The Perfect Seduction [Mass Market Paperback]

Leslie Lafoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2003

After a lengthy journey, Seraphina Treadwell appears at the doorstep of Carden Reeves with his three young nieces in tow determined to ensure their uncle will properly care for her charges. However, judging by the man's rakish smile and dancing eyes--now alight with the fire of a new conquest--that day seems far off indeed.

A make who can make love and walk away with equal amounts of passion, Carden plays the seduction game to win. But beneath a rogue's clothing beats the heart of a man who has never been truly and properly seduced by a woman, let alone a woman who lives by her own rules and who could make him believe in love. Until now...

While pride will not allow Seraphina to surrender to a man who has never wanted anything beyond a single night, her heart will not be denied the sweet promise of love...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In the rough town of Belize City, Seraphina is barely surviving while taking care of three orphan children. Her treacherous husband and the children's parents disappeared, leaving Seraphina destitute, but salvation arrives in the form of a letter and two hundred-pound notes from the children's Uncle Carden in London. She and the children arrive on Carden's doorstep, and he reluctantly takes them in. Carden is a notorious rake and womanizer, so the news that his brother is probably dead, making him the earl, puts a serious crimp on his lifestyle, not to mention the three children and their very desirable guardian. Seraphina wants nothing to do with men after her disastrous marriage, but something about Carden stirs her desire. Meanwhile, she is surprised to learn that the botanical work she and her father did in Belize is so admired in Victorian England their book has become a bestseller. As Seraphina and Carden attempt to seduce each other, LaFoy's remarkable characters utterly seduce the reader. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Intelligent [and] sexy...you won't be able to resist The Perfect Seduction." -Kasey Michaels, New York Times bestselling author of The Kissing Game

"Leslie LaFoy is intelligent, sexy fun."--Kasey Michaels

"Leslie LaFoy...casts a spell that won't let you go." -Romantic Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312987633
• ISBN-13: 978-0312987633
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,615,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overwritten, September 2, 2004

By 

Karen Mercury (Green River, UT United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Perfect Seduction (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was such an effort to read! I couldn't put my finger on it till halfway through but...Every single line of dialogue "has" to be accompanied by an in-depth internal analysis of what each person's thinking!

It's as though one person says, "Hello, Sera." Then: He wasn't sure about his feelings for her. He recalled back in the War when he was wounded, and it brought up huge emotions... And that'll go on and on before Sera says,

"Hello, Tom." (or whatever his name was.) Then SHE has to internally analyze: She could tell he'd been sweating, and smelled like fireplace smoke but not of the hardwood that he used in his estate--no, she could tell it was a hardwood only found on the coast near Brighton, which of course meant he had a mistress...

And on and on. It takes like 4 pages for a conversation to really take off. Everyone's always assuming things they couldn't possibly have known unless they were psychic.

Just too annoying to finish.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a treat!, May 17, 2006

By 

VA Girl - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perfect Seduction (Mass Market Paperback)

It's always a treat to pick up a book by an author you're not familiar with and realizing by the third page that they've just become one of your favorites. LaFoy had me when the heroine refused to be ripped off by a client she did a drawing for (if you read this book I'm sure you'll mentally applaud like I did). Most heroines would just swallow their pride and accept whatever she got because "it's for the children", but not this one. She stayed strong throughout the whole book and never made any of the stupid mistakes most headstrong heroines do that makes you roll your eyes at their idiocy. She stood up for herself and it was refreshing. Oh, and the hero wasn't too shabby himself. My one complaint is that the ending was a little too easily wrapped up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars solid historical romance, November 26, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perfect Seduction (Mass Market Paperback)

In Belize City, a colony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, artist Seraphina Treadwell watches three preadolescent sisters Amanda, Beatrice, and Camille. The parents of the young girls and her husband journey into the nearby jungle in search of the ruins of ancient civilizations. Six months pass without a word from the three travelers when word arrives that the missing father's brother has become an earl.

Three months later, Seraphina and her three charges arrive at the London townhouse of their uncle Carden Reeves. The aristocrat wants nothing to do with his nieces because he now that he is the earl he enjoys his hedonist lifestyle and doesn't want children to change that. Carden persuades the impoverished Seraphina to watch his half-brother's litter so that the trio does not interrupt his activities. However, soon he falls in love with the four female intruders. They reciprocate, but her allegedly deceased husband shows up ready to cause trouble if it means filling his pockets.

Historical romance readers will welcome this warm tale of a self-indulgent individual falling in love with the four female invaders. The story line entertains the troops as Seraphina takes Carden to task for his lack of commitment towards the welfare of his nieces. Though a suspense spin caused by her husband takes a little away from the strength of a powerful relationship drama, sub-genre fans will enjoy this tale and look forward to future stories starring Carden's pals finding responsibility worth living for.

Harriet Klausner