0
0
Pages: 68
Goes Well With: Chicken fried rice and strawberries steeped in sugar
It’s 1800 London, and Eliza Dauntry’s husband has left her and her son destitute after his death. With no way to support herself and her son, she turns to painting nudes. Now her reputation is in shreds, and she’s at the mercy of lecherous men whose mistresses she’s commissioned to paint. But things might just turn out well when she goes to paint over an orgy depicted on the walls of a country estate.
Patrick Felham needs to find a chaste woman to marry him and help raise his daughter, but he’s not been having any luck with the ladies of polite society. When he meets Eliza—an old friend’s widow—at his great-uncle’s estate, he’s instantly smitten. But Eliza appears to be anything but chaste, which might be what he’s looking for after all.
Notorious Eliza is a fun and highly sensual romp, carried out in a time period when such actions caused scandal and labeled women as harlots who were unfit for marriage. It’s always amusing to find characters doing what they’re not supposed to be doing, and Eliza and Patrick can’t help themselves, which makes for an entertaining read.
I admired Eliza’s willingness to find a way to support herself and her son, no matter what society thought about it. She did what she had to do to survive, and she could have done a whole lot worse than painting nudes. She’s a sweet character, but she’s also tough enough to take care of herself—and that makes her someone I would like to be friends with.
Patrick, meanwhile, will simply make you smile. He’s a bad boy who’s trying not to be a bad boy, but it’s a hopeless case. He only has eyes for Eliza, though, so that makes it okay. He’s a great character—the kind that you’ll want to hang out with.
Enjoyable, pleasurable, and just a little bit crazy, Notorious Eliza will keep the grins coming long after your lunch break, so don’t miss it!
