Not Proper Enough

Loved it from start to finish

This is the second book. It has more steamy scenes and more action. It is a good read for regency romance. The first is also ood and interesting. This is better in the series.

Interesting characters with depth and sensitivity.

I opened this book after trying to read more than a few current historic romances being raved about online, each of them failing to hook me into the story or caring for the protagonists. So many so I was thinking my more than three decade affaire d'coeur with historic romance was waning. Within pages Fenris and Eugenia put that notion to rest while steaming up my sunglasses. Jewel excels at combining taunt, passionate emotions with stunning sensuality, all wrapped in biting wit and grounded in the publicly constrained Regency manners. Behind closed doors? Fenris and Eugenia weave together and unravel each other emotionally and physically. Their conflict and path through it is believable. Not a moment seems contrived. Even in a genre when HEA is a given. The passionate encounters are frequent, enthralling and never voyeuristic. Tasteful comes to mind but is too tame...Erotic? Absolutely. Fenris and Eugenia's story couldn't be told otherwise, it takes passion to rattle them enough to be vulnerable to each other, to see past their own defenses. Their individual inner emotional conflicts ratchet the tension between them past sizzling to scorching. All the book's characters are well-rounded individuals, not caricatures, from Lane right down to Eugenia's maid Martine and Camber's valet. Notably both servants are briefly "on scene' yet as defined as any of the main roles. Yes, I'm using stage/movie terms. The writing is that engrossing. By the second chapter finding out how these two get their HEA becomes necessary and vital. The almost 180* shift from snarling dislike to clothes-flying lovers is perfect. I abhor bickering couples...these two fence and spar. An more mature and worldly Darcy and Jane. The explanations of how, why and what caused the enmity work very well. Nuances of past hurts, fear, immaturity, expected behavior and friendship detail their battle from discord to lovers. Fenris honestly admits so many reasons why Eugenia should take him, deviously using them to reach his goal. Eugenia's turmoil as a widow not sure how to move past the sudden loss of her beloved husband, even four years after her shattering loss, is pitch perfect. Now I'm dearly hoping Camber's story is revealed in greater detail, even if it is a short story for Christmas. Firmly on my keeper shelf, next to books like 'Slightly Dangerous' and 'Mine til Midnight' I recommend buying your own copy as soon as possible. In fact, I may do the unheard of and pre-order Jewel's next book instead of reading a library copy first...after I reread 'Not Wicker Enough' tonight and then probably reread this story again tomorrow...