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    The First Sinners
    The First Sinners
    The First Sinners
    Ebook116 pages1 hour

    The First Sinners

    By Kate Pearce

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Their identities a secret, they are men of mystery with hidden pasts and dark passions. Welcome to the Sinners Club. . .

    Secret Desires

    Faith Pelly is tired of being the responsible daughter. She longs for adventure with a man who will introduce her to the secrets of carnal desire. But she never dreams she will meet the Savage Rake who flirts with her, seduces her and takes her as his own. . .

    Dark Secrets

    Asked to investigate charges of treason, the Earl of Westbrook attends a house party determined to discover the truth. That includes using all his sensual wiles on the lovely Miss Pelly, a beguiling young woman eager for erotic excitement with a man who will fulfill all her secret fantasies. And he plans on being that man. . .

    Sizzling Praise for Kate Pearce

    "Sinfully hot. If you like your romance hot as you return to the Regency era, where behind the scenes anything goes, then grab Simply Carnal for your reading pleasure." —Romance Reviews Today

    "The passion of Pearce's erotic tale is focused and intense. . .. Their sex encounters and fantasies. . .steam up the pages." —Romantic Times on Simply Shameless

    28,000 Words
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKensington Books
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    ISBN9781617733208
    The First Sinners
    Author

    Kate Pearce

    New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kate Pearce was born in England in the middle of a large family of girls and quickly found that her imagination was far more interesting than real life. After acquiring a degree in history and barely escaping from the British Civil Service alive, she moved to California and then to Hawaii with her kids and her husband and set about reinventing herself as a romance writer. She is known for both her unconventional heroes and her joy at subverting romance clichés. In her spare time she self publishes science fiction erotic romance, historical romance, and whatever else she can imagine. You can find Kate on katepearce.com.

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    Reviews for The First Sinners

    3.5/5

    22 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Faith Pelly is the oldest sister, however her younger sister is the beautiful one and the one expected to make a good match. Faith has pretty much decided that she like being over looked and thinks that she will probably enjoy living her life as a single woman. This is not a popular view in London in 1810 but it is what Faith thinks she wants. Ian Carmichael, the Earl of Westbrook, has been invited to a house party at the Pelly home in the hopes that he will offer for Faith's younger sister, Margaret. But from the very beginning he has eyes only for Faith. When he finds he in the library looking at an erotic book and her hand between her legs, he knows he has to pursue her. She is a virgin but he is willing to train her if she would like him to. This novella has wonderful fun characters, a plot with a bit of mystery and is fairly fast paced. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kate Pearce does not disappoint!
    • 4/5
      First Sinners by Kate Pearce(Series: Prequel: The Sinners’ Club)Source: PurchaseRating: 4/5 starsThe Sinners’ Club is both fact and fiction in 19th century London. For those who know the club to be fact, it is a place they can go to live out their most sinful of secret desires while pleasuring themselves and others with few restrictions and no judgment. For those who know of the club as a rumor or mere fiction, it is a place of legend, a place where only the most debauched go and only the most deviant of desires are fulfilled. The truth is somewhere in between fact and fiction.Pelly Manor is crumbling but that doesn’t stop Faith Pelly, eldest daughter and potential old maid from loving her home. Faith loves her home and her family but she loves her books and her freedom more – to marry would certainly bring wealth but it would also bring a sort of control over Faith that she has no interest in. Thank the Lord her younger sister, Margaret is only interested in money and marriage; if things go as planned, Margaret’s future husband will bring the Pelly’s money, the manor can be refurbished and, Faith can live out her days as a well-read and well-educated spinster.Ian Carmichael, Earl of Westbrook is known to most in English society. Ian is beautiful thanks to his mother’s Indian heritage and wealthy beyond reason thanks to his deceased English father. Known as the Savage Rake, Ian’s company is constantly sought after by men and women alike. His reputation as an inventive if temporary lover is well known and in certain circles his knack for acquiring knowledge is even better known. Arriving at Pelly Manor under the pretext of courting Margaret, Ian is charged with ferreting out a family member who is exchanging vital state information for gold. While Ian knows little of the Pelly family, his reputation both in an out of the bedroom is justified and he intends to bring down a criminal and return to his life as quickly as possible. Ian’s natural curiosity, his talents and, his reputation make his time at Pelly Manor both exciting and most surprising. Though he certainly admits that Margaret Pelly is pretty, she is far from interesting and not her sister, Faith. In fact, Ian’s first few encounters with Faith Pelly are some of the most interesting, sensual and, erotic moments he has ever experienced. Though he has never, ever considered the idea of settling down, Faith Pelly may just be the adventurous sort of woman he could consider spending his life with. From Faith’s perspective, the idea of life with Ian Carmichael is unfathomable but if that totally ridiculous fantasy were to become a real possibility, then she may just have to change her mind about men and marriage.The Bottom Line: This is the beginning of the Sinners’ Club and I truly wish Kate Pearce had made this read more than just a novella. Faith and Ian are a constant and totally interesting presence in the full-length Sinners’ Club reads and as the founders of the club, their history deserved more than a mere 28,000 words. Length is the only complaint I have about this read. True to form, Kate Pearce offers a good story, better characters and, some pleasantly erotic naughty bits. The founding of the Sinners’ Club is vital to the later reads and to better understand the circumstances under which the club was founded is quite interesting. Ian is sexy as hell and with the ever clever and daring Faith by his side, it is no wonder the Sinners’ Club is a place of naughty legend.

