Impassioned by Darcy Burke

Sabrina and Constantine , Earl of Aldington, were married 2 years previously but she lives in their country house and he lives in London. He visits the country house twice a year. Sabrina suffers from anxiety and is painfully shy and they know very little about each other. Sabrina makes up her mind that she wants a child and goes to London and demands that Constantine give her a child. Sabrina decides that she must put her anxiety aside and come out of the shadows to act as a countess should.

A very well written book that follows the trials and tribulations as the couple get to know each properly. As they should have when they were first married and the journey they both must travel as they both learn what they are each capable of.

As a fan of Ms. Darcy Burke i am not sure why this book was such a let down for me. The plot seemed interested by the narrative was so lackluster I could not proceed beyond chapter 3 :(

Im going to give myself time to reread again. So sorry and I love most of her books.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

While I had mixed feelings about the first in the series, I had hope for it to be an interesting, fun one, especially with multiple threads for various characters set up in the prequel short. Unfortunately, Impassioned ironically lacked…passion, making this a drag to read.

There are some good elements here. Sabrina’s battle with social anxiety resonated with me, as someone who also deals with the same thing. I admired her for working to open up more, and saw myself in those attempts to muster courage. I was happy when she finally got the daring to take things into her own hands and demand what she wanted.

Constantine is…alright. He’s not terrible as a hero, even though he has made some mistakes. He’s a pretty decent person at the core, trying his best with the information he has.

And that gets to the crux of what I struggled with. This book is one of those that hinge on miscommunications, and while I understand some of the reasoning for it, it just got tedious. Like, you can talk to a woman you presumably don’t know (and don’t realize is your wife in disguise) in a pleasure club about your issues with your wife? I could see things from her end, with her still working on her social skills, but his?

One thing I can say is I do appreciate that this book didn’t go the typical route of “it’s all hunky dory in the bedroom, but we can’t talk to each other out of bed.” They’re just awkward and struggle in multiple respects. But that resulted in a weirdly stilted, staid, largely passionless book.

It seems I’m one of the few who didn’t care for this one, so it’s more likely a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” If you like historicals and have patience for the miscommunication trope, you’ll likely enjoy it more than I did.

My first Darcy Burke book and I enjoyed it. Sometimes the characters annoyed me, but all in all I was smiling throughout the whole book because of their relationship. I really enjoyed that the plot revolved around the Heroine teaching the hero how to pleasure his wife without knowing the “Teacher” was the wife

I really enjoyed this historical romance.

Sabrina was married to Constantine the Earl of
Aldington over two years ago but they hardly ever see each other. Sabrina’s social anxiety means that she has spent the last years in the countryside. Now she returns to London with one goal to get a child. She is not the woman that her husband remembers. Neither of them expect to fall in love with each other.

I really enjoyed this one. I loved seeing the relationship between Sabrina and Constantine slowly develop. I also really enjoyed the writing and had so much fun reading this. I liked all the characters and I can’t wait to read the rest of the book in the series.

This was an entertaining, steamy, well-written book. It held my attention and I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Constantine Westbrook and his wife Sabrina have not seen much of each other since they were married. He has given her a place just outside London to garden and live the quiet life she wants. Now she has arrived for the season early and with a demand!

Sabrina wants a baby and demands he do his duty of not she will go elsewhere. Constantine cannot believe what he is hearing. He is so confused that he asks for help from his brother after Sabrina had asked the same thing.

Sabrina no longer wants to be the quiet, why one. She wants her husband's attention. Constantine wants his wife as he always has but was told she didn't want him.

With the hyjinxs that the two are out thought finally get revealed and now the fallout might not be what they imagined. Can two people finally get everything or will meddling break them apart. Will Sabrina get her baby? Will Constantine get to have the wife he has waited for?

Find out in this laugh out loud romp through witty banter and boundary breaking.

I found this book, and I read the description: HISTORICAL ROMANCE. Set in LONDON.
I had no hesitation, I downloaded it immediately. It was already mine, really!

