~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da autora Sabrina Jeffries, em troca desta opinião honesta. Obrigada! ~

Opinião:
Primeira vez que li um livro da Sabrina Jeffries – e foi um bom começo, mas podia ser melhor.

Todo o livro revolve à volta de dois enredos interligados – a história do casal principal e um esquema de contrafeição.

Niall e Brilliana tiveram conheceram-se sete anos da nossa história, e tiveram uma relação secreta que não passou de declarações de amor e carinhos. Quando Niall se vê forçado a fugir de Inglaterra e pede a Bree para ir com ele, ela recusa por causa da mãe doente. Niall sente-se traído quando não tem qualquer notícia de Bree, excepto um recorde de jornal que o pai lhe manda com a notícia das núpcias de Bree com Mr. Trevor, poucos meses depois de Niall ter fugido para a Península Ibérica. Bree sabe que Niall fugiu porque matou um homem num duelo mas não sabe porquê, o que a torna vulnerável às ideias que lhe são apresentadas sobre Niall não ser quem ela pensa.

Todos estes desentendimentos levam a que eles odeiem as razões que os levaram a afastar-se e é necessário reconstruir a confiança perdida, tudo ao mesmo tempo que tentam descobrir se o pai de Bree anda a criar notas falsas. Com um noivado fingido e imensas dúvidas e desconfianças, o livro acaba por perder algo ao repetir várias vezes as mesmas ideias do porquê de perda de confiança e dificuldade em voltar a partilhá-la – mas para nós, leitores, não é necessário estar sempre a insistir no mesmo.

Para mim houve algumas falhas no enredo – o que aconteceu verdadeiramente à mãe de Bree? Sempre viveu com ela e Mr.Trevor ou ficou com o marido até à morte? Que problema de saúde tinha? Quanto tempo esteve doente, isto é, faleceu pouco depois de Niall fugir ou já foi tarde de mais para tentarem encontrar-se novamente? Bree escreveu a Niall – porque não escreveu ele a ela também (e Inglaterra sabia perfeitamente onde ele estava por isso não era desculpa)? Estas, entre outras perguntas, ficaram sem resposta.

A parte mais interessante pareceu-me ainda o enredo da contrafeição e como, apesar de forçados a agir de certa maneira para descobrirem o criminoso (que soube desde logo quem era), todas as personagens funcionam como uma roda bem oleada à volta deste enredo. Sem dúvidas as mais interessantes foram a (excêntrica) tia Agatha e o misterioso Lord Fulkham.

Foi um livro agradável e que li bastante rápido, o que mostra a facilidade de escrita e o enredo que apesar de tudo consegue manter-nos interessados.

Title: The Pleasures of Passion
Serie: Sinful Suitors 4#
Author: Sabrina Jeffries
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 400
Publication date: June 20th 2017

Synopsis:

When Niall Lindsey, the Earl of Margrave, is forced to flee after killing a man in a duel, he expects his secret love, Brilliana Trevor, to go with him, or at the very least wait for him. To his shock, she does neither and sends him off with no promise for the future. Seven years and one pardon later, Niall returns to England disillusioned and cynical. And being blackmailed by the government into working with his former love to help catch a counterfeiter connected to her father doesn’t improve his mood any. But as his role as Brilliana’s fake fiancé brings his long-buried feelings to the surface once again, he wonders who is more dangerous—the counterfeiter or the woman rapidly stealing his heart.
Forced to marry another man after Niall was exiled, the now widowed Brilliana wants nothing to do with the reckless rogue who she believes abandoned her to a dreary, loveless life. So having to rely on him to save her father is the last thing she wants, much less trusts him with....But as their scheme strips away the lies and secrets of their shared past, can she let go of the old hurt and put her pride aside? Or will the pleasures of their renewed passion finally enable them both to rediscover love?

~ We've received an eARC directly from the author Sabrina Jeffries, in exchange for an honest opinion. Thank you! ~

Review:
First time reading a Sabrina Jeffries’ book – and it was a good start, but it could have been better.

The entire book revolves around two connected plots: the main couple’s history and a counterfeit scheme.

Niall and Brilliana had met seven years before our story, and had had a secret relationship of love declarations and sweet gestures (nothing else). When Niall is forced to flee England and asks Bree to run away with him, she refuses because of her sick mother. Niall feels betrayed when Bree doesn’t send any news, and he only knows through his father that she married Mr. Trevor a few months after his departure. Bree knows he ran away because he killed a man in a duel, but she doesn’t know why, which made her vulnerable to speculation when confronted with a different idea about Niall’s true character.

All of these misunderstandings make them hate the reasons that kept them apart and of course, hate what each thinks the other had done wrong. Trust needs to be rebuilt, at the same time as they must find out if Bree’s father is creating and distributing counterfeit bank notes. With a fake engagement, doubts and suspiciousness, the book ends up losing something by repeating several times the same ideas of why the trust was lost and how it’s so difficult to regain it – but for us readers, it’s not necessary to keep pushing the same button so much.

It seemed like there were some plot holes: what really happened to Bree’s mother? Did she end up living with Bree and her husband or did she stay with her husband until her death? What was her condition? How long was she sick, did she pass away shortly after Niall’s departure or was it years later? Bree wrote to Niall – why didn’t he write to her? He knew where to find her and England knew exactly where he was so that’s no excuse. These questions, among others, were left unanswered.

The most interesting part for me was the counterfeit scheme and how, even though they were forged to pretend to be engaged to discover the criminal (who I identified from the very moment he first showed up), every character just worked like a well-oiled clock. Without question, the best characters were (the eccentric) Aunt Agatha and the mysterious Lord Fulkham.

It was a pleasant book, a quick read, read at ease, which kept me interested the entire time.