To Sin With A Stranger [Mass Market Paperback]

Forced to take action to control his unruly brood, The Duke of Sinclair finally snaps and banishes his seven adult children from their ancestral Scottish home. The nicknamed *Seven Deadly Sins* Sinclair siblings set off to London with little money and a challenge. Their goal is to redeem themselves in the eyes of the patriarch, and thus, becoming worthy of the Sinclair name. As the eldest, Sterling Sinclair, the Marquess of Blackburn, takes matters into his own hands -literally. In order to earn more money for the family he participates in bare-knuckle boxing matches where the Scottish giant easily wins. At one of the bouts he encounters Miss Isobel Carington who has her own agenda. She solicits money for her cause, a fund for the widows and orphans of the war. Isobel is unnerved by the Scottish brute and takes an instant disliking to him. Sterling on the other hand is entirely smitten and concocts a plan to reap more coin for his family and win the hand of the bold beauty.

The idea for a series with siblings who are each nicknamed after a deadly sin (greed, gluttony, envy etc) is brilliant. Unfortunately this book is terrible. The only thing that was somewhat entertaining was the unique plot and that can only hold my attention for so long. Usually a first book in the series takes time to introduce and get to know at least some of the characters (a perfect opportunity to make the reader anticipate the next books). But I felt like I met the siblings but really know nothing about them -completely flat characterizations. Again and again we are told that the Sinclairs are scandalous. But nothing is given to back that up! So what did they exactly do in Edinburgh to earn this *Deadly Sins* reputation? No examples were given. Too much tell and not nearly enough show. Show me why Lady Ivy is known for *envy* or why Lachlan is known for *lust*. And it gets worse. Besides the unsupported nicknames the siblings have, they weren't actually likable. They came off as a bunch of spoiled brats IMHO. The sisters seem only to be concerned about what kind of baubles they can buy and the brothers if there is enough brandy about. And these people had barely enough money to buy decent food! You'd think that as adults (in their 20's) they'd come together and formulate a plan and win back their fathers good graces. But no! And as far as the romance goes its subpar at best. No buildup and certainly no seduction. Isobel hates Sterling one minute and is in love with him in the next.

So I can't recommend this book. Caskie can come up with some very clever plot lines that are definitely unique in historical romance genre. But the one dimensional characters and lackluster romance in To Sin With A Stranger make this one a skip it.

Books which I have enjoyed by Caskie-
How to Seduce a Duke

'Stranger' romance which I have enjoyed-
Slightly Wicked (Get Connected Romances)
A Lady's Secret

I agree with mizsusmama's review and will take it one step further. I didn't like the heroine either. She embodies one of my pet peeves - someone who does incredibly stupid things then blames someone else for the consequences.

First putting herself, literally, in the middle of boxing match to ask the crowd for money. She only considers herself a "goose" for impulsively doing such a thing but "despises" Sinclair for his humorous reaction to it. Next, she slaps him hard - twice - in front of a huge crowd at Almacks. Brilliant - and for what? The first, because he brushed her cheek with his fingers, the second because he asked her to dance. Obviously he should have kept his hands to himself but really? Overreact much? A tolerable heroine would have walked away. The heroine I want to read about would have come back with some funny yet incredibly cutting response. She knows her father will be furious at her actions which caused such embarrassment and in her opinion "Lord Blackburn...was wholly to blame."

Finally, there is no reason to believe Sinclair would decide, after these two scenes, that he wants to marry her and place the bet at Whites. Why?

In fact, Why any of it?

The premise of a Marquess that participates in boxing matches to earn money to support his siblings after his father cast them out to learn to live respectable seemed very interesting, but as I kept reading the book, I found that there were too many improbable circumstances to get past. The sinclair of Scotland are known throughout society as the Seven Deadly Sins. Each of them has a name for their specific deadly sin and the eldest, Sterling Sinclair, the Marquess of Blackburn's is Greed, so of course all he cares about is money. I felt like I was reading a book for teenagers! The heroine didn't help with the silly factor either. She was way too eccentric. She actually seemed a little crazy! She jumps into the middle of a boxing match with the hero and almost get's her head knocked off to try and ask the spectators for charity money! - and then she slaps the hero in the middle of Almacks because he touched her cheeks! After she does that, the foolish hero decides that he wants to marry her! I felt like I had to suspend my intelligence just to read this book, but I gave it two stars because it was refreshing to read about an historical hero that was a boxer.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 20 reviews  3.4 out of 5 stars