Say You Love Me by Johanna Lindsey

Her parents' deaths left Kelsey Langton penniless - and responsible for the safety and well-being of her younger sister, Jean. Now circumstance and human frailty have conspired to leave them homeless as well, unless Kelsey can avert the disaster. But she knows only one way to rescue Jean's home, future and honor - and it means sacrificing her own. Kelsey must allow herself to be sold at auction. With fear and trepidation she enters the House of Eros - resigned to becoming the plaything of some well-heeled gentleman.

And Lord Derek Malory is the highest bidder - a dashing rakehell from a family of charming London rogues. Enchanted by the stunning, dark-haired maid with flashing bright eyes, he purchases her for his mistress - and sweeps Kelsey into a world of astonishing family secrets, perilous rivalries and unconventional loyalties. But Lord Derek is unaware of the true worth of the prize he has so frivolously acquired - never imagining that the proud, spirited miss is a highborn lady blessed with grace, wit and intelligence as well as beauty. And he certainly never expected that he would fall in love with her.


I have not read all the books in the Mallory series but I fell in love with Derek and Kelsey right away. Well, I liked Amy and Warren before this but the Derek-Kelsey tandem was unstoppable.

I think it was very nice of Derek to pay that much amount of money to save Kelsey from a sure fate with a creature that was more animal than human. And it was funny when he decided to keep her as his real mistress because after all, he had paid a tidy sum for her. But then, what do you expect from someone who came from a family of scoundrels? Well, most of them anyway. And I got so irritated when he practically left her in the country to fend for herself when he looked for somewhere to stash her. Granted, it wasn't his fault. A phone would have really come in handy in that situation. Hahaha!

Aside from that, the rest of the book was a very nice read. It was fun reading about Derek trying to keep their arrangement from his family--to avoid another scandal the Mallorys were famous for. I felt bad for Kelsey having to keep her family totally in dark as well about the whole thing. It was understandable, what with how society will surely look at--and talk about--things; but I just didn't get why she didn't tell her aunt about the whole thing from the very beginning. But then again, she wouldn't have met Derek.

The whole thing about Derek and his mother just made me cry. A lot. And it just showed how well he was raised by the woman who pretended not to be his mother for him to react the way he did when he found out about the truth--after being told that his mother was dead.

Now, Derek's father didn't want him to marry Kelsey because she was, after all, his mistress. But Derek was uncaring of that fact and was desperate to have Kelsey permanently with him--because he loved her (but he didn't tell her that). And while Kelsey loved him, too (but she didn't tell him that either), she didn't want to marry him for fear of the scandal that would be brought on his family on come such event. I dunno if I could be that magnanimous.

Nevertheless, I still love this book. Derek and Kelsey made it easy for me to do that because they were just lovely to read about. And I think that they put everything on the line (well, except for the "I love you" part) so there was no beating around the bush like so many other romances out there.

Final verdict: 8/10. Great read.