Customer Reviews

Lord of Seduction: A Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This has been a long awaited read. As the second book in the new series, it is good. And leads the way for more books in the series. Diana was a wonderful heroine. Strong and funny and able to hold her own against Thorne. Thorne is a strong male character. But he does not run over Diana. They build up a touching love story and I like how Thorne decides to get Diana. I found it interesting that in this book it was the woman who did not want marriage. I like the twist. It was fun to see how Thorne was going to work with that and how he was going to prove himself. There is tension from the plot to uncover the Guardians and Nate's murder. Guesing who is behind the spying and watching it all come together. It was not a huge mystery. But it fit in well. There was enough to keep you guessing while you got to watch the two sets of characters fall in love. I thought it was worth it. It was sweet, sensual and well worth the wait. Cant wait for the next book in the set. Looking foreward to it.

Viscount Thorne wants nothing to do with the potential brides his ducal father keeps throwing in his path, or the young ladies who keep chasing him bent on matrimony. He does, however, want to return to London to search for the villain who murdered his best friend. So he convinces Diana Sheridan to pose as his fiancee. Because of a scandal in her past, Diana isn't interested in love or marriage, but wants to pursue her art career and to protect her flighty cousin Amy from a fortune hunter. But when Thorne and Diana go to London to oversee Amy's Season, their pretend betrothal really heats up since they can't help falling for each other. This book is filled with wonderful characters, delightful subplots, sizzling red-hot chemistry, and exciting danger as Thorne and Diana negotiate scandal and London society in search of a murderer. Highly recommended for readers who love sensual Regency historicals.

Christopher, Viscount Thorne, is one of England's most elusive bachelors, willing to do most anything to thwart his father's efforts to marry him off for the sake of providing an heir - including a fake betrothal.

Diana Sheridan, a beautiful and talented, but undiscovered, artist, burned by betrayal in love and shunned by society because of it, seeks Christopher Thorne's aid to avert a similar scandal for her young cousin, and Thorne's ward, Amy, whose mistaken infatuation with a fortune hunter could prove disastrous.

If this all sounds too familiar, think again - it's not. This story will spark your interest from page one and will not let you go until it's done. It is Nicole Jordan at her finest, and those who have been reading the divine Ms. J since forever KNOW what happens when she lets go and writes from her heart - fireworks, intrigue, humor, and excellent secondary characters.

An honest-to-goodness "hero to die for" (one of her BEST ever) who is innately, scorchingly sensual. A heroine who, while innocent to the ways of sex, is not a bit of fluff or a simpering "Miss", but a strong, independent woman with her own goals in a world not ready or willing to accept her for what she is.

One of the things (among many!) that I loved about this book was the great humor in Christopher's total denial of his love for Diana - carrying out the "charade" of their betrothal is a chuckle to the reader for sure. There is intrigue, HOT SEX that you will not wait three-quarters of the way through the book to get to, and charming characters - main and secondary. But best of all, I adore that this book is ROMANCE driven, as all books in this genre should be but sometimes lose track of. This is romance at its BEST, and if you're a purest and your heart lies in the "roots" of what it's all about, I say if you haven't bought this book yet - do it NOW. I put it at the top of my "Best of the Year" list.

Wheeeeeeeew! I have just visited a sun-kissed Mediterranean paradise, sailed the high seas, waltzed in the ballrooms of glitz and glitter that is Regency England, blushed on the sin-stage of a brothel, and experienced a sensuality with the intensity of a need to embrace life after a near-death experience... All I can say is: WOW, what a ride!!!

Viscount Thorne is a rakish lord who embraces his bachelorhood. Sinfully handsome, oozing irresistible charm, and drawn to danger like a bee to honey. There is one gauntlet he refuses to cross though, and that is Matrimony. And if his insatiable lust for life on the wild side is any indication, he intends to continue living with almost reckless abandon. But like a true hero he has a heart, which is his redemption. Thorne is a Guardian of the Sword, sworn to fight for a noble cause; he is a loyal friend, determined to seek justice for the murder of a friend or die trying; and when he meets his Lady "Match," he is a determined and vulnerable lover.

Diana Sheridan is a woman scorned by upper ranks of London society for a mistake she made in her past. She is also a budding artist forced to endure the obstacles of gender restrictions in her chosen career. However, before she can focus on her hopes and dreams for the said career, she is determined to do everything in her power to see her young and naïve cousin Amy properly presented to Society and settled. She will even go as far as pretend a betrothal to Lord Thorne for improving her image and various other reasons.

