It’s review time again!

*****

With her stunning beauty and impeccable reputation, Lady Eleanor Beckett is a society darling to emulate, respected by everyone in the ton. But Eleanor’s seemingly perfect life is marred by a dark secret. Determined to know happiness and passion just once, she travels in disguise to a place she’s heard whispers about for years: the infamous Lavender Hills Estate, a brothel that caters to women. There, she meets the surprisingly kind, strikingly handsome, and completely inappropriate James McKinnon, a man who may be just what she needs to melt the ice surrounding her broken heart.

James McKinnon is content at Lavender Hills Estate. Affable and handsome, it’s not surprising that James is one of Lady Lavender’s most popular men. He found the path out of crippling poverty through Lavender Hills, and with the money he makes from his work, he is able to support his widowed mother and young sister. James is surprised to find he cares for Eleanor, the beauty with the sad eyes. After all, he’s never cared for a client before—caring interferes with business. Unfortunately, society would never accept a relationship between an escort and a lady.

Despite their stations, Eleanor and James can’t extinguish the passion they’ve ignited. Will they be able to break through the confines of London society, or will their forbidden love and complicated pasts destroy everything they care about—including each other?

To Please a Lady is actually the last in a series about three men who were blackmailed into prostitution by Lady Lavender and if you have an interest in reading the others, I’d recommend waiting on this one. The whys of their situation come out in this finale and it could possibly affect the way you read the series, but I don’t know that for sure. I haven’t read To Seduce an Earl or To Capture a Rake so I don’t know how much of the details that are shared in this book have already played out in the others. So, with that warning, let me tell you that I did enjoy this book although I think I might have liked it more if it hadn’t been the only one I’d read. There are a lot of statements made about the other men and I think I might have missed out on some of the nuances since I didn’t know their story. Apart from that though, James and Ellie’s story was very entertaining.

I’ve no issue with the idea of a male prostitute as a hero. Darius has to be one of my favorite books and there is always more to the man’s story than you think. It isn’t any different with James. He’s smart, caring but I think a little too soft-hearted about his situation. Somehow he came away from it with a completely different view than his friends but when he meets Ellie, everything changes.

In fact it was Ellie’s situation that I found very difficult to take. She lives with an abusive husband in a time when women had no power at all. They were basically property to their men, who could do with them what they wished. It is no wonder that she’s as closed off as she is … actually it is surprising how much spirit she’s managed to keep.

But James and Ellie are realizing that things might not have to be the way that they are now and that they could have something better if the world was a little different. Their’s is a dance that will force them to decide if they are brave enough to change things.

To Please a Lady is a complex, intriguing, and sometimes heartbreaking story of two people dealing with issues of abuse, self-image, love and forgiveness.