    Book preview

    The First Sinners - Kate Pearce

    Page

    Prologue

    London 1810

    I don’t understand how I can help you with this matter, my friend.

    Ian Carmichael, the Earl of Westbrook, crossed his long legs and sat back in his chair. He’d visited Sir Peregrine Malting at the older man’s request, and after an excellent dinner, they had retired to the library to talk privately.

    I believe you are the only man who can, Westbrook.

    I don’t even know the family you are talking about, let alone the gentleman himself.

    You don’t need to have an acquaintance with him. Lord Pelly has a beautiful daughter.

    So?

    You are a lodestone for beautiful women.

    Ian scowled. "I can’t help that. I hardly encourage them. They have some ridiculous notion that I am exotic and foreign, and therefore more exciting than the average English gentleman."

    "With just cause. You are exotic. I don’t believe there are any other peers whose father married an Indian princess."

    "Not legally. Plenty of them had wives out there. Apparently, my mother insisted on a proper marriage. She was an intelligent woman as well as a Christian convert. What do my looks, or lack of them, have to do with your little problem of leaked government secrets?"

    As I said, I have my suspicions that the Pelly family are up to their necks in debt, and that someone in their household is handing over information to a French contact in exchange for gold. Information that might affect the future outcome of this war with Napoleon.

    Well, we can’t have that. Why can’t the government pay a visit to the Pellys and lock them up?

    Because we don’t have enough evidence. Sir Peregrine rubbed his forehead. "If we start imprisoning every aristocratic family on suspicion of aiding our enemies, half the ton would be in gaol. They all have French relatives, and we’d be halfway to the horrors of the guillotine. It would cause a panic, and the last thing we need amongst the leaders of this country at the moment is another panic."

    So what exactly do you want me to do with this beautiful daughter?

    Sir Peregrine smiled. Court her a little?

    And how will that help your cause? Do you think the little darling will blurt out all her family secrets to me?

    I’ve heard you can be most persuasive, Westbrook.

    Only in bed, and I’ll be damned if I’ll take her there. I’d be expected to marry the chit.

    I’m sure you can avoid that fate. All I need you to do is get an invitation to their country house. It is on the south coast.

    And no doubt freezing cold and damp at this time of year. Ian shuddered. Despite living in England for most of his life, he missed the blazing heat of his birthplace. He missed his mother as well, but that wasn’t something a gentleman could admit to, especially not an English aristocrat.

    The house is perched on a cliff above the beach and a natural cove, a perfect spot for smugglers and French ships to rendezvous. All I need you to do is spend some time with the family, observe their daily routines, and see if you can establish which of the men is behaving suspiciously.

