A Lady's Pleasure by Jolie Cain

Living in a society that places women under their fathers first, then their husbands, no woman would give up their hard won freedom when they become a widow if given the choice (if not starving or needing to support children). So Duke Richard is going to have to resort to other methods to win Lady Lily. Something she has never experienced, like A Lady's Pleasure….

Lilith Laughton, Lady Morely, is quite content being a well-to-do widow. After a miserable marriage, she sees no reason to ever wed again. She does her best not to call attention to herself, living her life quietly in the country and avoiding anyone who might disrupt the peaceful life she has created for herself. When her good friends the Earl and Countess of Brentwood invite her to a house party, she goes so far as to disguise herself as a frumpish dowd to keep from attracting attention.
Her masquerade doesn’t fool the Duke of Carlisle, however. It just so happens that the handsome and wealthy duke is finally looking for a wife, but the twittering debutantes of the ton hold no interest for him. No, he wants someone more interesting with whom to link himself for the rest of his life. And Lily seems like the perfect choice. But what can he do to convince Lily that marriage to him would offer her more than she could imagine? The wily duke decides he must teach Lily all about the pleasure a lady can find with the right man in order to change her mind and win her heart.

Lilith Laughton, Lady Morely (aka Lily), is very happy being a widow. The death of her younger brother ended whatever happiness her childhood had. Her parents both blamed her father for her brother’s death, adding strife to the mourning household. And her father drown his guilt/sorrow in drink and gambling. When her mother died, she was sent to a girl’s finishing school. Until her father’s debts caused him to “sell” her to an old peer looking for a young wife to bear him an heir. At only seventeen, she had not even had her ‘come out’ season yet. She was Lord Morely’s third wife and, like the others, he blamed her for not producing an heir (getting pregnant). Her father died a couple years into the marriage, so she had no one to turn to for help with her husband and how he treated her. The rumors of abuse have never been confirmed since he kept her in the country for the entire seven years of their marriage, only letting her visit her school friend Caroline, now Countess Brentwood. Now that she is free and in control of herself and what monies left to her, she is never going to marry again, never going to place herself under the control of another man.

Richard Wentworth St. John, Duke of Carlisle, has reached that age dreaded by all rakish peers: at thirty-five he needs to find a wife and produce an heir. This would not be so bad, but the young debutants that all the matchmaking mamas keep pushing at him drive him insane. All these young ladies seem stupid and weak-willed; Richard wants a woman who can hold a conversation about more than cloths and gossip, one who stands up and uses her wit. During the Brentwood house party, he is looking for his best friend, Stephen, when he overhears about Lily’s disguise. He is looking for more than a stammering miss for a wife; that Lily has gone to such extremes to protect herself catches his attention. As he listens in on her conversation, he becomes more intrigued with her, until he learns that she never enjoyed the marriage bed and ‘won’t miss knowing a man again.’ If she is as attractive as Caroline tells her she is, added with her intelligence shone in keeping men from her, he decides she would make a good match, a great wife for him. And the best way to change her mind will be to seduce her and show her just what she has been missing from a skilled man. A man determined on the lady’s pleasure, not only his own.

Thus Richard pursues her at the house party. And seduces her. Then they have a few problems. But she finally accepts that she can have a lover now that she is a widow.

Now Richard has to find a way to convince her to marry him. How is the question? When she hears that he is looking for a wife but he has cooled her attention to her, she figures he is done with her. Not so, but he has taken Stephan’s advice on getting Lily to fall for him, things go wrong (but funny). And Richard finds he maybe falling for Lily as well. Now how is he going to get her back?

A Lady's Pleasure points out one (of many) problem often found in the past, women didn’t really have any rights or control of their lives. Widows left with money were allowed the most freedom, but even that was limited. That Lily found hers and embraces it, made it work for her is great. That she has to go to extremes, living a quiet life in the country and hiding things others find attractive (her beauty and how much money she may have) shows just how fragile this freedom was. And although not addressed, if she marries again, everything she has and is will go to her new husband, even that from her previous marriage. I may like reading historicals, but I am so glad I live in modern times!

Even so, A Lady's Pleasure is still an enjoyable read. Although Richard’s long-term goal IS marriage, he doesn’t trick Lily. He does give her the pleasure he offers from the first encounter. He never compromises her reputation to trap her in marriage. The only thing he does wrong is let his friend talk him into a stupid plan for getting Lily to fall in love with him. But men can’t help being a little dumb when it comes to love, especially back when it was not an accepted practice (for the peers to love their spouses). Lily isn’t too exceptional, but still fun. She learned hard lessons from the men in her life and that has shaped her into the almost bitter woman she is now. Not surprising nor do I blame her. The passion Richard shows her does overwhelm her, but that, too, is to be expected. She falls for Richard fast, but he makes it easy. I would like to think I would have been more leery, but then again, the heart does not listen to the head very often (as most teenagers can prove). That she stands up and “fights for her man” in an age where women have to take what is given to them does show her true character, and ends up being fabulous.

A Lady's Pleasure is a fun, fast little historical. Of course, I may have wanted it longer, but everything is covered here and more is not needed. We get full background on the characters, have the ups and downs, and even some great, hilarious scenes as well as the steamy (graphic) sex where Richard shows Lily that women can enjoy their bodies as much as men do. I can’t even decided if Lily or Richard’s jealousy scene is funnier, though watching proper peers loose their control really is laugh-out-loud entertaining. Overall, a great little story that is going in my keep section.