It's an unique and unusual story: a married couple who does not behave as such.
The protagonists are very well written, during the course of the story we see the changes between them and how they try to resolve their situation (a very intriguing way, I promise) They were uncomfortable to each other, anxious and without chemistry. At the end, we can see the difference from the beginning.

Dances, clubs, ✨sexual tension✨, wanting to know how it would end, they really kept me glued to read!
In the final part I was anxious that the situation would precipitate, but luckily everything is resolved :)

I really liked this book from the Phoenix Club and I'm intrigued to read a next book with other characters related to this story! 4 well-deserved stars!

I adored this title; I enjoyed reading about the reparation and growing of the main character’s relationship and found this to be one of Darcy Burke’s best titles I’ve read.

Not only well written, but thoughtfully written as well. The main characters are well fleshed and both are realistically written.

This is part of a series but can easily be read as a stand-alone novel.

My thanks to Zealous Quill Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this novel. All opinions shared are influenced by nothing other than my own reading experience.

Sabrina has barely spoken to her husband in two years, partly due to her crippling social anxiety but also due to his disinterest. Yet Sabrina is determined to change her future and her husband will teach him a few lessons. Constantine Westbrook knows that he must accept his duty to sire an heir to the dukedom, and to do so, he must put aside his belief that she has been forced to marry him and loathes him. Yet the more time they spend together, the more each believes in a possible future together.
At first, it seems that this romance might not start, as both characters were almost too afraid of each other. Yet, their nervousness seemed to work, and this was a fresh take on a lovely romance. It was refreshing to see their romance blossom, if not slowly. I look forward to seeing more of Lucien, Con’s brother, who helped Sabrina succeed with her romance.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first time I've read a book from this author.
I found the characters to be likable. However, this story of an arranged marriage missed the mark slightly. Both characters tried to better themselves and find common ground in their marriage. The main method of doing this was to use a surrogate "tutor" in the bedroom. Unbeknownst to the blindfolded husband, the tutor was actually his normally shy wife! The wife felt emboldened in the role of the anonymous tutor.
I thought that the tutor concept was completely silly and unbelievable. Too much time was spent focusing on the secondary characters (subjects of future books?) that helped orchestrate the tutoring scenario. I don't think that a lifetime of social anxiety can be cured so easily!
Thankfully, the heroine was forgiven for her deception fairly quickly.
The brother Lucien seemed like he had an interesting back story. I'll definitely give this author another chance and read his story.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.

I adored Sabrina and Constantine's story! I loved watching these two find their way back to one another. I loved watching Sabrina come into her own and fight for what she wanted! The was a greate addition to the Phoenix Club series.

I love Darcy Burke. I simply adore the way she crafts her stories.
One of my favorite tropes in historical romances is marriage of convenience, however one of my biggest pet peeve is when the characters do not communicate with one another. Since this is a story about a husband and wife who are estranged because of their inability to communicate I had very mixed feelings going into this book, but I trusted Darcy Burke and I was not disappointed.
Comunication is the the main topic of this story. Constantine and Sabrina need to learn how to talk to each other but they also need to learn how to talk with themselves, how to be honest with what they want from their marriage. And they are more than willing to put in the effort. Since page one, although it is not always easy or straightforward, they try to work on their own and with each other in order to obtain what is lacking in their relationship. Call me weird, but seeing a couple put in the effort it is always something that I like.

*thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This is my fair and honest review, voluntarily given and in my own words, for this ARC. An anxiety ridden young woman and her "stick up the ..." husband have a hard road ahead. Both have been manipulated and downtrodden all their lives. Is the only way to loosen up to come up with a very unorthodox solution? Honestly a very good and well written story.

Brilliant. A novel look at a cold and dry mariage and how to change it. Sabrina is tired of being a wallflower tucked away outside of London and so comes to seduce her husband and screws up her courage to take London by storm. The book is funny, and kind and follows the development of Constantine and Sabrina as they reconsider their mariage and what they want to mean to each other. The surrounding characters are great and loveable too, be it the housekeeper, the siblings or the detestable parents. Them getting what you think is coming to them adds the icing to this great book.