    And then what do you want me to do? Tell him politely to stop, or challenge him to a duel? That will go down splendidly with my prospective in-laws.

    You don’t have to do anything. Just come back to London and report to me. Your evidence will allow me to approach the foreign office with my full report, and have the man apprehended.

    It’s ridiculous that we have to sink to these depths. The government should have an official department that deals with intelligence gathering.

    The British government’s official position is that we have no spies. It is considered ungentlemanly.

    I’m aware of that. Ian exhaled. I have several friends who risk their lives in France on a daily basis knowing that if they are caught their own damned government will deny their existence. It’s not fair, Perry.

    Since when has war been fair, my friend? Sir Peregrine sat forward. Will you help me, then? I believe the Pelly family is planning a house party in a week or so. If you act with your usual speed and charm, I’m sure you’ll be invited.

    All right then. How can I ignore a plea from you? Ian rose and shook Perry’s hand. I’ll do my best to charm the Pelly beauty.

    Thank you, my friend. You will not regret it. Your government and your king appreciate your efforts.

    Even if they won’t save my neck.

    Exactly. Although it will hardly come to that. We’re in England. What on earth could go wrong?

    1

    Cornwall, Pelly Manor

    From her seat against the wall, Miss Faith Pelly studied the imposing form of the Earl of Westbrook, the so-called Savage Rake, as he conversed with her father and younger sister. His dark head was bent attentively as if entranced by every word that sprang from Margaret’s perfect lips. Faith’s own mouth curved in disbelief. Margaret might be beautiful, but she hardly had much of an opinion about anything. But then why did she need one? Her prettiness was enough to draw men like Westbrook to her. She simply reflected back a man’s inflated opinions of himself.

    Faith sighed and stared at the clock on the wall. If she was lucky, she could steal away to the library, and forget about comparing herself to her sister. She loved Margaret, but it sometimes seemed her family was so busy trying to catch a rich husband for their more beautiful daughter that they made no effort to find a suitable match for her.

    Not that she needed a husband. From what she had observed in society, a husband merely constrained his wife to obey a set of antiquated rules, and merrily went his own way, ignoring them himself. How many men openly took mistresses? How many times had she seen her own mother crying when reading the gossip columns about her father’s latest trollop?

    The clock struck ten, and she rose to her feet and slipped quietly toward the door. The only person who noticed her exit was the Earl of Westbrook, but he was hardly in a position to stop her from leaving. She realized she was disappointed in him for his interest in Margaret. At dinner he had revealed himself as something of an intellectual and a world traveler. When she’d attempted to draw him into conversation, either her mother or her sister had intervened to draw the discussion back to the superficial and trivial gossip they adored. It had been quite frustrating.

    She hurried along the drafty corridors to the library, which was on the side of the house that faced the sea. Rain lashed at the ill-fitting windows, and the smell of seawater permeated the stone passages. Her parents hated the old house, but didn’t have the funds either to improve it, or knock it down. That was one of the reasons why they wanted Margaret to marry well, and why the Earl of Westbrook was being treated like minor royalty.

    He was attractive in a very un-English way. His skin was tanned; his eyes even darker, and he had the most sensual mouth Faith had ever seen on a man outside her dreams. Although he smiled, it never reached his eyes. Despite his reputation as a notorious womanizer, up close Faith had detected a coldness and distance about him that confused her.

    Her heart rate sped up as she opened the library door, lit a candle, and kindled the fire that lay ready in the grate. It would hardly heat the immense space, but she had her shawl and her book to read, and if that didn’t make her feel warm, something was wrong.

    She retrieved the small, leather-bound volume from its hiding place and settled down in the window seat. Opening the book at a random page, she studied the illustration with great interest. It appeared as if one woman was entwined with three men . . . how was that possible? She turned the book upside down and viewed the engraving from a different angle. It still made no sense. Heat coursed through her, warming her cheeks and the secret place between her thighs she’d learned could give such pleasure.

    Giving up her attempt to understand the picture, she read the text, but that didn’t help

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