Ok this was somewhat different, and by different I mean it was set in what now is Spain. Cool :)

I also liked the facts and tidbits she gave us, and I think this would have been even more interesting as a historical fiction novel. It made me want more facts and less romance, but that is just me.

I did not like all the what happened before thoughts, I have not read book 1, I do not need that. Ada was different for the reason that she was an opium addict. Though she kicked that habit too fast.

Gavriel was your usual kind of tortured hero, born a slave, made into a weapon. Now a monk (weird order, interesting, they could marry!)

He saves her, he takes care of her, even though he finds her a burden. She is all, FU. Oh woe me, and my past.

Then they start to fancy each other and he is all, I am a monk! And I have a past! She is all I want you. So obviously they like each other, but oh oh, drama, someone is after them. Action. I love you. The end.

Hey it was Spain (well the kingdom of..I forgot, Leon was next to it). So I enjoyed it.

Author Carrie Lofty likes a challenge. She certainly set herself up for one in her previous book, What A Scoundrel Wants, by choosing Will Scartlet as a hero and a blind female alchemist (Ada's sister Meg) as the heroine. Lofty was successful enough with that pairing and in coping with the legend of Robin Hood, that I was excited to read her second book, Scoundrel's Kiss.

Gavriel de Marqueda has turned his back on his former life as a hardened warrior. He has taken vows of chastity, poverty and non violence within the Order of Santiago to cleanse himself of his brutal past. His final task before becoming a full member of the Order is to rescue a fallen woman.

Ada of Keyworth is about as fallen as you can get. A desperate opium addict, Ada sells herself into slavery to get more of the drug. When Gavriel rescues her from the auction, he takes on the task of getting her clean. Little do they know that forces from both their pasts are conspiring against them, setting them both up to fail.

So, plot summary done, I loved the setting of this book! Medieval Spain is not a common enough setting and the burning sun is a welcome change from misty England.

That being said, though, I'm still not 100% sure of the relationship between Gavriel and Ada. They are both so incredibly damaged by their pasts and their choices that learning to trust not only each other, by themselves, seems almost insurmountable. However, people do recover from severe drug addictions. People do recover from self-mutilation. I just don't believe that the power of the all-mighty orgasm to cure all.

There is some great dialog between Ada and Gavriel, but their healing seems to come mostly at their hands (and mouths and lips...) of their growing passion/obsession for each other. At least sex with each other is a healthier obsession than opium and self-flagellation...

At the end of the book, I wasn't certain that I, as the reader, trusted in their happy ending. Perhaps readers who have had experiences with addiction/self-mutilation or are close with someone who has might read this differently. For me, though, while I desperately wanted them to have their happily-ever-after-ride-to-the-sunset, there still seemed to be so much more to overcome. Were there therapists back in Medieval Spain??

Gavriel de Marqueda is trying to put his old life as enforcer, thug and hired killer for his ungrateful family. He's sought refuge with a monastic order, swearing vows of chastity, obedience and non-violence. He only needs to succeed in one last task to be accepted as a full member of the order. However, the test he is set might prove to make him break every one of his new vows.

Ada of Keyworth is far away from her English home. She's risking her position as translator to an influential Spanish noblewoman because of her all-consuming craving for opium. When Ada is about to be sold into slavery because of her debts, her young friend begs Gavriel and the other monastic brothers to save her. Gavriel's final task will be to wean Ada off her addiction. Ada resents him immensely, and is determined to escape his care. She also determines to ruin any chance he has of becoming a monk.

Set in 13th Century Spain during the Reconquista (the re-conquering of Spain from the Muslims), [b:Scoundrel's Kiss|6944839|Scoundrel's Kiss (Medieval, #2)|Carrie Lofty|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1359178649s/6944839.jpg|7178458] has a vastly different setting from most romances out there on the market. Instead of Regency ballrooms during the Season, this book takes place mostly in the countryside and small towns of Medieaval Spain. The heroine has a genuine and debilitating addiction which she's willing to do almost anything to feed, not caring whether it affects her work, her reputation or what it does to her friends. Any time she goes without for any period of time, she has horrible nightmares and suffers dreadful withdrawal. It's a weakness and a character flaw, but [a:Lofty|1369826|Carrie Lofty|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1336260808p2/1369826.jpg] makes you see that there was little she could do to avoid the addiction, having started to take the opium for pain after being held captive and tortured. It also makes her determination never to be held against her will more understandable.

Unfortunately, while the above things were good and different, I didn't really emotionally engage with the book all that much. While Ada's character was somewhat unusual, and fairly well drawn, most of the supporting characters, to a certain extent Gavriel as well, remained more like ciphers. The villains, especially, were rather cartoonish, and both their motivations and their plotting towards the end of the book caused more confusion than tension. I also thought the romance developed in a rather haphazard way. Obviously, in the beginning Gavriel fights very hard to resist Ada, who in return is determined to tempt him into sin, first out of spite and later out of genuine attraction. His decision to abandon his sworn vows comes very suddenly, and seems a bit arbitrary, frankly. So despite the interesting premise and attempts at doing something different in the genre, this book really didn't work for me, and will probably be quickly forgotten.