Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quiet romance, March 26, 2009
This is the second book in Ms. Balogh's Huxtable series. The first book, First Comes Marriage, introduced us to the Huxtable family and was the middle sister, Vanessa's story. In that book we watched the family adapt to an unexpected inheritance, the acquisition of a title and life among the ton. This book continues the Huxtable's story and features the beautiful youngest sister, Katherine.
Katherine has never lacked for suitors, but yearns for more than compatibility in her marriage. She is determined to hold out for love and passion. She meets Jasper Finley, Baron Montford, and is immediately intrigued. She knows him to have a reputation as a rake and has been advised to keep her distance. However, one night she throws caution to the wind and walks alone with him on one of the sheltered paths of Vauxhall Gardens. An intimate encounter ensues and Katherine retains only her physical innocence when Jasper pulls away and announces that his interest in her is only as the subject of a scandalous wager.
Three years pass before Jasper and Katherine are thrown together again. Events occur which bring the occurrence of the wager to the attention of the ton. Now Katherine must either accept Jasper's offer of marriage or bring shame to her family and displacement to his.
As always, Ms. Balogh tells a moving tale. This is one of her quieter works and the pace is slower than many will like. It probably is a truer representation of how we find love, not in a lightening bolt but rather in a storm. The characters are multifaceted and Jasper's story and his character are revealed slowly through the pages of the book. Through his story we are bidden to consider some of the deeper issues in life: Can you truly love another if you do not love yourself? Does being alone mean being physically separate from others, or something more? Are dreams foolish fancies or are they vital to life? All ponderous issues which add weight to this story, but at times also seem to weigh it down. The book is longer than is typical, at almost 420 pages. Editing it down to the more typical 350 pages would have tightened the story up and made it a bit more palatable to some.
I would definitely recommend reading this book but advise patience, it is a quiet tale.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyed this book more than I thought I would at first, April 5, 2009
At first I wasn't sure I would like this book, just from reading the preview (even though I liked First Comes Marriage very much), but I guess you can't judge a book by one chapter, since once I got through the premise, I enjoyed this book very much. The male (Jasper) at first seemed quite unlikeable, but by the end, he was much more hero-like (actually had some principles). The heroine (Katherine) wasn't exactly my favorite right away (not terribly fond of overly beautiful, seemingly silly types), but she ends up looking more intelligent as the story enfolds. The Huxtables are turning out to be a very interesting family & I am looking forward to Margaret's book!(Am glad that the discerning majority of Mary B's readers are liking this series and are realizing the joys of normal, quieter romances.)
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A different book???, May 3, 2009
Perhaps I have read a different book than some reviewers here, but I have to say the book I read, Then Comes Seduction, was a wonderful book. I absolutely loved it. I will say right up front that I am not a Mary Balogh fan as I have not read many of her books and the ones I did were usually so angsty that I could hardly finish them. Then Comes Seduction started slowly as we were introduced to Jasper( he was introduced to me--maybe he was in earlier books, IDK) and the setup of his meeting with Katherine. After that, this book just took off. I have just finished reading Deanna Raybourn's Julia Grey series and Then Comes Seduction was a perfect book to read after those. It had a lovely story and was not crammed with sex scene after sex scene. I loved the descriptions in this book. I could just picture the scenes and could see in my mind the scene with Katherine and Jasper in the glass gazebo that preceded all their trouble.
The story was spellbinding, I loved the characters. Katherine's family were especially likable to the extent that I am going to read the other books in this series. I want to read Vanessa and Elliott's story and am anxious for Margaret and Stephen's. Lucky for me that they are available soon. The excerpt at the back of the book really whetted my appetite for Margaret and Duncan.
That brings me to Jasper. What a guy!! There were so many layers to him. At the beginning, I thought he was just a typical jerk rake. But as the layers were peeled back, I couldn't believe how much I liked him. He was a young man who had been terribly scarred emotionally by his stepfather. But, with Katherine's love, he was reborn. Watching them realize they loved each other was fantastic.
People gush over Mary Balogh's writing and her stories. I have to say they are right. At least with this series. I am going to check out her backlist. Maybe I will chance upon books I will like as much as I liked this one.
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