If You Desire - Kresley Cole

If You Desire is the second book in Kresley Cole’s MacCarrick Brothers trilogy, the first of which was the 2005 release If You Dare. This particular story is about the second son Hugh MacCarrick and his childhood love Jane Weyland.

Hugh, an assassin for the Crown, returns to England after discovering that the woman who teased him—and with whom he fell desperately in love—all those years ago is in grave danger from a now rogue assassin. To protect Jane, Hugh is forced to marry her and take her away from London and her rather scandalous cousins.

Jane is a "wild child": in particular, she and her cousins attend a orgiastic party just for the thrill in the beginning of the novel. It's a bit jarring, though, and takes away the feel of it being in Victorian England; it has a rather contemporary feel to it. It was interesting, though, to see a heroine who isn't thoroughly innocent (she is still a virgin, however).

Unbeknownst to Hugh, Jane has been in love with him ever since he left her ten years ago, and is known as “Tears and Years” MacCarrick in her circle of cousins. And, as usual, the two cannot be together due to Hugh’s big secret, which is really the only thing (besides Jane’s “wild” side) that brings down this story. Hugh’s secret is typically tragic and unconquerable, yet in the tradition of HEA romance, there is always a way around it, which makes the secret not so tragic but just silly.

Despite the rather cliché secret plot point, I quite enjoyed this newest offering by Cole. Her novels are enjoyable, quick reads with interesting characters and, as always, hot love scenes (although there was only one in this story, surprisingly). Hugh may tend to be a broody hero but not enough to make him exasperating. The same with Jane: she may be a tease, but Cole manages to make her a likeable and believable character. These two stubborn characters’ love story is sweet and delightful, and if you can get over the secret plot point, (which really did not bother me very much) it’s a book to be recommended.

I’m now definitely looking forward to the last in the trilogy to come out at the end of this month, If You Deceive, featuring the scarred and surly Ethan MacCarrick.

Overall Grade: B