Impassioned is the second book in the Phoenix Club series. I’ve not read the first one (yet!) but it’s fine as a stand-alone story. Sabrina and Constantine are in a distant, arranged marriage. They drift along that way for a few years until Sabrina decides to do something about it. The story of how they grow and mature in the relationship - with a little “help” from their friends and a few awkward moments along the way - was warm and engaging.

I enjoyed the twist of igniting a spark in an existing relationship. Their journey to their HEA was fun and passionate, and the character development was excellent. I will definitely go back and read Improper and am looking forward to the release of the third book in the series, Intolerable, later this year!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGallery for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this one much more than I did book one. It may be that I connected more with the characters in this one and enjoyed reading about their journey. I was intrigued by Constantine with the glimpses we got of him in the first book of the series and I'm so glad we got to learn more about him and Sabrina. I loved that Sabrina finally stood up and declared what she wanted...in her marriage and in life. And although it was implied she was shy...she definitely didn't shy away from anything.

Definitely check this one out. You may want to read book one to get the full picture as there are references to characters in that book.

Earlier this summer I was lucky enough to receive the first book in the Phoenix Club series for a review, and I’m happy to say I also received this second one as an arc as well. I’m very happy to say that I loved this book much more than the first one.

The book starts with Sabrina arriving to London to demand because she wants to have a child. She and her husband, Constantine, had an arranged marriage, and didn’t have the time to even get to know each other before they were forced to marry. They have been estranged for two years from the beginning of their marriage before the beginning of the book.

I was immediately intrigued by the premise of this book, especially since it was stated that Sabrina suffers from social anxiety. That’s something that’s rare to see in a historical romance, and as someone who has a social anxiety disorder, it was very relatable to see Sabrina being anxious in big crowds especially. Someone in the book says to Sabrina that she seemed very sociable and not at all anxious after an event to which Sabrina states that that’s definitely not how she feels on the inside. I really felt that, because sometimes people don’t really see through the mask socially anxious people have to put on every day to face the world, even when they are struggling. Sabrina was determined to get what she wanted regardless of her anxiety and that was something I really admired about her, but I would have liked to see much more discussion between her and Con about her anxiety as that’s not something a person can just get over.

I really liked that the whole book was devoted to the two of them trying to build a relationship. The main characters both had struggles, which they had to overcome, to fully be in a healthy marriage. They both kind of sabotaged their relationship by their behaviour but that ultimately their willingness to know each other and themselves made this a great romance.

Even if you didn’t love the first book in this series, I would recommend the second book. I think the relationship and the characters are much better developed and this was a pleasure to read

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an arc.

Blooming love between an estranged couple.

What impressed me the most was the 'no cheating' aspect. Though the marriage was strained between the protagonists, both remained faithful - for 2 years.

Constantine - the cold brother of Lucien we saw in the previous books has a very strained marriage with his wife, Sabrina due to various factors. We did hear about this in the previous books and Con's feeling was very clear in the last few pages of "Improper".

How these two patch up their marriage, fall in love in the process and live HEA forms the story.

Coming from a place where lot of arranged marriages/ MoCs happen, the strain between Con and Sabrina was understandable. The gap that forms, especially when the two live in different places meeting not so frequently, hardly talking and when they do meet, unable to express things and misunderstanding each other - it was all realistic.
Both Con and her reaching out to friends/ relatives to salvage the relationship and getting there made a good read in spite of some dramatic meddlings.

We see how Sabrina overcomes her struggles, works around her inhibitions and rises to become a bolder self. In the process, Con frees himself of his self & society imposed restraints.

Overall, a wonderful read.

Eagerly waiting for "Intolerable" and many more in the series!!!

Impassioned is the second book in the Phoenix Club series. This book follows the story of not quite newly weds Sabrina and Constantine. Two years after their marriage, they barely see each other, they have not had a child and Sabrina is sick of it.

I really enjoyed the story, The characters were well rounded and seemed like real people. So much so that I sometimes wanted to shake them and knock some sense into them.

*Thank you to the publisher for this eARC.