FINAL DECISION: The story of two kids (a duke's daughter and a pickpocket) who find one another as adults. The characters sometimes prickly relationship is a highlight here.

THE STORY: Eve Pruitt is on the run from her older brother who has squandered his fortune and wants to force her to marry in order to control her dowry. She manages to get a position as the bookkeeper for the Hell and Sin Club. There she encounters Calum Dabney who is running the club. Eve realizes that Calum is the boy that she met and cared for years ago. Eve believed that Calum has been hanged and Calum believes that Eve betrayed him. Calum does not recognize Eve (who was herself but a child when they last met) but there is something about the desperate but stubborn woman that attracts him.

OPINION: I liked the characters in this one (perhaps my favorite ones of the series) because they are both good people just trying their best. There is less anger and darkness in these characters.

Calum, although he has a tragic history as well on the streets, knows what being part of a family is like and has a tremendous amount of compassion for others. I liked knowing his background and seeing how he managed to make himself. I also loved what he is willing to risk for love. This book clearly shows the difference that knowing about love allows one to see in others. He also doesn't ask completely as a jerk as some heroes who are in his shoes might.

Eve is a woman who was raised with every material advantage and yet experienced her own type of hellish childhood. She has managed to make a life for herself in small ways, and she has also managed to help people.

The story is intensely focused on a few weeks when these two encounter one another again. I liked the childhood friends who become adult loves and also the cross-class story. (Although why everyone in this series has to get associated with dukes is beyond me).

WORTH MENTIONING: Although this is the last book in the series, readers need not fear that the last "brother" of the Hell and Sin Club will not get his story. His book starts out the next series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: THE HEIRESS'S DECEPTION is the fourth book in the Sinful Brides series. While there are overlapping characters, this book is complete unto itself and can be read as a standalone.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Review to be published on December 12th.

Christi Caldwell has done it again! Not only does she tell an amazing story but it brought me to tears - first because it was so sad and then because it turned out so happy. This is the 4th book i the Sinful Brides series. All of these stories involve the owners of the Hell and Sin Gambling Hell. The 5 owners grew up in the street together and became a family. Now, one by one, they are each finding love.
In this story, Callum hires a female bookkeeper who is hiding from her brother. When she applied for the job, Eve didn't know that she would be working for the young boy who had hidden in their stables when she was a little girl. She had brought him food and books but when he had shown up injured and called her brother to help - her brother had him hauled away to Newgate and told her he had been hanged.
Even though he doesn't realize who she is - they can't deny their feelings for each other. But, when her brother finds out where she has been hiding he threatens to ruin the club's reputation. Callum must choose between protecting the woman he loves or the club he has built with his family. For her part, Eve will sacrifice herself to protect Callum and his family from her brother's threats.
As the two tuggle with their feelings and their duty you can only hope they will see their way to a Happily Ever After. Christi Caldwell never disappoints in the end. While all the books in this series are good this one is more touching because the hero is more open to love.
I received a free copy of this book.

Loved the story of Eve and Callum! She was already in love with him since her childhood, except she thought he was dead. He felt something for her immediately, but wasn't sure what it was. I understand Alistar's reactions when he found out about Eve and I can't wait til "love knocks him on his but" I think their sister said. I don't like that there's no mention of what happens in the end to the bad guys and I can't believe that Callum is going to let off Lord Flynn lightly. I do hope this isn't the end! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

The final book in Christy Caldwell ‘s Sinful Brides series is as captivating as the first two. I loved meeting Calum in the Scoundrel’s Honor and loved his happily ever after with Eve Pruitt, a strong loving women who has faced many hardships. They met as children, each living a hard life on opposite sides of society.. When a young Eve tries to save a wounded Boy, it only leads to horror for both of them. Years later, Eve is in desperate need of saving and fate leads her back to Calum, now a man whose circumstances have changed. How can these two people get over their pasts and make a future together? Only Christi Caldwell can weave her magic and make you believe in happy endings! I highly recommend this story!

