Impassioned

Darcy Burke

Aug 2021 · Zealous Quill Press

About this ebook

Society’s most exclusive invitation...

Welcome to the Phoenix Club, where London’s most audacious, disreputable, and intriguing ladies and gentlemen find scandal, redemption, and second chances.

 

In nearly two years of marriage, Sabrina Westbrook has barely spoken to her husband and shared a bed even less. Both activities would require they actually live together. As it is, the Earl of Aldington attends to his seat in the House of Commons, while she and her crippling social anxiety tend to his country house and gardens.

Their arrangement is quite civilized, and their letters are painfully polite. Their twice-yearly visits are…awkward. But, if Sabrina can muster the necessary courage, all of that is about to change. Starting tonight.

Heir to a dukedom, Constantine Westbrook knows his duty: to country, to family, and to the shy, retiring wife whose beauty stole his breath the moment they met. Whose arousing, enticing body he’s never seen in the light of day. Or any light at all.

However, there’s something different about the woman who shows up in London unannounced. For the first time in their marriage, Sabrina has a request. No, a demand. But wanting and having are two different things. And to give Sabrina her heart’s desire, they’ll both need a few lessons in love…

Ratings and reviews

I really liked Sabrina, who has to fight her crispy anxiety to demand her martial right from her frigid husband. I was verily disappointed in Constantine, her husband who we are introduced to as he’s about to bed his hired lady of the night. He’s mortified when they walk in on another couple and runs away from his hookup. He’s firmly under his father’s thumb, doesn’t take the time to introduce Sabrina to the marriage bed properly and is overall kind of a jerk. Okay, I guess he gets a pass for not actually cheating on his wife but not by choice, more that he’s foiled. I just wish he had more integrity and charisma. Props to Sabrina for being the adult with the balls to ask for what she wants. Recommend.

This book is a bit of a twist on a second chance romance. And since it's common knowledge that I'm a sucker for a second chance, I was invested in this story before it had even started. This couple suffered from a severe lack of communication. It's a novel approach that brings them together, but one that almost backfired. Constantine and Sabrina came so close to breaking my heart. I spent nearly the whole book wanting to hug the pair of them tight, promising that everything would get better. I love a happy ending, and this one made me happier than most. I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley.

Sabrina suffers from crippling shyness, but now she's determined to overcome it and demand some attention from her husband, in the hopes of having at least a child to love. With their marriage arranged by their parents, they'd not taken the time to speak nevermind get to know each other. Both made assumptions about the other. Their non-communication is gradually remedied in the story with a bit of help from Constantine's brother and the Phoenix Club. A delightful, well-paced story I did not want to end.

About the author

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of captivating, compelling historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Join her Reader Club at https://www.darcyburke.com/join.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, artist daughter, and imaginative son who will almost certainly out-write her one day (that may be tomorrow). They’re a crazy cat family with two Bengal cats, a small, fame-seeking cat named after a fruit, an older rescue Maine Coon with attitude to spare, an adorable former stray who wandered onto their deck and into their hearts, and two bonded boys who used to belong to (separate) neighbors but chose them instead. You can find Darcy at a winery, in her comfy writing chair, folding laundry (which she loves), or binge-watching TV with the family. Her happy places are Disneyland, Labor Day weekend at the Gorge, Denmark, and anywhere in the UK—so long as her family is there too. Visit Darcy online at http://www.darcyburke.com and follow her social media: Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/darcyburkefans, Twitter @darcyburke at http://www.twitter.com/darcyburke, Instagram at http://www.instagram/darcyburkeauthor, and Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/darcyburkewrite.