Customer Reviews

Seduce Me By Christmas

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

 

 

His father the Earl embarrassed by his mistake sent his transgression his illegitimate offspring Raoul Charlebois to Dunnington; there the lad made friends with Fredrick (see Bedding the Baron) and Ian (see Seducing the Viscount). As a young adult, Raul has been a rake, but with his two best friends happily married, he now feels the time is right to investigate his unknown past starting with why his father paid 20,000 pounds to conceal him.

The December weather is typically cold and icy as he rides a horse to Cheshire for the first time in a dozen years. However, his steed Hercules becomes unnerved by a sudden darting little boy who apparently is knocked senseless. Raoul takes Jimmy and Master Willie to their guardian Miss Sarah Jefferson who resides in the gamekeeper's cottage on his father's estate. Raoul and Sarah are attracted to one another, but as they fall in love and he uncovers information about his heritage, he cannot move past the hurts of his childhood; Sarah prays for a Christmas miracle.

The third Dunnington historical romance stars two memorable lead characters and a strong support cast including the heroes of the previous novels (not read by me) who make for a fabulous Christmas tale. The mystery of the past enhances the present as Sarah loves Raoul, but knows he cannot fully return her regard until he lets go of his demons that co-share his heart with her. Deborah Raleigh provides a winning finish to her saga with this super stand alone that also wraps up the mystery of the late Mr. Dunnington's legacy.

Harriet Klausner

I wasn't too sure of the main point of this book (apart from it being a romance, of course). Raoul Charlebois is a notorious actor who has just retired from the stage. He's known as the bastard son of a lord and wants to find out what big secret his father was keeping that Raoul's tutor knew. So Raoul travels to Cheshire and his father's house, staying in a cottage on the estate whilst he tries to prise out the secret.

He discovers a rather attractive young woman on the estate, Sarah Jefferson, and finds himself attracted to her. She's the usual novel fare of beautiful, wonderful with children, an excellent cook, a spinster, etc etc. Raoul finds himself enchanted by her and sets out to seduce her. Once his father's secret is finally revealed there's a nice happy ending. But although there are plenty of pages in this book, there didn't seem to be a great deal more content than set out above.

Perhaps that's a little unfair, we have many scenes between Raoul and Sarah, as well as Raoul and his valet trying to get to the bottom of the secret, but overall I found the book rather lacking in depth. I didn't feel that either main character was particularly well drawn. The attraction seemed to be very much that of appearances between the two of them. It wasn't a bad read but I didn't find it entirely gripping and Sarah felt too remote to be a particularly engaging character. The Christmas theme, despite the title, is fairly minimal in this book.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

Deborah Raleigh is a delightful writer. She's got humor, creates characters it's great to spend time with and builds a solid, reasonable, very interesting backstory upon which to place her cast. The protagonist, Raoul Charlebois, is an impossible god-like hero - gorgeous beyond belief, smart enough to use his great looks and personality to overcome his bastard birth. His is the last story in the trio of brother-like friends, abandoned by their peer fathers, sent to a man who raises them like brothers, educates them to their potential, dies and leaves them with a mystery as to their backgrounds and births. All wonderful stories, their women are fabulously drawn with problems of their own. I waited impatiently for each story to be published. I love her.

When the reader gets past the title and the cover (both of which were incorrect for this book), the story line was terrific. There was a real twist from the usual Regency "house party at Christmas"
books. The characters became totally believable because of Deborah Raleigh's research of the geography and of the period. A wonderful read which seduced this reader!

I had been waiting for this book to finish the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it left me wanting more by this author. I think she just gets better. The characters made me care about them and feel like they were real people.