I've been looking forward to Calum's story. He has always been the heart of the Hell & Sin Club to me. He has been the brother with the softest touch, the kindest voice, the open arms. I must say I loved him the first time I met him. Orphaned as a child, he faced life's worst cruelties. Imagine being on the street at 5 years old. He finds a few months of solace in the unexpected friendship of a young girl. She shares food, stories of ancient Greece, shelter, and, most importantly, friendship. She is a sweet girl whose family doesn't spare her much attention, and she finds comfort in Calum. Their bond is solid, until that fateful nite. Little Eve finds Calum dying in the stable...determined to help she makes a huge mistake trusting her brother...and Calum believes she betrayed him. I don't want to spoil the story for everyone, so I won't go into specifics of the story. Christi Caldwell has a way of bring her characters to life for us. As I was getting to know the grown man that Calum became, I thought how wonderful that he didn't let his horrible children turn him into a hateful man. He is strong, he is determined, he is demanding, but he is kind and caring and beneath that hard shell is a wonderful heart. Eve has also grown up, suffered the loss of her father after caring for him during an illness. She has been forced into taking care of their finances...what little is left after her wastrel brother has gambled and whored it all away. She never complains, she takes all that life has thrown at her and keeps caring for everyone. Her only regret is life is that Calum is gone from her. This story turns into a love story when Eve runs to the Hell & Sin Gambling Hell to apply for a job and discovered that the young man she cared so much for so many years ago was not dead...but was the 2nd in command at the Hell. Without even knowing who she is, Calum feels something "different" for Eve. There is some kind of connection. There is some kind of magic. Calum sees the good in Eve, see's the wonderful woman she is...and even after he discovers that she is friend from all those years ago..the friend he believes betrayed him...he can't let her go. This story just made me feel so good. I couldn't wait to get to the end because I knew this sweet couple had earned their HEA. They are such caring people that they each are willing to give up their happily ever after so that the other will not suffer. Christi won't let us down, she won't let our hero and heroine suffer...they've been through too much. Eve's other brother arrives after being lost for 2 years and makes things right for Eve. Calum finally has the opportunity to put his heart first, to finally find the love and happiness he had during the first 5 years of his life. Eve now has a brother who can help her and protect her, but she needs more. Together Calum and Eve will find happiness together, just like they did all those years ago.... Take a few hours out of your life, curl up, pick up this story and prepare to feel such warmth in your soul. Christi Caldwell has given us a true love story, and you truly will love it.

Christi shines again in this wonderful story of loyalty and love..

As this is the final installment of the series, I have zero qualms about saying that this has been my absolute favorite book in the series. Everything about this story just works for me. Childhood friends, separated by betrayal, reunited by accident, inevitably falling in love, reading it was simply lovely. I could not put it down! I shirked all responsibility to read it, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. (Probably will do it again. You know I love a good reread!)

Ever since Robert and Helena found their happily ever after, Calum has been my favorite brother. He did not seem to be forced into a false coldness like Ryker or Niall. No, Calum has always been the gentle soul that held his sister when the nightmares came. He has ever been the loyal protector, and I have loved him for it from the first time I met him. Therefore, it brings me infinite pleasure to say that I love him even more than ever now. His story is one of terror and desperation, but there is also love and triumph.

Eve is a good soul. Ever since she was a lonely little girl, she has shone from the inside out with love and gentleness. The rare sort of person that, if you’re ever lucky enough to know, should treasure forever. Eve made a mistake as a child, she naively trusted a man who ought to have protected her, and it cost her the only friend she had ever known. As an adult, she continues to show kindness and love to scared little children in need of a friend. Eve, as many of us do, punishes herself more for mistakes than she deserves.

One of my favorite things about this story was the little things that recalled sweet, shared childhood memories between Calum and Eve. They had so many happy memories of stolen moments. It was truly beautiful. If I were prone to weeping, the ending definitely would have had me reaching for tissues. I won’t give any details, but you’re going to love it.

