Title: Seven Years to Sin

Author: Sylvia Day

Genre: Historical Romance

Series: N/A

Publication Date: August 30, 2011

Format: Paperback, 352 Pages

ISBN-10: 0758290411 (Kensington)

ISBN-13: 978-0758290410 (Kensington)

Reviewed by: Michelle

Synopsis:

Seven years ago, on the eve of her wedding, Lady Jessica Sheffield witnessed Alistair Caulfield in a scandalous scene no innocent young miss could imagine. Shocked, yet strangely titillated, she’d held her silence. But through years of serene, unremarkable marriage, Caulfield’s image remained burned into her imagination, fuelling illicit dreams…

As a successful merchant, Alistair has little in common with the rakehell youth she knew. But when newly widowed Jessica steps aboard his ship for a transatlantic passage, seven years’ worth of denied pleasures are held in check by nothing more than a few layers of silk – and the certainty that surrender will consume them both…

Quick & Dirty: A tantilizing tale of lovers who have been apart too long. Steamy scenes ahead!

Opening Sentence: There was something irresistibly exciting about watching athletic males engaged in physical combat.

Excerpt: Yes

The Review:

I’ve been a fan of Sylvia Day for several months now. When I had the opportunity to read Seven Years to Sin, I was beyond excited. I’ve only read Day’s contemporary work, and to get the chance to read her historical work? Excitement! I was always a fan of how Day wrote about relationships and their attraction. In the large sea of romance writers, Day stands out for me. She has a way of writing about these relationships, and in Seven Years to Sin, it’s another great example of that talent.

Seven Years to Sin follows the life of Lady Jessica Stanfield Tarley, who married into the Tarley family. With the recent passing of her husband, she has been granted her own property in Jamaica. Her husband’s good friend Alistair Lucius Caufiel has sanctioned a journey aboard his ship, to properly escort and guide Jessica, as well as protect her. They have a history, and while on their oceanic voyage, the opportunity to rekindle unspoken tension arises. Alongside unspoken tension, there are also secrets from their past that they must overcome. But the question is will they be able to before their journey ends?

Jessica is someone who has had it all, or so we think. But her life comes to a halt with the passing of her husband. Jessica was happy, content, and living a life that many would have loved to have. In the present, she is overshadowed by a memory and feels the guilt of moving on. I found out so much about her, of who she secretly was, filled with lust and passion. She took control of the relationship between herself and Alistair, and allowed for her instinct to kick in. Jessica never wanted to be perfect, she just wanted love that was perfect for herself.

Alistair was running away from his problems. He has secrets of his own, never allowing his true self to be out in the open. In public, he was the perfect son for his mother, despite who she was married to. He kept his feet on the ground, and always, always embraced the unexpected. Alistair, for the most part, has held on to his integrity, but it wasn’t until he was with Jessica that he let his true self shine. Alistair allowed Jessica to accept who he really was, his past, and hoped for a future.

The chemistry between Jessica and Alistair was hot and filled with sexuality. It was what I would expect from a historical romance. I felt that the beginning dragged a little, but sometimes I feel that way when there’s a story to be set up. There was more than just steamy scenes, and I appreciated that. I enjoyed having a hero and a heroine at different times, and definitely enjoyed the fact that these characters were flawed.

Day knows how to write attraction and passion, as well as developing heartbroken and damaged characters. The characters in Seven Years to Sin have a broken past and a meek present, but Day knows how to bring the story towards a happy ending.

Notable Scene:

“As accessible as you were last night,  without the excessive drinking.  Although  it was not our intention to cross the threshold we did seven years ago, it has been crossed  and there is no turning  back. I asked you to stay and you did not run.  We shared  a moment  uniquely  separate  from our lives before or since. You clutch social mores, propriety, and rules of conduct  around you as you do the shawls you wear,  but we are beyond  such barriers.  Fate has conspired  to bring us together  at this time,  and  I, for one,  am weary  of
fighting against it.”

The  possibility  that  they  were  fated  to  be  lovers  was somehow   comforting, as if  taking  the  decision  from  her hands  freed her from responsibility for the inevitable consequences. It was cowardly  to view it that way, yet the thought also gave her courage.

She inhaled  and  spoke  in a rush.  “I am sorry  for what  I said  to  you  last  night before you  left.  I-I wanted  you  to stay—”

“I  whored  for  money,”

FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of Seven Years to Sin.  No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

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