Customer Reviews

After the Abduction (Swanlea Spinsters)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After the Abduction takes off where A Notorious Love ended. After two London Seasons -- and so many boring society suitors -- lovely Juliet Laverick still longs for the only man to make her heart race, namely, Morgan Pryce, the dashing rogue who kidnapped her two years ago. With the help of her brother-in-law Griff and sister Rosalind, together they track Morgan to the estate of Charnwood, to find Sebastian, Lord Templemore and Morgan's identical twin brother. It is here that Sebastian delivers the devastating news, that his brother Morgan was feared dead. Naturally, Juliet does not believe him as she instinctively knows that Sebastian is her kidnapper, no matter what he calls himself, and will use any means to trick him into admitting that he was her kidnapper.

Confessing to her abduction would bring disaster and scandal upon them both and might prove fatal for his brother who he was trying to save. Feeling remorse and longing for Juliet, Sebastian cannot trust her to open his heart and tell his secret for fear of compromising his attempts at saving his brother from the hangman. Sebastian wants nothing more than to continue with the one kiss he stole from Juliet the night he left her that has haunted him for the last two years - and Juliet, now two years wiser will use her feminine wiles to gain his confession.

The sexual chemistry between Sebastian and Juliet is incredible and the dialog between them is quite witty. The seduction scenes are so hot that you will find yourself squirming with delight. I loved when Sebastian set out to make her "heart race and her bones melt" which was innocent enough -but when he set her on a pedestal - well - you will just have to read that one yourself! WOW! The story is fast paced and will keep you turning the pages just in anticipation!

I get a huge kick out of Sabrina's novels! They're always clever with interesting characters and situations, a lot of humor, sparkling dialogue, sultry sex (some of the best stuff out there), and a million unexpected plot twists before you get to the ending. This one had an additional plus: I'd forgotten how pleased SJ had been to announce that she'd tied the end of her "Love" trilogy into the first book of her "Lord" trilogy, and there it was.

Speaking of which, a mammoth GOLD STAR for whichever editor finally figured out that all those "Lords" and "Loves" titles were too doggone confusing!

I could not put "After the Abduction" down. (Pass the Visine, please!) It's a wiggling-your-toes, giggling-at-each-new-catastrophe kind of story with a wonderful subplot as well. This is one of those "keeper" books you hear about now and then. Buy it.

This was the first book that I had read by Sabrina Jeffries and it won't be my last! I loved After the Abduction. I picked it up at the library, not realizing that it was part of a trilogy. Now I will definitely have to go back and read the first two novels. The story of Sebastian and Juliet was wonderful! He adored her from the first, and I thought that was so great! I really didn't like Juliet at first, but as the story progressed, I did find her to be a good heroine. The different plot twists in this novel will keep any romance fan on the edge of their seats, and the [love] scenes are wonderful, sensual and romantic. I liked the scene where Juliet was taught to shoot a gun, because I had never really encountered that kind of scene in the romance novels I had read. Sebastian is a wonderful hero, and very alpha male. They have many sparring matches, but as is with romance novels, love wins out in the end!

A CRACKING GOOD READ! I really enjoyed this book! I can't top Desmond Chan's review - it says it all. All I can say is that when I start talking back (out loud!)to the characters and giggling and laughing out loud, and chewing on my finger and curling my toes, that sounds like a great book to me!

The sexual chemistry between Sebastian and Juliet was incredible! The dialogue between them is witty, sensual and intelligent. Some of the seduction scenes are very inventive - particularly when Sebastian sets out to make her "heart race and her bones melt" (the first of two scenes involving chess), not to mention when Sebastian teaches Juliet to shoot. But don't get me wrong, there is a story here and a relationship here, not just a series of seduction scenes.

Obviously, these two characters have a lot to resolve and it was all resolved satisfactorily in my view. I was a bit wary about the abduction thing, worried that it would be cliched, but that really is background for the action and is not overdone. The real story is about Sebastion finally being honest with Juliet and himself about what he has done and what he really wants. And Juliet is relentless in making him face what he's done and demanding he deal honorably with the consequences of his actions.

This is one enjoyable book. It's the first I've read by this author and I wonder if her others are this good.

If I had to sum up this book in one word, it would be contrived. The plot is ludicrous, the characters unappealing and the dialogue juvenile (I refer specifically to the scenes of seduction, one involving a pedestal, which I found pathetic and not the least sensual). I was surprised, because I've read other of Ms. Jeffries' books and liked them.

But she gave her lead characters short shrift here....especially the "heroine", who supposedly had matured and grown up in the two years between her abduction and finally coming to confront her abductor, but I saw no evidence of any growth. And nothing about Sebastian (or Morgan) to warrant the interest.

I kept asking myself, as I pushed on through the book, "why did she write this?". Finally I asked a better question..."why am I wasting my time reading this?".

Like others in the many forums here, my tendency over the years has been to avoid posting reviews of books I didn't like, for whatever reason. But I've changed my thinking in that regard.

Unfortunately, this was the book I was attempting to wade through when I made that decision.

Sebastian, Lord Templemore, is a man enjoying his country estate and love of designing guns. He rarely travels into London and lives his life with few friends. He is, however, very available and attractive. One day, as he is testing one of his latest gun designs, some unexpected and unwanted visitors arrive at his estate. He seems to recognize one of the young ladies, Julienne, although he totally denies any acquaintance with her. For you see, the two visitors accompanying her are none other than Griff and Rosalind from A Dangerous Love. Griff Knighton is one tough guy and is very protective of his sister-in-law, Julienne. They are attempting to find Morgan Pryce, a scoundrel who came close to ruining Julienne, and they believe Sebastian is Morgan.

