A Season to Be Sinful

This is one of my favorite stories. It is very satisfing and pulled me into it right away. One of four street urchins, who is not what he seems to be, is seriously wounded. He is championed by the other three who, unafraid, confront the hero what 'as done their mate in. The story goes on from there with mysteries, plot twists, an unseen villain, chuckles and laughs. Goodman is really wise in developing the supporting characters and making them as important to the story as the hero and the heroine. I have read every thing Goodman has written; she writes complex interesting stories with great charater developement.

Wow! I just finished the book and was moved by how complex the story was. When I first began the story I thought it would be the typical Regency romance. However, I was surprised (and pleased) to discover that this book went down some realistic, dark paths that life sometimes leads people down. Sheridan (Sherry) and Lily were wonderful, strong characters, who definitely deserved each other. Lily, a young girl, runs away from a convent in France (to escape the clutches of a cruel man looking for a "governess"), and ends up living the hard life in the streets of London as a pick-pocket. I'm not going to explain how she ended up in this life, as that is part of the journey you take as a reader. Sherry, a toughened Viscount who has seen the harsher aspects of life during war, literally runs into Lily and her three pick-pocket crew and the story takes off from there. In the story, Sherry is uncharacteristically benevolent and decides to bring Lily and her three waifs into his home, after Lily is stabbed by a knife, trying to prevent Sherry from getting robbed. If Lily hadn't prevented the robbery, this story would not have occurred, as Sherry wouldn't have given a second glance to her or her young boy thieves. As the story evolves, the reader explores the backgrounds of each character -- how Lily ended up living in the streets, why Sherry became so hardened in life, who tried attacking Sherry, and why Sherry was the target of a robbery, etc...... Very interesting how the puzzle just comes together during the last chapters of the book. I strongly recommend this book. If you like Regency romances, there is plenty of romance in this book to keep you reading; however, if you like a touch more reality and "meat" to your storyline and your characters, then this is DEFINITELY the book for you!!

When you read a book like this you really appreciate what a truly great romance book is - and why so many I have read recently fall short. Both Sheridan and Lily had so much to overcome in their lives. It is a little hard to understand why Sherry had gotten himself involved in such treacherous dealings - actually his history was even more dark than Lily's - no wonder he was able to forgive and overlook all that Lily had gone through. Their story is beautifully told and made even better by the scoundrels. For me secondary characters can often get in the way if not written perfectly. Goodman makes these 3 just the perfect addition to this tale. They all have so much heart mixed with their mischief. And the way Sherry takes to them almost immediately shows how much heart he has too. Then there is Aunt Georgia - she was the perfect compliment to this story - just the right amount of "ton" mixed with her own mischief and compassion. You truly feel the love between Sherry and Lily and the darkness of their paths did not intrude on the hope for their future.And yes their love scenes were highly erotic and well written. I especially loved how Sherry deals with Woodbridge - that was such an intense scene - very very compelling. I was glad the bad guys seem to all get their just desserts. I only wish Goodman wrote more books more often - I absolutely love her romances!

This is only the second book of Jo Goodman's that I have read, but clearly I have been missing something. "A Season to Be Sinful" is a wonderfully rich and complex Regency historical romance of the type that is unfortunately too rare these days. The writing is intelligent and evocative, the characters complex and memorable and the plot interesting. The story at first glance seems a little bit contrived--a young woman disguised as a scruffy boy rescues a rather stuffy young viscount from an assassin's knife in Covent Garden. Summoned to her sick bed by three adorable street urchins (named Pinch, Dash and Midge), Viscount Sheridan (called Sherry) discovers that the young woman has taken the knife than was meant for him and is gravely ill. He quickly realizes that she is more than she seems upon hearing her gently-bred speech. Lily, the heroine, is actually in hiding in the slums of London after fleeing from the ever-so-evil Baron Woodridge, a pervert who had taken her from a French abbey purportedly to be his children's governess and then used her as his own sexual plaything. This is pretty heavy stuff for a historical romance and likely will not be to all reader's taste, but romance lovers who like character driven romance and prefer grittier, more complex stories will be rewarded for their effort in "A Season to Be Sinful". Jo Goodman transforms this plot (which admittedly has "bodice-ripper" overtones) into a nuanced story of healing and discovery between her well-matched hero and heroine. The characters of both Lily and Sherry and finely drawn and wonderfully deep. Sherry (and his name to me sounded not feminine as suggested by another reviewer, but *terribly* British upper class) is a remarkable hero--attractive, intelligent and full of dry wit, but also rigidly correct and emotionally restrained. It is a pleasure seeing Sherry gradually open himself up to Lily and the three boys and to peel back the layers of his complex character. Lily is a worthy heroine, damaged but not broken by her horrible past, she begins to slowly and realistically heal her wounds under Sherry's care. The story unfolds gradually as Lily and Sherry learn to trust each other and share the secrets of their pasts. Their developing romance is sweet and believable and the love scenes are not only wonderfully sensual but also integral to the plot and to Lily's healing. The book is not perfect in that the plot has a few too many coincidences for my taste, and the villain is a little too relentlessly evil; however, the dialogue is so sharp and intelligent, the writing is so beautiful and descriptive and the characterizations so marvelous (even the children are engaging despite their rather "too cute" names) that I found myself overlooking the few flaws. Highly recommended for lovers of richer, darker, and more complex historical romance.

Sometimes it is so long between truly wonderful historical romances that I forget why I fell in love with the genre in the first place. Jo Goodman's "A Season to Be Sinful" reminds me. A great historical romance will have highly developed main characters and only slightly less developed secondary characters, which "A Season to Be Sinful has". In this book, not only do I care about the hero, Sherry and the heroine, Rose, but I also care about their three wards and Sherry's godmother. The plot is complex enough to show us who the hero and heroine are the shadows and the light. And why they are that way. It is a bit darker than one would expect in your typical romance, I don't think I'm giving away too much that you can't ascertain in the first chapter, but the heroine is forced into sexual bondage. So, if that is just a place you don't want to go, I'd recommend not picking up the book.