Hold on to your book, when this charade is infused with dangerous and suspenseful interruptions! While Thorne is busy battling both as a Guardian and a lover, and Diana is discovering her own wild side and feelings, you will find yourself arriving at one breathless happy-ever-after...

This is an incredible book, one I couldn't put down to be sure. The elegant, yet searing, sensuality, and the lively romantic suspense were further enhanced by well-developed secondary characters and a bonus story of romance.

I just read Lord of Seduction and couldn't put it down. Thorne was so sexy and heroic and Diana was a wonderful heroine who proves his match. The art background was an interesting addition to the London ton, and the plot was intriguing. I loved this book!

In 1815, the Ton enjoys betting on the ongoing "contest" between Viscount Thorne and his father. Dad, the duke, wants his son married with the heir; so the Duke of Redcliff consistently buys off his son's lovers and tosses eligible women in his path. Christopher finds his sire's actions amusing, but frustrating as he is not ready to wed anyone especially since he has become a member of the Guardians of the Sword sworn to stamp out evil and tyranny.

Someone murders fellow Guardian Nate Lunsford, who named Chris as his sister's guardian. Chris is on the Isle of Cyrene, when artist Diana Sheridan arrives with Nate's sister Amy in hand. Diana is worried that a fortune hunter has captured Amy's affection and thinks only her guardian can keep disaster from happening. Chris agrees to return to London, but insists that Diana, a victim of scandal several years ago, pretend to be his fiancée. That would keep dad in check, enable him to guide Amy, and uncover the identity of the killer. He never anticipated that he wants to marry Diana as Chris has fallen in love while she tries to elude this master of temptation.

The second "Guardian" tale ("Paradise" as Ballantine calls the miniseries seems off) is an engaging Regency romantic suspense that hook readers from the moment that Nate is murdered until the final two confrontations (with the killer and between the lead duet). The story line moves fast, but also insures key secondary cast members seem genuine especially Amy and the Duke. Though the killer seems too odd of a twist, sub-genre fans will feel that Nicole Jordan has entertained them again.

Harriet Klausner

I had high hopes for LORD OF SEDUCTION, having been enthralled by her earlier romances, and my hopes were not only met, but exceeded! It's steamy, scorching romance, intense, esalating excitement, and a beautiful love story. In fact, Ms. Jordan always establishes a firm foundation for the love between her hero and heroine, and LORD OF SEDUCTION is no different. By the time you reach the hot, relentless and stunning love scenes, you believe the love between Thorne and Diana is real and true. As a result , the love scenes have much more depth than in many other romance novels I've read.

I love Thorne, the hero, both for his alpha-maleness and his tenderness. They live side-by-side within him, and make his beauty literally much more than skin deep. His relationship with Diana builds very slowly.... Ms. Jordan gives us a torturous drawing-out of their ever-increasing desire (and love); reading it, the image of a tightrope artist came to mind. The author keeps the characters, and us, on a high wire for chapter after chapter, feeding us delicious appetizers of sensuality before we finally reach the main course, and then she really rewards the readers with an amazing feast of loving, passionate scenes... so satisfying that I was holding my breath during them, and afterwards sighing shamelessly (with a huge happy grin on my face).

But Ms. J doesn't make us wait for hundreds of pages for
something steamy... no! As is her trademark, she delivers something scorching within the first three pages of the book. Just to get us hooked!! :) And boy, does she ever. I love this about her books. I want great sex and a great love story, and she always makes sure the readers get both.

Thorne's growing intererest in Diana, an accomplished oil painter (at a time [the Napoleonic era] when female painters were not recognized as legit in the art world), is very plausible. He's a man accustomed to living on the edge, loving danger, and as one of the elite Guardians, a secret society of protectors, he cannot love just anyone. He requires a challenge, and he's met his match in Diana.

