I received a free copy of this book from Publisher for an honest review.
This does not affect in any way my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
Series: Maiden Lane #3
Published by Piatkus on November 3, 2011
Genres: Historical Romance
Source: Publisher
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Can a pirate learn that the only true treasure lies in a woman's heart?
Widowed Silence Hollingbrook is impoverished, lovely, and kind—and nine months ago she made a horrible mistake. She went to a river pirate for help in saving her husband and in the process made a bargain that cost her her marriage. That night wounded her so terribly that she hides in the foundling home she helps run with her brother. Except now that same river pirate is back . . . and he's asking for her help.
"Charming" Mickey O'Connor is the most ruthless river pirate in London. Devastatingly handsome and fearsomely intelligent, he clawed his way up through London's criminal underworld. Mickey has no use for tender emotions like compassion and love, and he sees people as pawns to be manipulated. And yet he's never been able to forget the naive captain's wife who came to him for help—and spent one memorable night in his bed . . . talking.
When his bastard baby girl was dumped in his lap—her mother having died—Mickey couldn't resist the Machiavellian urge to leave the baby on Silence's doorstep. The baby would be hidden from his enemies and he'd also bind Silence to him by her love for his daughter.

I haven’t read the first two books of this series and that’s why I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy this third instalment, but my curiosity was killing me from the moment the Publisher sent it to me, and I couldn’t resist any further! And what did I find? Well, I’m pleased to tell you that I’m totally with the ones who said that since the author always does an amazing job with her storylines, the books are easy to keep up with, without the need to follow necessarily an order.

I’d summarize everything in one single word: BEAUTIFUL! I felt different strong emotions flowing over me, I felt like I was part of the book and, even if sometimes for me the events were a bit predictable, there wasn’t a single time in which I couldn’t feel their power. There’s so much passion and love in this book, but even great action and apparently a mystery that intrigues everyone: who is The Ghost of St. Giles? Truth to be told, I found out who he was during the reading, so I wasn’t surprised when the “revelation” came, but I do think his identity suits him perfectly.

Who really deserves a special mention is ‘Charming’ Mickey O’Connor, the pirate I always hoped existed and the man I encountered so many times in my deepest dreams . . . His teasing Silence was simply ecstatic and the loving scenes . . . OMG-I-can’t-stop-thinking-about-them! Hot, sensual, wild but tender as well. Do I wanna re-read those scenes? I already did, but why not doing so a third, or a forth, or a millionth time? Elizabeth Hoyt, you surely enlivened my dreams!

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