Customer Reviews

Seven Secrets of Seduction

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1. Start the story with a heroine who is not childish or overly innocent. In this case she is described as optimistic tempered with a sense of realism.
2. Lots of sexual tension and build up. This story certainly had lots of it.
3. Keep the dialogue fresh and witty. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times.
4. Have other characters who are actually interesting. Georgette, her friend, was fabulous. Maxim's staff was interesting too without too many stereotypes.
5. Reveal the hero slowly and piece by piece. I personally hate novels that go back and forth between the thoughts of the heroine and the hero so that there is no mystery or uncertainty. He was complicated and multifaceted. I loved in this book where you were along for the ride with Miranda.
6. Don't have the heroine be a martyr or willfully blind. I like that Miranda was able to puzzle out the mystery and that she wasn't so fragile that when she did find out she didn't have a complete melt down.
7. Have your hero truly fall in love with the heroine, perhaps even before she falls in love with him. He was sooooo romantic.

The first book I read by Mallory was Three Nights of Sin. After that I read several other of her titles, but none have compared. Seven Secrets of Seduction is, I believe, the first contender and in many ways I believe it may be superior. In this one I would say that Three Nights of Sin ran a little hotter, but Seven Secrets ran sweeter. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down. I disagree with the other review about the end. I enjoyed it the whole way though.

(3 1/2 stars rounded up.) This book has two drawbacks that usually bother me in historical romances: 1)Rather anachronistic behavior for females of the 1800s, and 2)Romance between a commoner and a member of the peerage. But I'm giving this book a bit of a pass just because I enjoyed the writing, the spirited and witty dialog between H and H and the hot, verbal seduction (not sophomoric, with no vulgar references to sex) of heroine by our hero. We have more than 190 pages of verbal foreplay before they even kiss and even more pages to the actual act of intimacy (at about page 280). Yet without H and H even touching each other, this book was sexier, IMO, than Anna Campbell's new release, MY RECKLESS SURRENDER, which has the H and H going at it like rabbits for most of the book. As for the story, I don't want to say much, but I found it interesting and different from the usual same-old, same-old plots. The heroine, Miranda Chase, is an educated, respectable commoner niece of the owner of a known bookshop in London and she lives with him and helps out in the shop. Our hero is the rakish Viscount Downing, Maximilian Landry, who has an extensive library and interest in books. In addition, there are two mysterious men that Miranda exchanges correspondence with but has never met in person: Eleutherios, the author of the scandalous SEVEN SECRETS OF SEDUCTION, and a Mr. Pitts, who dislikes intensely Eleutherios' writing. Back to our viscount. He visits the bookshop, shows an interest in Miranda and contracts her to organize his library, which is in an inexplicable disorder. So Miranda is at the viscount's residence daily, organizing his collection of books and manuscripts. This, of course, gives the viscount the opportunity for his verbal seduction of our fair Miranda.

Read the book to find out more, because it's mostly an interaction between the two protagonists and I don't want to give anything away. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It is Mallory's best work since THREE NIGHTS OF SIN, but it is not superior to that book. The ending here was a bit of a letdown for me, in that I was disappointed by the heroine's actions and reactions when she makes some crucial discoveries about certain people. She seems surprisingly indecisive and passive in dealing with this. So for me the last 70 pages don't quite live up to the promise of the first 300. However, all in all, it was a good read.

I really wanted to give this book 2 1/2 stars but have bumped it up to 3 stars because it doesn't follow the modern trend for gratuitous sex. It had the potential to rate alongside Mary Balogh classics because it is a study of a developing romantic relationship. The book has a tormented rake and innocent shop girl, and a slow build up to sexual consummation which usually totally grab me. Unfortunately this book misses the mark. There is far too much nebulous writing which is supposed to be setting the mood but I found it too wordy to really get to the core of what the characters were thinking. I felt like I was always in a mist...couldn't quite get to the clear picture. I got a glimpse of the inner heart every now and again, but not enough to really understand how the characters worked. This lack of clarity made Max a blurred person yet at the same time, prevented me from feeling any warmth toward Miranda. In summary, this book left me very frustrated - I desperately wanted to fully engage with it, but felt I was being kept at arms length.

