In The Garden of Temptation by Cynthia Wicklund (The Garden Series: Book 1)

Where you can find In the Garden of Temptation: Amazon

Genre: historical romance

Date of publication: October 31st, 2010

Goodreads Synopsis:

“HONOR – Adam Stanford, Earl of Ashworth, has always done the right thing.
DESIRE – Lady Catherine Bourgeault, lonely and rejected, longs to experience passion, to love just once in her life.
TREACHERY – The Baron Bourgeault, to what extremes will an obsessive, unstable man go to achieve his own dark ends? 
SEDUCTION – In the face of a love that will not be denied, Adam and Catherine risk everything to be together.
BETRAYAL – What price must Catherine and Adam pay for a forbidden love in a time when honor meant everything?” 

My review:

What I liked about In the Garden of Temptation:

1. It was a Regency romance. I love historical/regency romances. Don’t ask me why. Something about mentally picturing the characters in dress and with the English accent. I know, I’m weird. But hey, I own my weirdness :).
2. The realness of the characters and how complex they are. Catherine, Adam and Lord Bourgeault characters were fleshed out. There were a few scenes  where I went “Aha…that makes sense”.
3. I liked how the author incorporated phobia/mental illness into the story. It was done in a way that flowed with the era she was talking about.

What I disliked about In the Garden of Temptation:

1. I didn’t like Lord Bourgeault’s character. Even reading the book and knowing what I know now. That’s all I am going to say about that.
2. The language and wording of certain phrases. I know that “willy-nilly” has a proper place in the English language. But, in a hot and heavy sex scene. No. It killed it for me.
3. The ending. It felt a little rushed to me.

Would I recommend In the Garden of Temptation? Yup.