Slightly Sinful

What a surprise, I really enjoyed this installment of the Bedwyns saga. The previous book was such a let down I've had this one languishing on my "to be read" list forever! This is Alleyne's story. After the battle of Waterloo, Alleyne Bewcastle, believed dead by his family, has amnesia and is found by Rachel York who is living in a brothel in Brussels - long story, she is not a prostitute. She comes from a noble background but is down on her luck. She nurses him back to health and they pose as a married couple, returning to England so she can claim her inheritance. Once again, another Balogh false marriage/engagement scenario where the couple falls in love while pretending to be in love. Despite the usual Balogh formula, I enjoyed this show more book more than I thought I would, and the ending was worth it all. Now onto Wulf's story - finally! show less

Amnesia plots have never been my favorite, so I was torn between excitement to have another Bedwyn novel to read and worry that I would find it tedious. I’m happy to report it wasn’t tedious, although I wished Rachel and Alleyne would have had a little more space in the book to enjoy their happiness. I also missed seeing the whole family take more of a role, although it wouldn’t have worked for this plot. The Bedwyns coming in with well-intentioned, boisterous meddling has always been my favorite element of these books. Boy, that reunion, though. I don’t know if any of the other books made me tear up, but this one sure did. I might have to reread Wulf’s book now, even though I thought Christine was a little too hard on him. show more Gosh, I’m going to miss the Bedwyns!
The supporting cast of characters was lots of fun, especially Sergeant Strickland, with his I-have-no-right-to-say-this monologues. The four high-spirited prostitutes were maybe a little overdone, but I couldn’t help but love them. I was happy too that Rachel learned the truth about her family history and had a chance for real familial love and happiness in addition to the romance. show less

***Contains spoilers for book 4, "Slightly Tempted"!***

Although this was not utterly bad, it is my least favourite in the series so far. I think that this is quite sad, because I was looking forward to Alleyne's book so much, especially after the ending of book 4 which had me screaming!

The heroine is Rachel York, who has found a home in a brothel - she does not work there, but has nowhere else to go because her circumstances are desperate. When she goes to the battlefield after the Battle of Waterloo to look for treasures, she finds a naked man left for dead who is still alive, though, and is moved so much that she takes him with her to the city. Of course that man is Alleyne Bedwyn, who has lost his memory after being wounded. Rachel show more nurses him back to health and they feel drawn to each other, but it looks as if they don't have a chance, as Alleyne does not remember who he is and if he has a wife somewhere, and Rachel's situation seems hopeless to say the least, as she has lost everything she had to a scoundrel.

The premise sounded ok to me and I have enjoyed all the other installments quite a lot, but this one just moved so slowly. The pacing was odd, and I think that there would have been several chances to make the story more exciting that the author did not take for whatever reason (as an example, I thought that someone would recognize Alleyne publicly instead of Rachel finding out his identity by letter). I did like the supporting cast, but sometimes Rachel's friends seemed more like caricatures than real characters.

I still enjoyed it because I love the author's style and also Rosalyn Landor's narration, but it could have been better. I am looking forward to the final book, though! show less

I enjoyed Alleyne and Rachel’s story, but here I think it was the side characters who really made it work. Bridget, Geraldine, Flossie, Phyllis, and their sisterhood of Regency sex workers was rather inspired; I loved them all along with Will who became part of their merry crew after Waterloo. I wish we had gotten something from all the siblings’ POVs once they had Alleyne returned to them from the dead, but I guess I can’t fault anything since this was his and Rachel’s tale. Also I read half of this while sitting in a dentist’s chair, so I thank it for that good distraction.

I have really enjoyed several of the books in this series (4 out of the previous 6 I consider 5 stars), but this one was a dud. And Alleyne had seemed like such a charming character in previous books that I'd been especially looking forward to his story. It seemed like gobs of time was spent on the characters trying to determine who was to blame for things, sometimes pushing it on others wether they deserved it or not, but most often claiming complete fault for events even if they had been beyond their control or they'd only suggested an idea that hadn't panned out or something. Sort of a pointless exercise in the best of times, but over and over and it starts to feel martyrish. This is also the fourth book (out of the first seven in show more the series) where a pretend marriage or engagement is prominently featured (and to a lesser degree in one more). Setting aside the likelihood of such a scenario, it just ends up feeling like a lazy plot device. It's a quick way to contrive more alone time between the couple (getting those pesky chaperones out of the way) but each time the resulting story is weaker for it! They lack much of the creativity shown in the other story lines, the characters seem less interesting, typically don't evolve as much, and I think their chemistry suffers. And the hurdle the couple must overcome at the end is flimsier as well, (their families already think they're a couple, they've fallen in love, it's pretty much just them standing in their own way at that point!) This is my first series of Balogh's, hopefully the frequency of these pretend relationships was just a phase she went through or something. The others are quite fun. show less

In [b:Slightly Tempted|110303|Slightly Tempted (Bedwyn Saga, #4)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333578474s/110303.jpg|106303], the aristocratic Bedwyn family is rocked by news of Lord Alleyne Bedwyn's death at Waterloo. While searching the battle's casualties for saleables, Rachel York (a well-born woman left penniless by her father's gambling&drinking) comes across Alleyne's body, already stripped by other scavengers. But he is not dead, just gravely injured. Rachel carts his limp body back to the brothel where her old nurse works, and she and the whores nurse him back to health. But Alleyne, alas, has lost his memory completely, and is afraid that even if he were to meet his own family he wouldn't feel anything for them show more anymore. Rachel and the whores, meanwhile, gave all their money to a clergyman who proved to be a conman, and are torn between getting back to business and getting revenge on him. Alleyne comes up with a plan to both postpone his own search for his identity and solve the women's money problems: he and Rachel will pose as man&wife to finagle Rachel's uncle into giving them her late mother's jewels. The whores pose as gentlewomen and servants in order to accompany them, and they all set off for England.

But when they reach Rachel's uncle's estate, their hare-brained scheme turns even more complicated. Rachel's uncle is very ill, and he asks that Rachel and her companions stay with him for a month. While the whores and Sergeant Strickland get the uncle's estate into order, Rachel and "Jonathan Smith" have to maintain their masquerade as husband&wife. A masquerade that is all too easy to perform in public--and all too tempting in private.

The first few chapters are a fun intro to Rachel and the whores, who have a lot of personality to start with and then fade into the background for much of the novel. The last few chapters are a triumphant confrontation with the conman/clergyman (in which the whores shine like crazy vindictive diamonds) and FINALLY the reunion of the Bedwyn siblings. The reunion was all I could have hoped, particularly in regard to my favorite two Bedwyns, Freyja and Wulf. But most of the novel is just basic Balogh fare: a few hurtful misunderstandings heightened by lack of communication between the love interests, the standard sex scenes, several realizations of how important family members have been in the past, and of course, a waltz at the ball. I wish Rachel and Jonathan/Alleyne had more personality, because even though I just finished the book a few hours ago I've already half-forgotten them. show less

Lord Alleyne spends most of this book as Jonathan and Rachel York is his guide through the maze of not knowing who he is. Alleyne's personality and skill comes out in unexpected ways, and I loved the collection of "misfits" that make up a kind of family of friends who love Rachel and care for Alleyne when he is unable to care for himself. There's a "madcap" scheme to bring a conman to justice, which is fun.