I had such high hopes for this book because the main character was a girl who spent her life working in a bookstore who obviously has a great love of books. One day a handsome stranger comes in and between his flirtatious banter and having been pulled from the romance novel she was reading, she is flustered and a budding romance is formed. It is an interesting story, but there were holes in it at times. The author doesn't explain things clearly and many times I had to sit and stare at a passage for a few minutes to try and work out what was going on. Especially at the end, it was like she was a third party observer describing the end of a movie, being deliberately coy about what the characters were thinking. While it would work on film, it was just a little too vague and again I had to read it twice before I understood all the implications she was trying to get across. Overall it was okay, the heroine was an independent figure who did what was best for her, but it wasn't written well and at times just plain confusing.

STORY BRIEF:
Miranda works in a bookshop for her uncle. She loved the book titled "Seven Secrets of Seduction." She has been corresponding with Mr. Pitt who wrote a harsh criticism of the book for the local paper. Maximilian (Max) is a viscount. He visits the bookshop and begins flirting with Miranda. He then hires her to come to his home to reorganize his personal library. He begins seducing her. She tries not to, but she is falling for him. Max's father had many mistresses causing sadness for his mother. Max believes he can only be happy with a mistress, never a wife.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
Most of the book, until just before the very end, was game playing with words. Max and Miranda were never sincere with each other. It was meaningless chit chat, flirtations, and light barbs that did not interest me. Finally when Miranda discovers a secret about Max, instead of confrontation or discussion, she plays another game, trying to make him uncomfortable (or something I'm not sure what) but not revealing what she knew. It needed more of a story, not just a guy with desire in his eyes and an innocent girl who eventually succumbs. Character wise she is a doormat, willing to accept whatever he offers. I don't mean to criticize having a doormat as a heroine; my intent is simply describing the type. This could have been better if the dialogue was witty and entertaining. But it wasn't. There were a few sex scenes, but nothing memorable.

CAUTION SPOILER:
Romance novels are required to have happy endings with the couple together at the end. This had the couple together (as required), but it was vague and unsettling. I did not know if Max was ever going to marry. I did not know if Miranda was going to be his mistress or his wife. Her earlier problem with being his mistress did not feel resolved.

DATA:
Story length: 372 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none to mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Estimated number of sex scene pages: 12. Setting: 1820 London, England. Copyright: 2010. Genre: regency romance.

I think whatever I say about this book won't do it nearly as much justice as I feel it deserves. When you think about the plot, it seems like it has been done to death and that it's just a cliche. But this author takes every expected outcome or reaction and twists it in an unexpected manner. When you would normally see a dramatic moment or a villainous character, you don't end up with the expected. It was so refreshing!

Miranda was a simply awesome character. She's a "lowly shop girl" who somehow catches the interest of Viscount Downing. Their first encounters are full of playful banter and hidden innuendos. I loved how Downing skewed things in his favor so that he had an excuse to see her again. As their acquaintance deepens, Miranda cannot help but feel that Downing has cultivated their friendship for another purpose, but she quite rationally thinks it through and decides to risk it anyway. Miranda is an optimist, but she's also very pragmatic and realistic. There were a few moments in the story where I expected her to react with high drama, but she didn't. She took the time to think things through and decide what she was willing to accept and what the motivations of the offender were. I couldn't help but love her for it.

Downing was quite fascinating. When we got further into the story and discovered his hidden motivations, I just wanted to smack him upside his head, and then cuddle him. That man needed love. He was constantly plotting and maneuvering, but he was afraid to trust it when he finally achieved his goal. His dual nature was so sad. He had incredible self loathing, but he desperately wanted someone to see him and love him for who he was. I was so devastated for both him and Miranda toward the end. The anguish and yearning that was shown in that final scene in the bedroom...it killed me.

I loved how there were no villains in this story. Even though there were characters who caused issues and problems for their family, they were still sympathetic. Also, there was a situation involving a woman that I felt was handled extremely well. I was afraid she would turn into a caricature, but the author held true to her determination to make every character feel real and understandable.

