Customer Reviews

The Seduction of an English Scoundrel: A Novel (Boscastle Family)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lady Jane Welsham had been promised to Sir Nigel Boscastle since birth. They grew up as close friends. Though they did not love each other, Society expected them to someday wed. However, upon her wedding day Lady Jane is jilted. Sir Nigel has run off.

Lady Jane is sent to her family's private mansion to recover from all the rumors and humiliation. Although ruined in the eyes of Society, she is delighted to have escaped a loveless marriage. No one knows that Jane has willingly sacrificed her reputation to gain her freedom. All was going according to plan. But then Grayson steps in.

Grayson Boscastle, Marquess of Sedgecrost, is furious when his cousin, Nigel, does not show up for his wedding. In fact, Nigel has disappeared with all his belongings. As the new head of the family, Grayson finds himself weary of his status as a scoundrel. He is determined to shed his past reputation. To do so, he sets out to salvage Lady Jane's pride and restore her honor.

**** A terrific beginning to the Boscastle trilogy. The author has succeeded in giving all the secondary characters some fascinating depths without sacrificing the plot or story of the main characters in the least. This amusing tale of scandal is very well done and leaves me looking forward to Chloe's story. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Ms. Hunter has a fine start to her new series under her belt with her latest effort. She has created very entertaining characters and put them into very interesting situations. As a result the reader is treated to a story that will entertain them while reading.

Lady Jane Welsham has been left at the alter. She is not breaking into tears though. This lady knows exactly where her would be groom is and why he's not where he's suppose to be. She can handle the gossip and the taunts because she is going to live her life the way she wants. Hopefully she will find true love...but that's not a requirement. Of course all of her plans go right down the drain when Grayson Boscastle Marquess of Sedgecroft decides for the first time in his life to do something honorable. This rake is going to help Jane back into society. But when faced with Jane he doesn't do anything that he planed. Instead he finds himself falling in love. But what will happen when he finds out that the bride wasn't jilted as he thinks? Will he still follow his heart or will he let pride ruin his chance for happiness?

This was a very entertaining story. The only problems that I found was there were several times when modern day terms and words were used. This pulled me from the historic time period and was a bit de-railing. Aside from that this was a fine romance. Grayson and Jane were fun characters and we were introduced to several other charactres that will play a roll in the upcoming stories. Ms. Hunter is off to a fine start with this read.

After being left at the altar, Lady Jane Welsham seems shocked, but less concerned than those around her. She sees this scandal as an opportunity to find true love and is ready to embrace a freedom she has never experienced. That is until the groom's cousin steps in to mend the "wounds" his cousin has inflicted. Grayson Boscastle, Marquess of Sedgecroft, is a notorious rogue, but is willing to court Jane in an attempt to boost her sullied reputation. Grayson assures her family and himself that he is doing this for Jane, but maybe he is trying to convince everyone a little too much???
I didn't like this book as much as its sequel "The Love Affair of an English Lord." While the characters were well developed and there was chemistry, I thought the book lost momentum 2/3 of the way through. Grayson learns a secret about Jane and decides to teach her a lesson....I thought it took away from their relationship. Nice read though and I cannot wait for Heath's story.

I enjoyed this, I read it all and thought it was fun. BUT, as an avowed regency fan, I was a little disappointed. Despite the fact that it's about a scoundrel and rake who meets the woman of his dreams at her "never-to-occur" wedding, the characters and dialog seemed more than a little contrived and unlikely. Enough so that it was difficult to get carried away by the story (e.g., a well-bred Regency lady would not visit a well-known courtesan -- in broad daylight -- without social ramifications).

This was the first time I have read a book by Jillian Hunter and I was very excited about it because she received high praise but this was a hard book for me to finish. It is not bad for sure, but there is NO fire in it. Where was the chemistry between the two leads? I was halfway through and wondering what was wrong when it hit me. These characters have no depth. They are like drawings on a canvas-- flat and one dimensional. I have read that this is her first effort. Maybe her other ones are better and I will give them a try. But you can skip this one and save your money or borrow it from a library if you have nothing else to do.

I read both The Love Affair of an English Lord & The Wedding Night of an English Rogue. I'm glad I did because I love them. I wouldn't have tried them if I read this book first. This book drags on & on. The dialog was boring. This book was missing something. It was a BIG disappointment. Only read this book all the way through because I read the other two books. Please try The Love Affair of an English Lord & The Wedding Night of an English Rogue because they have the magic this one does not.