This story is one for the ages. Mark it down as another marvelous love story from the desk of my favorite author. I recommend this book most highly to everyone. Sneak off and grab a few hours to yourself to enjoy this amazing story. You deserve it. 🙂

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. This book The Heiress's Deception is Book 4 in Sinful Brides and will be published on December 12, 2017. I have not read the other books in the series prior to reading this one but will put them on my list because the characters do sound interesting when we meet or hear about them in this story. There are a lot of different tropes going on in this book enough that one might find them overwhelming but some how Christi Caldwell makes it all work so if you are looking for a book with a runaway heiress who loves horses has an evil duke for a brother as well as a missing brother, is an ugly duckling who helps out at a foundling hospital and hides out in a gambling hell run by a now grown group of Oliver Twist like urchins including a childhood friend whom she almost got killed then this is your book. Sizzle level medium.

Eve and Calum have a past. She was the daughter of a duke and he was a pickpocket, an orphan who used to hide in her stables, her childhood friend until one night Calum picked the wrong pocket and got stabbed to death… he took shelter once again in her stable and she, being only nine, looked for help… but instead of helping them, her older brother sent Calum to Newgate and requested that he hanged.

Some seventeen years later the duke died and Gerald got the title. A cruel man who, in the absence of their other brother, knowing that she was to inherit a vast sum when she came of age, he gave one of his ruthless friends permission to ruin her. She had to escape and assume a new identity, so she ends up looking for a job as a bookkeeper at a gambling club, discovering moments later that the owner is the very friend she had betrayed in her childhood, Calum is not dead.

None of them lived their lives in comfort; none of them were left undamaged by that one day. She’s lived her life in grief and regret, tortured by a brother who reminds her almost on a daily basis that her beloved friend hanged for her. Calum had to endure a time at prison and then had to live on the streets again until he and his kin gathered money enough to buy a gambling hell that made them prosper. He’s incapable of trusting anyone outside his kin and is bitter about the girl who betrayed him. He doesn’t recognize Eve when she knocks on his door, but there’s something about his new bookkeeper that makes him suspect her of something… is she a spy? A thief? Nevertheless his suspicions don’t stop him from falling in love with the mysterious woman… who seems to correspond.

Before Calum and Eve find their happy ending they’ll have to overcome their fears and trust each other. They will have to revisit that time and remember why they became friends in the first place, before that day tore them apart. And this was the part of the novel that I loved the most. The revisiting, the memories… how they found comfort in each other back then. And they both will have to deal with the fact that these seventeen years apart weren’t easy, for none of them. The moments when they are together, when they learn who the other has become now that they are adults, were my favorite. Eve is a great woman, strong and brave, even though she thinks she’s a coward. And Calum is a sweet kind man, the years on the streets and at Newgate didn’t make a cruel man of him, on the contrary; he is loving and supportive of his kin and then of Eve, protective but leaving her space to defend herself. He respects her and values her as a woman and that is something she is not used to.

However there was one particular thing that I as a reader didn’t like very much. It is the fact that towards the end when they are desperate, the other brother appears out of thin air. Kit, the brother who was never there suddenly comes back and saves the day. And this is a plot device that almost never works for me, especially because in that moment, Calum already had the solution to their problems at hand, making the ‘Deus Ex Machina’ unnecessary.

Overall, despite that scene, I enjoyed reading this novel very much. I read it in one sitting and because of it I now plan to read more books by Christi Caldwell.

I was caught at the very beginning, I just could not put down.. It was a wonderful story, heart warming, thoughtful and loving. Calum Dabney lost his parents when he was six. He was sent to a cruel founding home, which he ran away from and ended up on the street. Lady Eve Pruitt lived in a townhouse with her brother, Gerald. He was a very evil man and he wanted Eve's dowry.
The characters are so life like and the plot is complex and there are some surprises at the end. The author has a well written, and smoothly moving book. Christie Caldwell has always written such a great story. I loved the banter between Eve and Callum. She proved she had brains when she found where the other bookkeeper had stolen money from them.
. I highly recommend this mesmerizing tale.

