Review: Dilemma In Yellow Silk (The Emperors of London #5) by Lynne Connolly

Print Length: 300 pages

Publisher: Lyrical Press (April 12, 2016)

From Goodreads.com: Ever ready to do the right thing, The Emperors of London act bravely—and when it comes to matters of the heart, impetuously… 

  
Despite her cover as the daughter of the land steward for Lord Malton, Marcus Aurelius, spirited Viola Gates is tied by birth to the treacherous Jacobite legacy. Not that this keeps her from falling for the dashing Lord from afar. Despite his staid demeanor, Marcus is devastatingly handsome—and hopelessly beyond her reach. Then Viola’s father is mortally wounded and her secret identity revealed, sending her straight into danger’s path—and Marcus’s arms…  
 
For years, he’d only known her as a wild child, the tempting—and forbidden—daughter of his trusted steward. But when Viola’s life is threatened, Marcus must act as duty—and his barely contained passion—dictates. Ferrying the bold beauty on an eventful journey to safer quarters, he offers her the protection of his name. Their tempestuous union might succeed in vanquishing their enemies, but will the chivalrous lord and his unsuitable wife surrender to the power of love? 
 

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My Rating: 4 stars out of 5

WARNING: This novel contains several scenes of a sexual nature and I would not recommend this novel to anyone under the age of 18 for this reason. If those scenes are not your cup of tea, it is just as easy to skip over them without feeling like you've lost anything. 

I feel like I should begin my review by saying two things right off the bat. One - this is pretty much a stand-alone novel. What I mean by "pretty much" is that while this is the first in this series that I have personally read, I didn't feel like I was lost or not understanding the back-story. However, at the end it feels like there is an element of the story that has not been completely resolved and therefore can be used to continue this story in the next installment. 

The second thing I want to get out is that while I am not a prude by any means, and I enjoy a good sex scene as much as the next person, there comes a point when those types of scenes become too repetitive and not only take away some of the enjoyment of the overall story, but also cause me to skip those scenes altogether - and unfortunately this story crossed that point. 

Now that I've gotten that out of the way - allow me to now move on to my thoughts on this story. 

There was a lot in this novel that I enjoyed, the characters had a history together (they were friends during their childhood years until his parents pulled them apart) and while on the outside they couldn't have been more different (or so it seemed) they shared a special affection for each other that was easy to see throughout this story. I also enjoyed the elements of danger that were ever present throughout this novel. You could never tell from what side the danger would come from and that made the suspense portion of this story more enjoyable than I was expecting. 

For a female who has had their entire world turned upside down, I felt Viola performed extraordinarily well under stress. It takes a lot of courage (and not to mention a backbone of steel) to not only be told that everything you thought about your life was a lie, and that your very life is in danger, but to also lose one's father and gain a husband within a matter of days. I felt that she was portrayed as someone who was not only a strong lead, but someone in whom the reader could believe in and root for. I am curious to see how the rest of the series plays out.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a good historical romance novel. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                  Dilemma In Yellow Silk is available from Amazon.com