THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE by Elizabeth Essex

Essex writes about Georgian England and the independent Lizzie Paxton, who only wants to be a widow. Married life, such as it was back then (not much fun for women) was not to Lizzie's liking. Despite an ogre for a father, she's managed to refuse all suitors until a long-gone flame returns. Captain James Marlowe - exiled for his attraction to the then-teenage Lizzie - now offers marriage with the understanding that he'll die in the next few years. Really?
Lizzie is both puzzled and fascinated by the potential. The author manages to pull it off, and if you are in the mood for a period romance with a feisty heroine and a noble but flawed hero, lots of plausible action and plenty of quite explicit sex (some of which I really didn't care for, near-rape has never been my dish of tea), then you'll enjoy this unheavy beach read romance. You might like reading about forced sex, but I don't, so give this a 3.5; the sex rating is a 4.