My Seduction: The Rose Hunters Trilogy [Mass Market Paperback]

Connie Brockway (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rose Hunters Trilogy | Publication Date: April 27, 2004

Connie Brockway sweeps readers back to the rough beauty of Regency-era Scotland and into the scintillating, passionate, and surprising love story of a mysterious Highlander and the woman he is pledged to protect.

Desperate to keep her two sisters and herself from the poorhouse, Kate Nash Blackburn embarks upon a journey to northern Scotland, where she hopes to gain the gratitude and patronage of a wealthy marquis. When fate maroons her at a tavern full of ruffians, a brawny Highland soldier comes to her rescue. It's Kit MacNeill, the man whose pledge to her family has haunted her for years. When he offers to escort Kate through the treacherous Highlands to Castle Parnell, she accepts even though her instincts warn her against trusting this rough and dangerous man. But soon Kate is startled by the Highlander's cultured speech and courtly manners. Who is this man of contradictions, shaped by a shadowy past, who fiercely wards off an attempt on her life, whose broad shoulders beckon her touch, and in whose arms she comes fully alive?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first volume in Brockway's new Rose Hunters trilogy, set in the early 19th century, spotlights Christian "Kit" MacNeill, a Scottish warrior of uncertain parentage who was trained in both the martial arts and the art of caring for roses. Kit meets Kate Blackburn when he and his two companions come to offer her family a pledge of service. The men feel obligated to Kate's father, who died rescuing them from a French prison, but Kate insists she has no need of a "hero." Three years later, when Kate is stranded en route to Scotland, MacNeill mysteriously appears to fulfill his oath. As the two make the difficult trek to Castle Parnell, where Kate hopes to appeal to a relative for financial support, the attraction between them simmers, but Kit remains keenly aware of his lower stature and his inability to provide Kate with a comfortable life. The one thing he can offer her is protection, which she discovers she needs when they reach Castle Parnell and find it seething with sinister plots involving murder and betrayal. Brockway (Bridal Favors, etc.) vividly describes the beauty of the Scottish landscape, establishing a strong sense of place. Although she tends to overstate Kit's masculinity, her dynamic characters and her ability to pull readers into the story through sensory details make this a well-crafted, engaging read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Katherine Blackburn has little use for heroes. After being married less than a year, her husband was killed in battle and her father died rescuing three young men in war-torn France. Now Kate has one chance to regain financial security for herself and her two sisters, but her carefully wrought plan is threatened by Kit MacNeill, one of the young men her father saved. Determined to repay the debt he owes her family, he insists on accompanying Kate on her dangerous trip through Scotland, where she intends to charm a distant relative into providing for her family. Kit objects to her plan, but he has pledged not only to protect Kate but also to obey her. Readers who relish witty, outspoken, and slightly stubborn heroines, and dark, dangerous heroes possessed of a lethal form of grace, will find much to savor in RITA Award-winning Brockway's latest, the first in a promising new trilogy. With this wonderfully complex, compelling Regency historical, Brockway demonstrates not only that she can fashion frothy romps but that she is equally adept at crafting dark, edgy, and sublime romances. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743463226
• ISBN-13: 978-0743463225
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #788,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real treat for lovers of heart-pounding romance, June 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: My Seduction: The Rose Hunters Trilogy (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a fan of the larger than life romances where the hero wants the heroine so badly you can taste it but circumstances make it impossible for them so he just suffers in silence until he (okay, me, too!) can't take it any more. It is particularly satisfying when there are REAL GOOD REASONS why the hero and heroine can't be together. In MY SEDUCTION, Connie Brockway hits one out of the park.
On paper Kit McNeill (okay, dumb name)and Katherine Blackburn do not work. He's a seasoned soldier, a former spy, and a Scottish bastard. She's a proper English lady who has lost everything and the reasons she's lost everything have a lot to do with Kit and his past. She doesn't want to fall in love with Kit. She wants her former lifestyle back and she's on her way to northern Scotland to try and put her life back into order when she is stranded at a inn with a bunch of cutthroats and ruffians. Kit McNeill magically :) appears to save her.
Connie Brockway never makes a mistake with Kate's personality. She isn't some self-sacrificing little victim who is willing to put up with a really grim life when she has an option. She's been looking for that option ever since her father's death puts her and her sisters in the poorhouse. Kit doesn't have anything and doesn't want anything except a chance to find out who betrayed him and his closet friends when they were spies in France. His sense of obligation to Kate (for being partially responsible for her current predicament) stands in the way of his looking for this person. Kit is honorable but dangerous. A perfect combination for a hero.
While they don't work on paper, Kate and Kit work emotionally. And how! You can feel the connection between them and their yearning is heart-wrenching while they try to stick to their courses and deny what their emotions (and libidos) tell them to do. When they finally come together-- oh mama! And yet they are still torn apart. The final scene is over the top romantic and simply wonderful. I cried.
Great book and two more to come! yeah!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Argh! No, I can't wait for the second book in this series!!!, May 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: My Seduction: The Rose Hunters Trilogy (Mass Market Paperback)

I looked it up, and MY PLEASURE comes out in October. In the meantime, I had so much fun in the Highlands of Scotland with Kit and Kate! (Although why Brockway gave them names so close together I don't understand!!!) The tension between these people was so intense I read as fast as I could until they hit the sack. Then I read it again. Then I raced through the book to the end (Kit is the most heroic hero ever!!!) and once I knew what happened, I went back and reead "The Scene" again!!! I want the second book and I want it now!!! Hurry, Miss Brockway, write faster!!!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasing read, September 27, 2004

By 

Cherchezlafemme (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: My Seduction: The Rose Hunters Trilogy (Mass Market Paperback)

Connie Brockway is an author alot of readers admire for her wit, her sparkling dialogue, her intricately drawn characters and breadth of premises and settings. Barring the rest of my review of this book, the only thing that I was really disappointed with was the time period. While it was set in 1801, I felt as though this book should or could have been set in the 18th century and done just as nicely, or even better.

The pacing in this book was a trifle shaky. The first two-thirds were achingly slow and intense with emotion, and the last third was fast, anxious and climactic. Because of the slowness of the first two-thirds, it took me a week to complete it. Kate and Kit were vividly drawn characters and the scenery was masterfully drawn, but the flashbacks were awkward and Kit's physical appearance was remarked upon much too often. The presence of a monastary in Scotland seemed possible, and so I allowed that possible historical oops to pass me by.

After the only love scene--which was intense and emotional, though a bit anticlimatic, seeing as how it was so late in the book--the pace quickened at an alarming degree. The villain of the trilogy was hastily introduced and Kate's destination was thrust to the forefront. I do commend Ms. Brockway for her skill in not allowing us to fully know whether Kate would choose Kit or the Marquess, but it soon became a given when the villain began his villany.

Because of the awkward pacing and sometimes spotty plotting; this was an average read for me. But if you are looking for an intense, emotional read with a heroine who isn't a martyr and a hero who has real pain, this is a nice book.