I didn't hate these characters, but I didn't find that much to like about them either.
The heroine is so incredibly naive, especially sexually. (Women were purposely kept that way, so I try not to judge historical heroines based on that, but this is a special case). She's been married, she's even slept with a couple different men, but I could still maybe buy her naivete, except that she's also spent years living in a brothel! And even more years surrounded by retired prostitutes! I feel kind of like if she's still so entirely oblivious about anything sexual at that point, it's a mental failing. She is not a sheltered 17 year old debutante or something, there's no good excuse for her to seem like she was born yesterday.
And the hero, he has the typical romance hero trifecta of being rich, handsome and skilled in bed, but there's really not much more that's admirable about him than that! You can make the argument that he has some family loyalty, but that's kinda scraping the bottom of the decency barrel. And the rest of the time he acts daft or like an @sshole. (And his motivation for both seems to be cowardice. So, not great).
The plot is a bit wobbly as well, but overall it was just kinda poor and not terrible. So 2 stars. ( )

I'm not sure if the fault belongs to the author or her editor, but Ms Stuart's books have a nasty habit of dropping their subplots. But perhaps poor, opium-addled Brandon is not deserving of an end to his story? Since he's not even mentioned in the epilogue, I can only assume that we're meant to believe he successfully offed himself. Or perhaps, if we're feeling more optimistic, we can believe that he married the ex-madam of his dreams and that his remarkably open-minded family wants nothing to do with her. Right. Well. At least the main plot was worth the read, even if the book, itself, turned out to be rather uneven. ( )

What can I say? Benedick just doesn't have the same bad-boy vibe as the other men in this series and Melisandre is a bit too self-righteous for me. The story seems a little tired and unrealistic, and I think bringing back the Heavenly Host again was a mistake. It's not a bad book on its own, but following the others in this series, it is a let-down. I read them all in a row, and Breathless was soooo good. I'm hoping the next (and final) book is better. ( )

This one is my favorite of the set -- I didn't care for book 3. This one can be read on its own. ( )

We have the Viscount Benedick Rohan, a man who lost two wives to childbirth complications, venture to London to find a, oh, so proper wife he can wed, bed, impregnate for the oh, so important heir and spare (if I had a sibling you best be knowing I'd refer to them as the spare), and then abandon/ignore to run off merrily with some mistress.
He arrives home to find his baby brother a shell of a man, due to his injuries he received from fighting in the Afgan Wars, addicted to opium, and doing secretly naughty things as a member of, those oh, so scandalously bored aristocrat's group, The Heavenly Host.
This prompts him to order in his evening's entertainment (totally understand, I check the pizza delivery box way more than the pickup one) who arrives eager to please, but oh, wait! The evening's entertainment comes along with a side of avenging angel!

Thus, we meet Lady Melisande Carstairs. A widow who now devotes her time to sheltering and helping fallen women rehab and transition to what are deemed more respectable lines of work. Melisande is a tough cookie, take no shit, butt kicking, never been french kissed, never been fully undressed for sexual congress...er, what? Yes, our heroine, is of course, while having had partook, is vastly inexperienced and naive about bed sport. Guess, who is going to enlighten her....

While Ms. Stuart's quality writing is present, Benedick is not her average hero. He lacks the heaping amounts of darkness that his predecessors had. This might make him more appealing to the masses. Melisande, while more of a believable, in her actions and thoughts, character, never really distinguishes herself from the many, many, many plucky/innocent regency misses. Where they shine is in Ms. Stuart's ability to construct caustic, witty, and push/pull sexual tension banter. This was my favorite aspect of the book.

The main story thread of Benedick and Melisande investigating the Heavenly Host, he to try to save his brother and her to try to save the women forced to participate, was slow and meh for me. It's the reason our characters are thrown together but like I said, the dialogue is where this book excels.

This started off strong and really sagged towards the middle and end. Yes, yes, I get it, you're afraid she'll die in childbirth and you're afraid he'll suck in bed and not really love you. Stuff it and just give me more banter!

All in all a decent regency read but probably just for the OCD people who want to finish up the series.

*Scorpion and Miranda make an appearance in this :) They are from book 3 "Breathless" which was my favorite from the series but should be warned Scorpion was one hell of a DARK character.
**Also, we get a smattering of tidbits about the sidecouple (Benedick's brother and Melisande's bf) in this book and whoa doggy do I want to read their story. ( )