Title: “Sacrifice (Fashionably Impure Book 3)”
Author: Natasha Blackthorne
Genre: Historical Romance/Victorian/Erotica
Release Date: June 23, 2016
5/5 Stars!
Love’s Power!
This may be a short read, but it is loaded with emotions and suspense.
Adrian and Miranda are wed without all the pomp and circumstance, and with much trepidation for Miranda’s part. She wants to be Adrian’s wife, but feels suffocated by the disapproval that surrounds her. Adrian’s drastic mood swings are also a cause for concern for her. She suspects he’s hiding something from her.
It is mind boggling the measures taken and lengths gone to just to make someone suffer…and that someone is Miranda. Her father’s deep seeded hatred of her knows no limits. Even after Winterton is confronted by Adrian, he still attempts to move his scheming forward to make Miranda pay for simply being born. He’s not a stupid man though, and quickly drops out of site. Under the premise of working for his cousin and rebuilding his wealth, Adrian leaves his new Countess and travels to America intent on finding Winterton and calling him out.
Miranda is left in the care of the Earl of Ruel, along with Adrian’s youngest son, Davey. She knows that her former profession makes her unacceptable to the genteel crowd and Adrian’s ever increasing absence feels like a death sentence to her, especially with the cut from Davey’s older brother, Brentwood. (That kid needed a good smack in the mouth!)
A change in the family dynamics of the Earl’s household lead Miranda and Davey to return to her home. This doesn’t last long though, as Adrian does find the Duke of Winterton in America, with disastrous results, and Miranda and Davey are rushed into hiding…by Baron Drake. (STILL a huge Drake fan!) Friendship with the kind Lady Drake will have future repercussions Miranda never imagined, but Miranda is glad to have someone to confide in who listens, and doesn’t judge her.
Letters from Adrian get farther and farther apart for Miranda, and the cryptic messages she receives about his wellbeing are driving her to distraction. Jon finally vows to go to America and bring Adrian home, but Adrian shows up, a shadow of his former self…and a wanted man.
Miranda will do whatever it takes to save her husband, which brings her back into the presence of Heathford, a character as vile as Winterton. It’s no wonder the two men were close friends. It’s here also that it’s learned that despite her gender and her blood relation to Miranda, Cassandra is as evil and depraved as the two men. I suppose at some point I was supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for Cassandra…nope. Regardless of the affluence and influence of Winterton and Heathford, Cassandra is the one responsible for the direction young Miranda’s life took. I wish her much pain and suffering.
However, Miranda has the last laugh, much to Heathford’s chagrin.
The plot twists here are fantastic, and character development is on point. The author has created dislikable characters that you come to love and cheer for, and equally despicable characters that you want someone…anyone to put a bullet in! I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author, but this series is definitely my favorite.
Sacrifice is a powerful and satisfying end to the Fashionably Impure series. Adrian and Miranda had a long, arduous journey that threatened to end them more than once. But as always, love helped them to chip away the facades they hid behind, and lead them to be the two people they were probably, in fact, intended to be from the beginning.
I highly recommend this series, and you WANT to read it!
Enjoy!
Nesie's Place 