Pick of the Week: September 14, 2011

Nicola Cornick’s One Wicked Sin was a finalist for the 2011 RITA for best Historical Romance.  It is a fast-paced page turner and I really enjoyed it.  Lottie Cummings, a scandalous and destitute divorcée, has been reduced to prostitution in order to avoid starvation.  When Ethan Ryder asks her to become his mistress she sees him as the lesser of two evils, though she senses his reasons for starting the relationship are not as simple as they seem.  It is difficult to explain what I liked about the book without spoiling it for you, but I’ll say this:  between bad luck and poor choices, Lottie’s life is a shambles.  She faces her problems with a self-serving, and often funny, saltiness that really appealed to me.