TWILIGHT WITH THE INFAMOUS EARL – Alexandra Hawkins
A Lords of Vice Novel , Book 7
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN-13:  978-1-250-00139-9
December 2013
Historical Romance

London, England – 1826

The Lords of Vice are seven gentlemen who used London as their private playground for years, including opening their own gambling hell, Nox.  Now Frost, Lord Chillingsworth, is the last holdout of the group.  Over the past six years, Dare, Hunter, Saint, Sin, Reign and Vane have taken the plunge and gotten married and started families; Frost is the last single man, which sometimes makes him feel left out.  Frost must also deal with his mother, to whom he has been paying blackmail for years.  His sister Regan, wife of his friend Dare, believes she is dead; Frost didn't want to tell her that their mother left with her lover after her husband's death, leaving a fifteen year old son in charge of his younger sister.  Their mother has returned to London, wanting more money, and determined to see Regan.

Emily Cavell is still mourning her sister Lucy who took her life five years ago.  As Lucy was dying, she told Emily she was carrying a child and said the word “Frost”.  It is now time for Emily to join society in London, and assuming Frost is a man's name, she is going to make it her duty to find out who got her sister pregnant and left her, breaking her heart.  Through a meeting with a young girl being sold on the streets for her virginity, a man comes to her assistance, who Emily soon learns goes by the name “Frost”.  Could this be the man whose name was on her sister's breath as she died?  When he denies being intimate with Lucy, Emily must decide for herself whether Frost is telling the truth, or if his charming personality and interest in her can change her mind.

There are men after Frost who want the gambling hell, and Lucy's old betrothed seems very interested in Lucy's old letters or papers.  Frost also knows Lord Ravens, a bounder as bad as he is, and whose house was the site of many of Frost's nights of debauchery.  Emily is vastly tempted by Frost, and must decide whether he is a man who can be trusted.

Continuing the story of the Lords of Vice, Alexandra Hawkins again introduces us to Frost, the last rogue and scoundrel in their group.  Frost still prefers to spend his time drinking and consorting with his mistresses…until he meets Emily.  Emily has taken the idea into her head that she will confront the man her sister Lucy named as the life flowed from her body.  These are indeed two vastly different people that you would figure would have nothing in common.  But Emily has a big heart and is indeed a lady, and Frost is no gentleman, but has plenty of the charm that all rogues seem to have.  Frost can't explain his attraction to Emily; perhaps it's just the thrill of the hunt; and Emily can't explain how she can see a hidden part of Frost that is kind and caring.

Secondary characters include all the other Lords of Vice and their wives; they have never seen him serious about any woman.  There are several scoundrels who are up to no good, and Lucy, Emily's dead sister, looms between them until Emily can find out what really happened to her.

TWILIGHT WITH THE INFAMOUS EARL is the seventh in the Lords of Vice series, and each Lord is more of a rogue than the other. How they all found the women meant for them is a miracle.  Emily and Frost must go through a lot of turmoil to find their happily-ever-after, but it's a story filled with laughter, devotion and overcoming society's perception of a person.

Carolyn Crisher