seriously romantic: surrender to sin by nicola davidson

the fallen series kicks off with surrender to sin, a novella that makes it clear that this is not your average regency romance. this has an added layer of sexy that works in spite of the fact that none of it feels historically accurate. grace, lady carrington, has been inconveniently married to an old geezer who mercifully dies five years into the marriage. on the eve of the end of her mourning period her father, a prominent bishop, informs her that she is to be married off to an even worse old geezer than her first husband. this causes grace to nearly lose her mind. she was about to be free. free to look for someone who could stir her passions, after years of dealing with a loveless and painful consummation she yearns for something more.

her maid suggests she seek out lord sebastian st. john, known as lord sin, he is part owner of a house of sensual delights called fallen. and as the son of a former courtesan and a baron he is unconventionally open-minded about women's sexuality. he might be willing to help grace make herself unweddable. because the last thing in the world grace wants is another passionless marriage. when grace approaches sin he is enchanted by her, and from their first meeting their chemistry burns off the pages.

for a novella there is a surprising amount of sex, and a surprising amount of variety of situations. the characters' attitudes and language are a bit too modern for the time, but if that kind of thing doesn't bother you, then you will be fine. things escalate very quickly between the leads, but the format doesn't allow the author much time and even still she does a pretty good job of giving the main characters the appropriate amount of depth.

for a quick, steamy read, you can't really ask for more.

**surrender to sin will publish on december 12, 2016. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (scorched) in exchange for my honest review.