The Viscount's Addiction by Scottie Barrett

I absolutely loved this little romance which is currently available only in e-book format. Mores the pity. The story is quite old-fashioned, simplistic and sparsely written. But it's nicely steamy and basically the story of an unfolding relationship between two people. There are no minor side-plots or romances. And it features a virgin heroine who instinctively knows she likes doing it with the right guy. Who also happens to be her unjustly jailed for 5-years husband. Her name is Jessie. She's beautiful, hard-working and helps her husband to throw off his opium addiction. The hero is called Ryder and despite being unjustly jailed has not returned to his home mean-spiritied. Everything is 100% consensual. When the heroine tells the hero 'No' he completely accepts it. Unlike the ghastly Claiming the Courtesan which to be honest I should never have read.

I also like the fact that despite being an historical novel, the cover art features two very modern looking individuals. I hate 'six-pack' guys on front covers.

My only criticism is that Viscounts Addiction is of course much too short. Maybe more could have been made of the step-father's obsession with witchcraft. Also. It wasn't really clear why those women waited 5 years before coming forward to provide Blackwood with an alibi. Or why anyone would believe what they had to say at all. And anyway. Why on earth would a Lord of the realm be jailed for killing a common hooker in those days?

What makes this e-book interesting and attractive is the Newgate prison back-story. The ending is really quite sweet too.

I personally am a bit fed up with heroines who are on their 2nd or even 3rd marriage when they meet their hero. How can that be true love?

After all my worries about e-book readers in the end it was completely easy to get hold of this novel. Everyone has the free Adobe on their desk-top. And that's all I needed. I paid for the novel with a card and it downloaded in only a couple of minutes. Fantastic! I'm very pleased.