Then Comes Seduction

Mary Balogh does it again! "Then Comes Seduction" is a perfect read if you like bad-boy-redeemed-by-good-girl stories. There's more to it than that, of course, but I figure if this is your type of book...that's enough to get you interested.

On his 25th birthday, Jasper makes his most infamous bet. He will seduce the virtuous society virgin of his buddies' choice. They select none other than Katherine, cousin to his brother-in-rakehellness, Constantine. All proceeds according to plan, until the final moment when Jasper draws back and delivers a set-down guaranteed to make her despise him...and it works.

It's three years later and Katherine has certainly, um...mostly, all right occasionally managed to forget about the gorgeous villain who show more managed to do the right thing...likely for once in his life! But soon a strange set of circumstances and coincidences bring Jasper back into her life...to stay. Now Katherine is going to join in a very private wager with Jasper. The results of which will determine their future together.

Balogh's romances are steamy and yet still touching somehow. Her ability to depict the unconscious changes in thought and character of her heroes and heroines is unsurpassed. There's no sudden moment...where actions change and from one day to the next life is different. Instead, her characters come to recognize the changes have already taken place over time and circumstance. For me, this is a reading pleasure in and of itself. The only epiphanies for her characters are when they come to realize what the reader's already figured out...they do love each other and that love will last.

I enjoyed "First Comes Marriage" so much, I was just hoping for an equal read. But Mary Balogh gave me more than that with "Then Comes Seduction". Now I just have to wait another month to get the next book in this series, "At Last Comes Love", Margaret's story. A whole month! show less

I liked the OTP in this novel almost from the beginning; however, I found the heroine's romanticism and the hero's cynicism tiring. Balogh seems to do a really good job at beating a theme into the ground. The best moments were when he would open up about his life or when she would just let go and feel. I'm glad that the subplot was pretty minor, although it was kind of entertaining (even though I hate the "shrill older relative" trope a little). I'm still interested in the Huxtables, but I'm not sure this author will be a continued one for me.

One night, Jasper Finley, Baron Montfort makes a wager. Within two weeks he will seduce Katherine Huxtable. He ends up losing the bet, but barely. The two of them are attracted.

Two years later, the story of the attempted seduction comes up again as the two of them are drawn together and Katherine's reputation is destroyed. Marrying is the only way but Montford is deeply suspicious of marriages and relationships and he will have to learn how to trust her.

It's entertaining. Having to learn to love post-marriage is one of the romance tropes and it's well done here. Entertaining but nothing too deep.

The second in Balogh's Huxtable family series finds youngest daughter Katherine the target of a rake.

Fun, and funny, with unexpected depths.

The concept of a gentleman finding a conscience right before winning a bet about seducing a virgin was well-done, but the three-year gap in seeing one another and the interactions after that time seems a little too-contrived. Still, it's fun and the other Huxtable stories that weave into the story make it a worthwhile romance series.

I'm a big fan of Mary Balogh, and I enjoyed this book but at times it felt forced. It begins with a very fast, erotic opening, and as a writer I wondered how she would possibly deal with that in the plot. It was quite a task, I think. The lead characters were fairly well realized, but seemed less natural than many characters because of the self-conscious distance between how they felt within themselves and how they presented themselves to the world. I did not read the first book in the series, but have the third one already.

A re-read which help up very well.I enjoyed seeing there was more to Jasper than a wastrel who didn't care about others. I enjoyed his humour and I liked how Kate and he were absurd and laughed together often - that was very much a feature of their relationship and a connection they had almost from the start. I also liked how Balogh didn't let Jasper off the hook - he had to truly apologise to Kate for his reprehensible actions with the wager (the cad!) and she had to forgive him for them to be truly happy together.