At times the writing was quite poetic and lyrical. Downing was the biggest cause of that. He liked to seduce Miranda with his words, and he had quite a compelling turn of phrase. The sexual tension in this book was excellent. The characters don't have sex until far into the book, but I'm glad they didn't. I really enjoyed watching them seduce each other with their conversation and their personalities. It made their final capitulation so much more meaningful and sexy.

This book wasn't dark and angsty, but it wasn't light and irreverent. It felt like a nice balance of all those factors depending on the requirements of the scene. There were times it was humorous and cute, and times it was powerful and sexy, but it was also tortured and dark too. I like that it couldn't be easily typecast.

I cannot wait to try more by this author. I can only hope that I enjoy them as much as I liked this one.

Unlike many books, this one is exactly what the title suggests. Every paragraph, every page, every thought throughout the first half was about titillation, nothing more, nothing less. Maximilian is an expert at seducing young women for the sheer game of it and he always succeeds. So, when he decides to deflower and open the eyes of sweet Miranda, the idealistic but innocent bookstore worker, it is a given he will get what he wants - he always does. Miranda is supposed to be a smart, observant yet optimistic young woman who just happens to lose every intelligent thought and fall in a heap of burning desire (in spite of her strict upbringing and her REALLY lame attempts at refusing) whenever Maximilian steps into a room. He makes no pretense to her about his shallow objective and his seduction is blatant. Still, she just can't control herself enough to have any backbone whatsoever, she just must give in, forget the cost - he wants it!

From there the storyline goes from merely eye-rolling to smash-the-book, rip-the-pages-out and burn-each-individually, infuriating, as Miranda succumbs, revels in the tryst, then accepts his invitation to spend an entire weekend at his country home. By this time Max has decided he will take her as his mistress, buys her expensive bobbles, the whole nine yards. While rollicking in the bedsheets for the weekend, Max stops to finalize his betrothal agreement and marriage arrangements to another woman, making sure to include the caveat that he will keep his mistress (Miranda) . Miranda had absolutely NO idea he was planning on marrying but overhears the proceedings. When Max admits his plans, she AGREES!!!! He proceeds to "make her happy" by taking her to all the "lower" entertainments, those where men and their playthings can be seen. She endures all the leering, eye-waggling, degrading behavior thrown at her because she can't live without him. What can be said? Disgusting... revolting.... sickening.....T.S.T.L.???... blech, blech, pshew, spt, phleew... just can't spit the nasty taste out... words fail me. It's really that bad.

*The one star is credit to Mallory's obvious and impressive talent, if not for that, I would have devised some way to lower that rating*

Miranda Chase is a neice of book store owner and when Maximilian, Viscount Downing comes into her store pretending to be someone else - she treats him as an equal and flirts with him. When Miranda finds out Max is Viscount and wants her to help organize his library the game begins. This was so well written that I was on the edge of my seat to see if Max was going to fight for life with Miranda... Looking forward to One Night Is Never Enough Book #2 in the Secrets universe -- this book will have connected characters to Seven Secrets of Seduction.

If you enjoy this genre I would also suggest; A Hellion in Her Bed (Hellions of Halstead Hall), Seduction Wears Sapphires (Jaded Gentleman) and Till Dawn with the Devil: Lords of Vice.

I really enjoyed this book ... yes, there were no juicy sex scenes, but that does not matter ... the characters were great, complicated, and educated. The dialogue itself was superb and well worth the purchase. Read it, you will enjoy it.

I have re-read it five times since I bought it, and everytime I enjoy it even more. The complexity of both characters. The literary references (there is a mis-use of "alliteration", but that can be forgiven), everything about this novel is great. It is so different from the typical fluff out there.

Perhaps the lowly-shopgirl did not remain one at the end, but she remained true to who she was - a woman who could not, even for love, be used as a mistress, a balm for the broken man. I like that in a novel. A woman not surrendering herself.

The only thing I can thing that was wrong with this book was it ended to soon. I will admit I was greedy, I wanted to keep on reading more of their happy ever after.