I think that I probably belong to a small (and unhappy) minority of one that didn't think that Jillian Hunter's "The Seduction of an English Scoundrel" was all that special. To being with the plot premise was an oft used one, with few variations. Lady Jane is left standing at the altar (and why exactly is she waiting at the altar for her groom? Shouldn't she have been waiting in the vestry or some small room until he showed up so that she could walk down the aisle to the groom who would have been waiting at the altar?). Her groom is missing, and as a jilted bride, her reputation is now tarnished. Enter the hero, Grayson Boscastle, the Marquess of Sedgecroft (the groom's cousin) and head of the Boscastle family, who moved by Lady Jane's composure and her trim derriere, decides to repair Lady Jane's social standing by appearing to court her. Grayson Boscastle is also trying to live down his rather fast past, and as head of the Boscastle family wants to start giving his rackety siblings a better example. Except that when we're first introduced to Grayson, he'd decided to invite a few of his discarded mistresses to his cousin's wedding. Exactly what sort of "reformed" behaviour is this? So much for wanting to set a better example for his siblings! Grayson's notion that repairing Lady Jane's reputation, however, involves him enjoying a bit of sensual pleasure with Lady Jane -- never mind that his idea of flirtation actually makes her more of a byword than before! But these were all just minor irritations for me because Jillian Hunter does create quite a bit of sizzling sensual heat between Lady Jane and Grayson, thus making nearly every reader really enjoy this hero & heroine pairing and the romance that is unfolding before everyone's eyes. And the fact that she also makes Grayson appear rather vulnerable now and then was quite the masterstroke as well. My main problem (aside from the modernisms) with the novel lay in what happens once Grayson learns the awful truth, and the course of action he takes to teach Lady Jane a lesson. That he actually gets the bulk of her family to go along with this bizarre plan beggared belief and credulity. And that Lady Jane, once she cottons onto what's going on reacts quite mildly was completely unbelievable as well.

Jillian Hunter is quite a talented writer, who is able to create characters that fascinate and tantalise. For example, even though we get on a few glimpses of Chloe Boscastle (Grayson's troubled sister) and her brother, Heath, I'm actually looking forward to reading their stories when they're issued this summer. Even the other characters who get a brief mention, like Lady Jane's two sisters, and Grayson's other siblings begged for stories of their own as well. I can only hope that for my sake, the heroes of "The Love Affair of an English Lord" & "The Wedding Night of an English Rogue" involves the gentlemen behaving in a less doltish manner.

The very beautiful Lady Jane Welsham is left at the alter and publicly humiliated. Cousin of the intended groom, Grayson Boscastle, the marquess pf Sedgecroft believes since he is head of this proud family he must redeem Jane's suffered reputation. The only problem is the big secret Jane harbors that she was never intending to marry Nigel. The whole thing was a sham so he could marry another. So when Grayson begins escorting Lady Jane around town and she begins to fall in love, she cannot afford for him to learn her secret.

It started off a little slowly, and so much of the conversation between Grayson and Jane was very stiff and rather boring. The main plot was just him pretending to romance her while the ton forgot about his cousin failing to show up at the alter. Of course Jane had never wanted to marry the boring Nigel anyways. She truly seemed in over her head at first with Grayson, as he was quite a rogue.

Initially Grayson really did not seem Jane's type at all. But looks can be deceiving and truly by their third and fourth encounter they both were totally in over their heads with lust. As the plot builds the dialog picks up and they really become quite the hot couple. By the end of the book, you do feel invested in their romance. What started slowly made for a really good four star read! Great intro to a new series.

Heroine is the jilted bride whom new-head-of-the-family Hero is trying to recompense for. Rake Hero is the cousin of heroine's ex-fiance who wants to pretend to court heroine to lessen the scandal & make her more appealing to potential suitors. Their attraction makes their pretend courtship appear all too real. But heroine thinks that revealing that she & her ex-fiance planned the wedding-jilt fiasco may ruin their burgeoning r/s.

This Hunter book had some funny moments. It's a light-hearted romance, with the main characters engaging in one-upmanship while trying to manage their attraction to each other. I liked Hero & heroine's witty banter & self-deprecating humor. This book is well-paced & had a good romance, sexual chemistry, & sex scenes. Characters were likeable. I liked heroine's directness, strong-mindedness, & humor. She also wasn't easily swayed by other's opinions. I liked watching Hero's adjustment from a dissolute rake to being a responsible & stable head of his family.

Recommended.

Some may say it was predictable but how he seduced her was not. Also the story did not drag for me. I agree with one of the other reviewer, loved th Cynster novels and I totally enjoyed this book.