Two years earlier, Julienne had agreed to elope with Morgan Pryce. Once the couple had departed for their supposed elopement, Julienne discovered that Morgan had no intention of marrying her. It was all a ruse - Morgan had abducted her for some unknown villain. He needed vital information from this villain who wanted to keep Julienne for a ransom. Morgan, however, gathered the facts he needed, saved Julienne from the villain's clutches, and returned her to London safe, untouched, but with a broken heart and a very damaged ego. Although Julienne's family was able to cover up her great disgrace at the time, someone has now discovered her attempted elopement. They are spreading rumors throughout London society attempting to ruin Julienne and therefore, limiting her marriage opportunities. Well, Julienne has had enough of it all and has come to Sebastian's country estate to root out Morgan, find out the real reasons for his actions two years earlier, and demand that he quit spreading rumors about their failed elopement. And Griff Knighton is mad as hell and bent on revenge as soon as he locates this despicable character named Morgan Pryce.

Sebastian vehemently denies that he is Morgan. He informs the newly arrived group that his twin brother is Morgan and that Morgan is dead. He is able to assure Griff and Rosalind of his innocence but Julienne believes not a word. She is convinced that Sebastian is Morgan and is furious about his deception. Thus follows a tale of Julienne seeking the truth from Sebastian and Sebastian alternately attempting to ignore Julienne or court her and marry her. The tale is enriched by the very active involvement of Griff and Rosalind. We see their continued growth throughout After the Abduction. Their involvement is not the usual cursory attention given to characters from previous books in a series. Their story is a very special portion of this book that has nothing to do with the primary plot. I highly recommend that you read A Dangerous Love prior to reading After the Abduction. I had not and wished continually that I had.

This is my fourth Sabrina Jeffries book. Two have absolutely delighted me and two have really aggravated me. After the Abduction had a very promising beginning but faltered greatly primarily due to the heroine, Julienne. In the beginning of the book, I considered her feisty. By the middle of the book, I considered her immature and mouthy. By the end of the book, I found her to be demanding and unwilling to compromise. More than once I had to make myself pick this book back up and continue reading. But I had sort of love/hate expectations. I really loved Jeffries's The Pirate Lord and The Forbidden Lord. However, I kept remembering the heroine in The Dangerous Lord who was every bit as stubborn and hateful as Julienne in After the Abduction. So, I continued to read with some trepidation and was disappointed when Julienne never really grew up. Sebastian only learned to put up with her and considered all these maddening habits as endearing. I'm sorry but there is no way I could see Julienne's nature as any thing close to endearing.

As with the other Jeffries books I have read, there are the sensual scenes. They rate about a 4.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). However, there are only two or three and - once again - even in her ignorance, Julienne is the one in charge. Their first encounter was actually embarrassing to read because I pitied the hero!

The order of this series is as follows: A Dangerous Love, A Notorious Love, After the Abduction, and Dance of Seduction. The story line was good in After the Abduction and therefore merited this three star review. However, the heroine's actions just sapped the enjoyment from the book.

but found them to be without foundation. While this book is not quite as good as the other two it he series, especially the first, (which do need to be read before this one) I nevertheless enjoyed it a great deal.

Sebastian is so torn, trying so hard to do the right thing and always missing it by a mile; he never really realizes the truth of what he's made of his life until the very end. Juliet is not really immature, not as she was in the previous book. She has grown up a great deal, but she is still fairly innocent even as she learns to be crafty and determined. Indeed her family thinks her immature and naive, and it is that belief that, to a large extent, set in motion the events that led to this book. But Sebastian is in dire need of her outlook on life and her personality, just as she needs his steadying influence.

Sometimes you knock them each upside the head, but in the end it all works out as it should. The book isn't perfect and isn't Jeffries' best, but it is a pleasant read and is a fitting ending to the Laverick sisters' trilogy. 3 and 1/2 stars

Hmmm...has she written a book on brother Morgan?

I bought this book before reading the 1st two in the series and within the first chapter and a half, I felt like I was missing something. Having read the Lord series by Jeffries, I quickly realized that she has a habit of intertwining her characters and stories so much that the books are confusing if trying to read them out of sequence. So I put the book aside and picked up A Dangerous Love and a Notorious love, and it was well worth it. Both of those books are great and this is no exception. This is a great addition to the series if you read it in order. It is so nice to revisit characters, Jeffries just makes it important to read her books in order. Other authers such as Julia Quinn and Kat Martin who use characters from different books don't put as much emphasis on the plots from the other stories, Jeffries does, but it is well worth it if you read them in order and if you don't, you feel as though you are missing something important. GREAT BOOK though if read in order.

At last fans of Sabrina's series get to sink their teeth into Juliet's story, and it's the best thus far. The youngest of the Shakespearean-named siblings grows teeth and claws and goes gunning for Sebastian Templemore, who masqueraded as his twin brother Morgan and kidnapped her. Sebastian had (what he thought were) good reasons for his actions, but getting him to reveal them, or even that it was him at all, makes for great banter and sexual tension between this pair. If this series has a fault, it's its addictiveness: beware. You'll want to read them all!

I loved the first two books in the series, but this one was a disappointment. Juliet and Sebastian met and fell in love two years ago, when the second book in the series took place. That is when this book should also begin, so that we could watch them get to know and love each other. But no. *spoiler warning* All we get to see is how they still love each other, but have different reasons not to let the other know that. It was quite nice to watch Juliet try to make Sebastian reveal himself. But after a while all that became boring. And then, when he decided to tell her the truth, he wanted to make love to her first - just in case she won't love him any more when she learns the truth. And then she refuses to marry him for no good reason at all. I didn't like it that her sisters played such a big role in this book. I almost started to dislike Griff because of all his meddling. And Juliet should care more for Sebastian then for her sisters and brothers in law. She didn't even trust him to make everything well.