Quite believably, however, Diana does NOT fall at Thorne's feet in a dead faint, as have other females before her. She is strong, but never mean, nor bitter, despite having a sorrowful
episode of failed love in her past. It has not ruined her spirit. She still has her art, she is extremely gifted, and she knows it. She's not puffed up about it, but she realizes she has a talent, and does not apologize for it, which is very refreshing. Thorne finds her refreshing as well, and certainly unique. Of course Diana is beautiful (this is romance!), but her love for her art is strong and real, making her so very attractive to Thorne. Ms. J has a great gift of her own, that of conveying Thorne's growing love and desire for Diana, and hers for him. This is the tightrope act I referred to above. She keeps your emotions engaged, keeps your heart on that fine line, right along with the two lovers. By the time they truly get together (past the physical love), you're just about panting with want for the two of them. But the events which lead up to this are very plausible. For instance, the attack by the highwaymen, and Thorne's subsequent rescue
(he has to stop a runaway team of coach-horses) is amazingly detailed and dramatic. I didn't even know half the equestrian terms being used, but I could still get a great visual in my head, and the authenticity in the details simply made it more believable, not less so.

Ms. J also employs the loveliest prose to describe the delights of the isle of Cyrene, where part of the novel takes place. She paints word-pictures, every bit as much as Diana paints with brushes and oils. It's meant to be breathtaking, and it is.
(By the way, so are the parts where Thorne *paints* Diana, and then removes the *paint*, in a most erotic fashion...WHEW!!!! ... I've still got THOSE scenes running around in my head!!)

I loved Yates, the second male lead, who assists Thorne in his crime-fighting/investigation. It took me a while to begin to like Amy (Thorne's recently-named ward, and Diana's cousin)... she starts out quite a spoiled young woman. But Amy is put through the wringer a few times, and comes out better for it on the other side. I was dying for Amy and Yates to get together! I won't give away the details, but let's just say I was smiling at the end...

Nicole Jordan takes full advantage of the intricate and dizzying rules of Regency England , with its suffocating strictures and mores, and manages to weave plotlines just as intricate throughout the tiny cracks within those same rules, like a lovely flower finding its way to the sun despite great odds: defying them, and winning. Brava, Ms. Jordan!
I cannot wait for her next romance!

Thats what she should have named this book. I know everybody else seemed to find this book wonderful but I found the characters having no depth. More like cardboard characters. Thorne is a rascal and the only reason I continued to read this book. He made a tedious book seem more interesting. Handsome, sexy but overall a good person.

And then there is Diana - what can I say but that she is irritaing, has no mind of her own, pushy, yes I could go on and on but I won't. First she does not want Thorne to seduce her because of her past broken heart. That happened several years ago - Get over it! Then they have sex and then she pushes him away when he says they should get married for real. Then they have sex again and later she tells him that she does not want to see him again ever. Then Thorne is in a life threatening situation and finally she realizes that she wants to be with him. Talk about a woman who can't make up her mind. life threatening situations can do that to a person. Grow Up! During this time she meets up with the man who broke her heart and she seems to still have feelings for him, then Thorne seems to get jealous. There roles seem to be the reverse. Is he not supposed to be a rouge. He seems the one more infatuated with her than she is with him.

All the secondary characters seem just as bland. Amys a spoiled brat, why anyone would like her is beyond me. And then theres poor Yates with his wooden leg - that's all there seems to be to his character. Don't bother to read this one it's a waste of money

I have been reading the current series by Nicole Jordan and decided to check out all her books. I really enjoy this novel - I like it when the couple hate each and then solve a crime and fall in love...

Check out the whole series; To Pleasure a Lady (Courtship Wars, Book 1) , To Bed a Beauty (Courtship Wars, Book 2) , To Seduce a Bride (Courtship Wars, Book 3).

Ms. Jordan's latest in her new "Paradise" series is a much better read than the previous with a little more depth and storyline. This is not to say that this story was flawless because it did at time drag and at times the storyline seemed a bit contrived.

All in all Diana was a strong heroine that knew her mind and had her dreams. She also found love where she least likely thought she would find it. In the arms of Viscount Thorn. Christopher is a member of a secret organization that protects those that are unable to. One of their members is killed and it is thought to have been the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. One year later Nat's sister and cousin come to find Christopher in order to obtain his help in launching Amy so she can find a suitable husband. Thorn agrees to do this as long as Diana posses as his fiancee. What starts off as an act swifty becomes a reality. But will their new love be threatened by an enemy before they realize how deep it actually is?

As I stated in the beginning of this review the chemistry between Diana and Thorn was very sensual and immediate. The whole "let's pretend that we love each other...than they find they do" is not a new story vehicle and Ms. Jordan has truly not done anything to change that. What saved this story from being too...uninspiring is the collection of characters such as Amy, John Yates, and the Duke. Ms. Jordan is without a doubt one of the queens of the sensual romance and this story is no exception. I look forward to continuing with this series and recommend the this latest effort by Ms. Jordan.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com