I had just finished the third book in “The Sinful Bride” series, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read "The Heiress's Deception" by Christi Caldwell, and remain immersed in the lives of The Hell and Sin Club. The novel follows Callum, one of the owners of club and Lady Eve Pruitt. Callum has grown up on the streets with the characters from the previous books, but what makes him different is that he came from parents who were happily married but died when Callum was quite young, leaving him to fend for himself. As a teenage boy, he meets Eve, who is nine, who he knows as Lena. It is Lena he turns to when he finds himself badly injured. Eve, not knowing who to turn to for help, seeks out her older brother, who sends Callum to prison. Eve is forever traumatised, believing Callum to have died.
Several years later, Eve is desperate to escape her brother who wants her married, solely to obtain her dowry to pay his debts. She escapes and takes employment at The Hell and Sin Club, only to find Callum is alive; however, Callum is not aware that his Lena is really Eve. She hides her identity but in doing so, finds herself conflicted.
The qualities that make Callum and Eva unique from the beginning of the story is beautifully explored in this story. The challenges they have faced have only made them stronger and never bitter. The underlying admiration that the characters feel for each other is one of the great qualities of Caldwell’s books, and there are many! Once again, I have thoroughly enjoyed this story and hope that this is not the end of a great series.
I received an advanced review copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I can't say enough about Christi Caldwell - every time I read one of her books, it's like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day! Whenever I am in a book slump, I grab one of her books to make it all better. Doesn't matter which book. If it has her name on it, I'm reading it. This one was of particular interest to me, because I love the idea of childhood friends becoming lovers as adults. It's a trope that I really like in a romance novel. The hero was one of my favorites in the previous Sinful Brides books, so I was excited to read about his happily ever after!

Lady Eve Pruitt needs safety from her brother, and the Hell and Sin Gaming Club is the perfect place for her to hide until she can get access to her funds left to her by her father. Disguised as Eve Swindell, she is hired on by the club as the bookkeeper, and in doing so, she puts herself in direct contact with the boy she betrayed seventeen years ago, Calum Dabney. Of course, he's not a boy anymore, and Eve can't help but be attracted to this man who towers over her and kisses with such passion. Soon she loses control of her disguise and finds herself falling in love with him, though he is still unaware of who she really is. When he finds out, it will take all of Eve's courage to fight for her safety and for the love she has just now found.

Eve and Calum were an amazing couple, though they had their bumps and bruises along the way. Although I didn't like how long Eve lied to Calum about her true identity, I understood it and loved her selflessness when it came to others who depended on her. Calum was rightfully gruff and cautious of Eve at first, but he can't help but be attracted to the woman who stands up to him. I loved how he and Eve came together once her true identity was found out, because that was my main concern while reading. I wanted him to acknowledge that her betrayal all those years ago was unintentional, and I also wanted him to realize the hell she went through at home since then. What came out of this story was a love that was stronger than either Eve or Calum imagined, and I wish the story had kept going long after it ended.

I'm excited for the next book Christ Caldwell creates - it's sure to be a winner!

He went back to the place owned by the man who stabbed him?

It wasn't the poor little girl's fault.

It's a helluva thing when work is your safe place, especially when you're a lady of the ton.

Is she sure Kit's just gone, not dead?

That's a bluff if I've ever heard one!

She's given him so many hints that she's his Lena, but he still doesn't get it.

He has an interesting bedside manner.

The lady knows her stuff.

Aw, he remembers her birthday.

I didn't know the Greeks were the first to put candles on birthday cakes.

Only he could make proposing with a candle instead of a ring sound romantic.

Please tell me Gerald dies a horrible death.

4.5 stars. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This is the fourth book in her Sinful Brides series but can be read as a stand alone. I have read many of Christi Caldwell but nothing in the last year or so. This book was like a “welcome back”. I enjoyed the feelings that both the Hero, Calum, and the heroine, Eve were having. That fact that both seem confused and conflicted worked for me.
Eve is in danger from her brother, the Duke of Bedford. She goes into hiding at a gaming hell where one of the owners is Calum Dabney. They at one time were friends as children to have it end with terribly.
The book does a great job with such things like right vs wrong, good vs evil, and the good of the one vs the good of the many. It also deals with all the grey area in between.

