JUNE TOP PICK!!
My Reckless Surrender
Author: Anna Campbell
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Pub. Date: May 25, 2010
Retail: $7.99
384 pagesHeadlong into sin…
A well-practiced rake, weary of easy conquests and empty pleasures, Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft, knows women – and his every instinct warns him to beware of this one. Diana Carrick’s brazen overtures have thrown the haunted, sinfully handsome lord completely off his guard. Why, the exquisite temptress stated outright that she wishes to be his lover! But it is neither Diana’s boldness nor her beauty that intrigues him so – it is the innocence he senses behind her worldly mask.
Intent upon the seduction that will finally free her, Diana has set her sights on the notorious Ashcroft – never dreaming that there is much more to the enigmatic rogue than sin and deviltry. His kiss is bewitching, his caress intoxicating – and even the dangerous secret Diana must protect cannot shield her from Ashcroft’s dark allure.
Unwittingly yet most willingly, they are playing with fire. Now the fuse has been lit and there is no escape…except surrender.
~*~*~
Anna Campbell’s My Reckless Surrender starts with a story of undeniable lust that burns throughout the first half of the book only to continue in the second half with a charming story that tears at your heartstrings. Readers will not be disappointed in this splendid tale of an infamous rake’s fall and the dazzling widow who caught him.
“I want to be your lover.” Diana Carrick utters this shocking line to the infamous rake Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft. Therein starts this seductive and deceptive tale of a mischievous plan that begins innocently but ends differently than anyone expects. The Earl’s initial response is confusion, unable to conceive what brought Diana to his library and what made her make this shocking claim. While every instinct tells him to cast her aside and forget her, he cannot deny their attraction and his ultimate fascination with this alluring widow.
Diana has made a deal with the devil, or rather her father’s employer the Marquess of Burnley, a terminally ill man with vengeance on his mind. His deal? Sleep with the Earl and become pregnant with his child. In return, Burley will marry her, claim the Earl’s child as his heir so she can become the mistress of Cranston Abbey, a property that is worth everything to Diana. This seems simple enough…dangerous, yet a small road block to overcome in order to lead her to the ultimate prize. The only difficulty is hiding this deceit from the Earl and not losing her heart to him in the process. Unfortunately, limiting their association to be just another summer affair is easier said than done for both Diana and Tarquin. If or when Tarquin discovers the truth, will it be too late for their happily ever after?
The first half of this story is scorching. The real basis for the beginning of Diana and Tarquin’s affair is a physical attraction that neither one of them can control. It overwhelms them from the start, which is terrifying to this couple. Diana becomes afraid their relationship will develop into something more, something that will break her heart forever. Tarquin becomes afraid of the new emotions he feels for her and how difficult it is becoming to remain distant.
The characters were amazing. Tarquin is established as a ruthless rake early on, and the growth of his character throughout the book is spectacular. You go through the emotions with him as he develops a heart, a conscience, and an ambition to be a better person. Diana on the other hand is initially so overwhelmed with shame and despair it can feel awkward and uncomfortable at times. She is a difficult heroine to stand behind, and rightly so. Her actions and reasoning are confusing and difficult to understand. She is as intriguing to the reader as she is to Tarquin.
The second half of the story lets go of the lust and cranks up the heartache. Each page brings another element to complicate their relationship and that brings with it more uncertainty as to the outcome of the story. The book wraps a spell around you to the point that you cannot quit turning the pages and cannot for any reason whatsoever, put the book down. It touches every possible emotion and sweeps you away into a beautifully written story that is impossible not to love. The characters, the plot, the emotional adventure all make for one irresistible story. To surrender your time to reading this book and money to own it is anything but reckless.
Rating: 10 (Perfect!)
Heat-Level: 5 (Scorching)
Whoo Hoo Anna
I love your books and I am sooo looking forward to MRS not long to go now and boy do I hear you on Enid Blyton I loved her books and devoured them when I was very young.
Beverley fantastic questions great interview Ladies
Countdown is on for My Reckless Surrender
Have Fun
Helen
Hey, Helen, wasn’t this a great review! And thanks so much for checking out the interview. Bev asked some great questions, as she usually does! Hey, did you see our lovely Bandita Christine Wells was the Top Pick on the Season for May? Yay! I love Sweetest Little Sin! Great to meet another EB fan!
I did see that about Christine’s I voted it is a truly fantastic read
Loved the interview
Helen
OMG, Anna! A Viking story?! You are such a tease – please write that book! I’m so looking forward to My Reckless Surrender. What a great title, too, especially for a story about a dangerous seduction. Very evocative.
Congrats on the great review!
Always love your books, Anna. Can’t wait for this one to hit the bookshelves. This was a great interview as all of your interviews are.
Wonderful interview! Your books are awesome. I love your dark intense heroes, but am also looking forward to the lighter tone of this new book!
My Reckless Surrender is an awesome title, and the book sounds great too!
Most definitely count me in – I too love Anna’s books. But I especially want this one. I want to display it after I read it because I fell in love with this cover!!!
Lisa! Stupid moi (I’ve got a rotten cold at the moment and my head is full of cotton wool!). I should have realized that tag on the bottom means you did the review. THANK YOU!!!! So glad you loved it – as you can tell, writing Tarquin wasn’t painful at all, LOL!
