5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Victorian Seduction, January 26, 2008
This review is from: A Seduction in Scarlet (Mass Market Paperback)
Lady Portia Ellerslie is a close companion of Queen Victoria at the end of the 1800's. Victoria had great admiration for Portia's late husband and that transferred to Portia herself after his death. As a result she is put on a pedestal by the Queen and the population alike. She is widely known as the Widow of the Nation's Hero. But she's is also a young woman who was married early to a much older man and now that he's gone she has...needs. Needs that won't be met unless she does something drastic. Which turns out to be a visit to Aphrodites, a high class bordello. She is lonely and only looking for a night of anonymous pleasure with no names and no consequences. Like that'll happen.
What a coincidence that the man who walks in the club and captures her attention is the man she used to be infatuated with when she was just the young shy vicars daughter. He doesn't recognize her of course, but she knows him. But after a wild night of passion they go their separate ways. If only it was that easy. They both find that they have such a burning need for each other that it obscures their common sense and they take one wild chance after another to be together.
Marcus starts off as an idle, good-for-not-much womanizer, but quickly begins growing up and eventually realizes he needs to do something with his life, especially if he's going to have a chance with Portia. He can't ask a national icon to come away with him if he has and is nothing. Watching him grow up was one of the best parts of this book and I loved the interaction between him and...everybody. He did have a tendency to act recklessly, but he was so filled with life and humor and love that I just fell in love with him. I can't blame Portia for falling head over heels for him too.
This was also a very Victorian story, about how repressed people felt and how Portia felt she was expected to adhere to a rigid set of rules. And it wasn't just a matter of her having her own fixed rules, but of society at large demanding the same thing. Breaking her out of that mind-set was tough going for Marcus, but ya gotta give him props for not giving up.
The sub-plot with Portia's sister-in-law and her traitorously evil husband, Arnold, wasn't strictly necessary, but they did give Portia a reason to run away with Marcus and it added some tension towards the end. I did have a bit of a problem imagining that Arnold could get the Queen of England to come to the wilds of Norfolk to talk with her lady in waiting and without that much security, but I'm willing to go with it since the outcome is satifactory indeed.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Almost as boring as watching paint dry, February 13, 2008
This review is from: A Seduction in Scarlet (Mass Market Paperback)
Lady Portia Ellerslie is a well-known figure in Victorian England. Her late husband was a renowned soldier and one of the queen's favorite men. Since his death, Portia has been seen by the country as a woman of virtue--their very own grieving angel in widow's weeds. She was just a young girl, the daughter of a vicar, when she married her much older husband and was cast into the spotlight. And though she is content with the public's admiration, she wants just one thing for herself. So Portia visits Aphrodite's Club, a place where a woman of quality can go to engage in one night of sin. Determined to have one night for herself, regardless of the consequences, Portia scans the available men before her gaze alights on Marcus Worthorne, a notorious rake, and an all-too-familiar reminder of her past. As a girl, Portia had been in love with Marcus, though he paid no attention to her then. When he sees her in Aphrodite's Club, face masked by a veil and dressed in a scandalous red dress, Marcus is attracted to her body and her attitude, though he has no idea who the woman behind the mask is. After indulging himself with her beautiful body, Marcus becomes determined to find out and to make the woman his forever, and not just for one night...
First of all, I have to say that I might have liked A Seduction in Scarlet better if I had not just read
One Night with You by Sophie Jordan, which had more or less the same plot and handled it much better, much more fluidly, and was infinitely more engaging and enjoyable. Quite frankly, after reading that book, reading this one was like watching paint dry. I was almost bored to tears. First of all, the Victorian era is entirely too involved in appearances and propriety. I usually prefer Regency era historicals. Secondly, I found it hard to believe that this woman was so willing to sacrifice herself on the altar of martyrdom for a dead husband whom she may have admired, but it was very clear that she didn't love. Third, the hero was a dead bore. I couldn't have cared less about him. He didn't seem sexy, intriguing, or anything like someone who I'd be willing to stake my reputation on. And finally, as I said before, I'd just read another book with a very similar storyline that had kept me entertained, engaged, and indulged from start to finish. I can't recommend this book. I can't really find anything good to say about it at all. In fact, though I've just finished it, I know for a fact that I won't remember a word I've read a week from now, and that says more than any harshly worded review ever could.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
First time SB read., March 31, 2008
this is my first read by sb. I felt it was a great read. I did enjoy the characters. The story line was interesting. I didnt get it that she could not have a life of her own bc of her dead husband. This is fiction. I will be reading more in this series. TA. SI.NY.
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