A decent read, if any. I read this in one go, so really - you would think that I'd give it more than three stars, however, I genuinely did like the book for the most part even though there were moments where I seriously considered stopping. The Art of Sinning tells the story of Jeremy Keane, an American artist in London who creates paintings with (mostly) prostitutes depicting life the way he sees them. Naturally, his reputation for creating art in this fashion doesn't exactly paint him in a nice light, but he's fairly popular among the ton regardless - if only because he fascinates them all. The second he sees Yvette Barlow, he's decided that he wants her; she's the perfect model for a certain painting that he'd been wanting to create. Striking a bargain with her brother under the guise of painting her portrait during the day, he convinces her to pose for him during the evenings for the painting he really wants to do. 
 It isn't too far-fetched to assume that nothing happens during these late evenings. At first, nothing really does happen. Despite their apparent attraction to the other, they pretend as though nothing's there even though the more they talk and get to know each other a little better, the harder it is for the both of them quell anything more than a passing fancy for the other. 
 I liked Jeremy Keane. He isn't the typical male that we read about in historical romances. He wasn't the usual charming, amusing, ridiculously adorable bachelor with the devil-may-care attitude that I'm used to when reading these sort of books. Nor was he overly brooding or cold-feeling. He wasn't the type of hero that said marriage wasn't for him because getting leg-shackled was the quickest way to death (or something like that) until they met the 'woman of their dreams'. He was more forthright. He was opinionated, witty, kind of bossy, and had good reasons to avoid marriage. Despite his cavalier attitude throughout most of the book, he was a decent person. He never bothered to correct the assumptions made about him for using prostitutes in his painting, although that was really all he was using the prostitutes for. Just models for his art. 
 It kind of reminded me of Jack Dawson from Titanic. 
 But I'm sure it wasn't just because he liked their hands. 
 The one thing that bothered me about Jeremy was -- and this is going to sound stupid, I know -- the fact that he used the word 'thunderation' in practically everything he said or thought. I get that it was used in the same concept as 'damn it to hell' or 'oh shit', but for some reason, seeing that word everywhere throughout the book really rankled and I caught myself rolling my eyes every time I came across it. 
 I had a more difficult time warming up to Yvette. I don't expect every female character to be the same kind, of course - the same way I don't expect every male to be the same way, but for some reason, Yvette really grated on my nerves for about 80% of the book. I liked her candidness, of course -- I liked that she was incredibly witty and had no qualms about swearing or using slang that weren't typical of ladies of her station, but I found her really annoying. I thought she seemed really pushy, and when Jeremy didn't want to reveal certain facts about his life back home and especially about his late wife, she did everything in her power to find out more about it - getting angry that he wouldn't tell her and even going so far as to corner his painting apprentice to try and see if she could ferret out some of Jeremy's secrets. I just felt like it really hadn't been any of her business and that he'd tell her when he was ready, so seeing her get so worked up just because she wasn't getting what she wanted really irritated me. 
 Eventually, my irritation tapered off and I was able to enjoy the book more towards the end. I got a little teary-eyed during a particularly sweet moment between Jeremy and his mother; especially when they were finally able to get things out in the open and settle things between them. It made me happy to see him get a better happy ending than the one he'd been dealt with before. All in all, it was a good book and I really liked it.