I tried to read this story twice. I just couldn't get the story started in my mind.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I'm hesitant to talk about why because both my good and bad feelings would ruin the story for you! I can tell you that I liked the characters and found the book satisfying. It was an enjoyable read, but probably not one I would read again.

The Hell and Sin series is a great look into the haves and the have nots and how upstarts who did not know their place were regarded. Calum is a very engaging character who ends up in a spot he cannot imagine. Lost loves are sometimes the best kind and this book does a great job of exploring that.

(Big sigh!) I am just so completely satisfied after reading the end of this book. Christi Caldwell must have some kind of magic that looks into the heart of her readers and puts it down on paper. I am completely enamored by her writing and specifically her Sinful Brides series. This latest installment with Calum and Eve didn't disappoint me. I went on their journey with high expectation and couldn't be more happy with the results. Thank you Christi for what you do. I find the most pleasure in your work and cannot wait for more!!!
(Another sigh)
To anyone who reads this...please pick up one of her books. You won't regret it!

The Heiress's Deception is another beautiful story in Christi Caldwell's Sinful Brides series, and I have learned three things from this book; the first is, no one ever knows the full truth, unless you ask. Two, forgiveness is one of the most powerful, and generous things you can ever bestow on another person. And lastly...never read a Christi Caldwell book during my lunch break, because you will end up looking like a panda for the rest of the day, and there ain't no fixing that!

So clearly the gods have been listening, because The Heiress's Deception is Calum story, that I have been impatiently waiting for, since Rykers story. And in this book we get to read the deception in his past, which caused him to be thrown in to Newgate, and other parts of his life, before he met his family.

But we also meet a Lena, young girl who feels like she betrayed her only friend, and has to live through the guilt and pain of her betrayal. When little Lena grows up to become Lady Eve, she continues to pay penance, by devoting her life and inheritance, to people that need her protection the most.

But then Eve is targeted yet again by the evil in her family, and so she flees, only to find herself at the mercy at the person she betrayed.

Oh my goodness, what a book! I feel both emotionally rung out and exhilarated at the same time. The beauty of this story shines from the moment you start reading; from both Calum and Eve's suffering, to Calums  determination to learn from his mistakes, you cannot help but care about these characters. I was also lovely for revisit with Helena, and her calm attitude. Though I will have to say, I think I see Adair's downfall coming, and I cannot wait.

When you read any Christi Caldwell book, you should prepare yourself for an emotional rollercoaster, where you literally spend most of the book, with your heart in your mouth, but that is one of the most alluring things about a Christi Caldwell book! It's not just a book, but the entrance in to a new world!

I give The Heiress's Deception 5 stars

Here we have Eve being forced into a dire situation by her greedy and cruel brother, a bit of a worthless bum, I would say. She chooses her survival arena out of desperation, a gaming hell one of the worst places she would ever go but never say never, her life depended on it. To be betrayed by one's brother is unthinkable for Eve but if she didn’t escape life as she knows it would come to a crashing end. Finding the one person she thought she had unwittingly caused his death, was akin to your heart being ripped out and put back in. This is an amazingly enriching and intriguing book, the storyline is absolutely beautiful which peeks at your interest at every turn, the characters are also excellent, together they present a captivating and interesting package. This is a must read, that holds you captive until the very end.

Wonderful story of Lady Eve, the sister of an evil Duke, and Calum, a boy from the streets of London she knew as a child. Years pass and now Calum is an owner in a rather infamous London gaming hell, and a man with whom one does not trifle. Lady Eve desperately needs a place to hide from he brother for a period of time fir her own safety, so she disguises herself and applies for a position as a bookkeeper at Calum's business. Will he remember her? If he does will he be pleased or filled with rage? Calum is oddly attracted to this mousy woman with a talent for numbers, and Eve to him, and the heat between the two builds throughout the book in a crescendo that explodes in romance novel perfection!
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and it's gathered group of colorful characters and would highly recommend it to readers of romance novels who enjoy intrigue and heat with their hea!