Hey, a video has just gone live of me talking about MY RECKLESS SURRENDER. If you want to see that Aussie accent in action, snort, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSquScwelfg
Thanks, Helen! So glad you enjoyed it. I think Bev asked great questions!
Thanks, Vanessa! I love this title – it’s working title was Reckless Games and I think MRS is SOOO much more evocative while keeping that spirit of headlong descent into passion – and disaster! – that I wanted to indicate.
Thanks, Ruth! Actually it’s the start of what’s turned out to be a fairly extensive blog tour (I was trying to keep it small this time because of trying to get the new book done before I hit the States in July)! So glad you enjoyed it!
Tammy, poor old Tarq has some bad times before he gets his happy ending! I think you’ll enjoy seeing him suffer – oh, aren’t we awful? Snort! Thanks so much for saying such lovely things!
Thanks, Nicole! It’s such an intriguing title, isn’t it? You really want to know what she’s surrendering to and just how reckless she’s going to be! Well, that’s how it works for me!
Catslady, that cover is just scrumptious, isn’t it? And I must say I LOVE the stepback. He’s so handsome and she’s so reckless! Snort!
this was a great interview and review. thanks for sharing!
Lisa, I loved your review! This book really looks great, I love emotional and passionate romances and this one has both! I also like the name Tarquin, it’s quite different. I would love to know where you authors get your interesting and exotic names from! 🙂
Hi Anna,
MRS sounds intriguing. I can’t wait to read it.
You are one of my favorite writers and “Captive of Sin” was such a powerful book. Whoo-oo-oo!!!
Since this book is lighter, I’ll just have to wait and see if it drags me away as COS did!
Beverley’s interview with you was very enjoyable for me to read. Hearing how you approach your writing of sexual tension and love scenes was interesting. Coming from a repressive RC background, I often find it difficult to even read explicit sexual scenes. If the characters are emotionally naked too, I’m much more likely to get caught up in their story.
Hope MRS is a terrific success. 🙂
Thanks for swinging by, Meaghan. I’ve had a great day here!
Sandra, I love naming my characters. That’s one of the really fun bits! I’ve had Tarquin in the back of my mind for a while and this guy came along and it suited down to a T. I always thought it was an Etruscan king but my critique partner Annie West who was a classics scholar tells me he was the last king of Rome – Tarquinius Superbus. Now doesn’t that sound like a romance hero? LOL!
Hi Elaine! I found you 😉
Thank you so much for saying that about COS and about me being one of your favorites. That means a lot to me! COS really did plumb the depths, didn’t it? Hope you enjoy MRS too! It’s interesting how we all approach the love scenes, isn’t it? I had to stop imagining all my rather staid relatives standing over my shoulder and saying horrible things! I know as a reader, if I’m emotionally involved in a love scene, that to me is a good love scene, whatever shenanigans the hero and heroine get up to (or don’t! Some of the best love scenes I’ve read haven’t actually been that explicit or adventurous!). Thanks for the good wishes!
Anna,
It was a pleasure to write the review! I’m glad you enjoyed it and I’m thrilled I had the opportunity to write it. I enjoyed the book so much! I stayed up pretty late to finish it, so the next day at work was kinda rough…but it was worth it! Tarquin was such an amazing hero…his lines were sensual and far from romantic in the beginning, but when he finally laid his heart on the line I was a gonner! He is definitely swoon-worthy! 😀 I encourage everyone to pick up this book!
What a fabulous interview, and a great review! And I do love Anna Campbell’s books! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this one. I love her “dark” romances, so it will be fun and interesting to see something “lighter”. And what a drop dead gorgeous cover!
Sounds like a great book. I love complicated characters and complicated story lines. Sorry, but I like to make the H & H work for their HEA.
This sounds like an enjoyable book and I look forward to reading it.
Anna, thanks so much for explaining how you named Tarquin! 🙂
Is the Annie West you mention the Harlequin Presents author? I love her books!
Wow, thanks, Lisa! That’s exactly the emotional journey I wanted someone to pick up from the story – this guy who really doesn’t invest much in relationships at the start who’s willing to put everything on the line at the end! I hear you on the late nights with a good book – I’m hopeless when I’ve got something I’m interested in, just can’t go to sleep until I finish the story. And then, as you say, you pay the next day!
Hey, Kat, great to see you! Thanks for swinging by! I think there is quite a lot of darkness in this story – it’s just a very different beast to something like Captive of Sin! You know how stories dictate their own terms! Thanks for saying such nice things about the books!
Pat, I too like my hero and heroine to work for their reward – and they need to suffer a bit for it too! Love that emotional arc. I want them to learn something so they’re better and wiser people at the end than they are at the start. That’s certainly the case with My Reckless Surrender! I also really like flawed characters – gives me something to work on in the story 😉 Thanks for swinging by!
Sandra, Annie and I are really good buddies. I’ll tell her you mentioned her books! She’ll be really pleased. I love her writing too – there’s a great James Bondish sheikh hero called Tahir about to hit the U.S. Make sure you grab the book, it’s fabulous, one of my faves of hers!
I’ve actually read this book and I couldn’t put it down! I love Tarquin and Diana’s chemistry.