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rcrg's review
5.0
This was a lovely tale full of scandal, intrigue, villainous plots and lots of love. I highly recommend it for all historical lovers.
ang_soko31's review
2.0
I wanted something light to read and this was free on iBooks which was cool but the second half of the book kinda killed it for me. It’s a hate to love romance but when the characters were finally admitting their feelings Alexander still acted like an asshole. His POV was so rude and disrespectful to Francie but it seemed like the author wanted us to view it as romantic ps. It wasn’t . I liked the drama and I genuinely liked the side characters. That rarely happens but they were very interesting in this case.
themarishale's review
5.0
Beguiling, intriguing, and steamy!
SUCH. A. GOOD. READ!
Alex and Francie are just the sort of characters I love to read—flawed, but earnest and endearing. They’re both terribly likable, even when Alex is behaving like a starched brute, and I found myself honestly rooting for them.
The intimate scenes are super steamy, though the language is what I would consider clean (“penis” instead of “cock,” etc), and the author provides a reasonable timeline of encounters prior to them engaging in anything sexual so the initial interaction is a wonderful relief of tension for the reader (and our protagonists!). Their road to HEA is not without peril, and even though the reader sees the trouble brewing, it is still done well.
There is a part I found to be a little confusing, with regard to the male antagonist of the story and how he so willing ran off despite the character arc, BUT he seemed a coward under all that psychopathic behavior, so it wasn’t terribly jarring. The female and male antagonists get their comeuppance, though we have to wait for all the threads to be neatly tied up via the epilogue.
As an aside, the epilogue scene of our two protagonists is adorable!
Honestly, I feel like A TASTE OF SEDUCTION is a title I’ll be adding to my “re-read” collection, I enjoyed it so much.
SUCH. A. GOOD. READ!
Alex and Francie are just the sort of characters I love to read—flawed, but earnest and endearing. They’re both terribly likable, even when Alex is behaving like a starched brute, and I found myself honestly rooting for them.
The intimate scenes are super steamy, though the language is what I would consider clean (“penis” instead of “cock,” etc), and the author provides a reasonable timeline of encounters prior to them engaging in anything sexual so the initial interaction is a wonderful relief of tension for the reader (and our protagonists!). Their road to HEA is not without peril, and even though the reader sees the trouble brewing, it is still done well.
There is a part I found to be a little confusing, with regard to the male antagonist of the story and how he so willing ran off despite the character arc, BUT he seemed a coward under all that psychopathic behavior, so it wasn’t terribly jarring. The female and male antagonists get their comeuppance, though we have to wait for all the threads to be neatly tied up via the epilogue.
As an aside, the epilogue scene of our two protagonists is adorable!
Honestly, I feel like A TASTE OF SEDUCTION is a title I’ll be adding to my “re-read” collection, I enjoyed it so much.
nicolelynnreads's review
3.0
Initial thoughts: I enjoyed the sparring of Francie and Alexander. I enjoyed their background storyline and watching them fall in love. The bit of suspense was an added touch but overall I found it was an enjoyable book but maybe a bit bland? I would have liked their sparring and “falling in love” storyline to be played more and would have liked getting a bit more depth from the characters. I read this one within 24 hours but idk by the end it was just hmm idk bland maybe? I did technically enjoy it though and would still recommend you try it out but it just might not be one I’ll return back to any time soon. Not a favorite read.
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Also as a side note I wasn’t too fond of the villains in this one. It seemed too idk cliche maybe? Also didn’t like the double standard of the way sex was viewed/used in this book in regards to the villains & even the heroes sometimes.
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Very interested in reading more from this author though.
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Also as a side note I wasn’t too fond of the villains in this one. It seemed too idk cliche maybe? Also didn’t like the double standard of the way sex was viewed/used in this book in regards to the villains & even the heroes sometimes.
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Very interested in reading more from this author though.
ctsquirrel's review
2.0
There were some...issues.
-There was a lot of attempted sexual assault, against women mostly.
-The phrase "...despite his age and apparent infirmary." No one runs a doctor's office, the earl has a deadly cough.
-Alex is a dick, telling Francie that her low cut dress makes her look like she "works in a brothel, do not be surprised when the customers begin lining up." And other charming statements.
-Because he's sooo attracted to Francie, Alex sleeps in the stables every night for weeks to make her think he's with his mistress.
-There is a calico cat named Mr. Pib. A male calico cat named after a soft drink...yup.
-The travel times are confusing, it's said that the good earl's estate is two hours away from the aunt/uncle's cottage but they traipse back and forth between there and the good earl's and the asshole earl's place in no time. Occasionally transporting dying people who miraculously survive.
-And finally I have in my margin notes from the last few pages "A random pirate appears!"
-There was a lot of attempted sexual assault, against women mostly.
-The phrase "...despite his age and apparent infirmary." No one runs a doctor's office, the earl has a deadly cough.
-Alex is a dick, telling Francie that her low cut dress makes her look like she "works in a brothel, do not be surprised when the customers begin lining up." And other charming statements.
-Because he's sooo attracted to Francie, Alex sleeps in the stables every night for weeks to make her think he's with his mistress.
-There is a calico cat named Mr. Pib. A male calico cat named after a soft drink...yup.
-The travel times are confusing, it's said that the good earl's estate is two hours away from the aunt/uncle's cottage but they traipse back and forth between there and the good earl's and the asshole earl's place in no time. Occasionally transporting dying people who miraculously survive.
-And finally I have in my margin notes from the last few pages "A random pirate appears!"
Spoiler
A pirate named Mad Jack appears to take care of one of the rape-y antagonists.stephwatt617's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
melbsreads's review
2.5
Trigger warnings: death in childbirth, blood, death of a parent, domestic violence (in the past), gun violence, male refusal to take responsibility for pregnancies, kidnapping, attempted rape.
I wanted to like this, I really did. But there was a LOT going on and a lot of it honestly didn't need to be there. I skim read the stuff from the perspective of the villains because, like, I didn't care. But also, it could have been much more impactful WITHOUT knowing that Claire was a villain and knowing what their plans were.
Also, the fact that Francie literally had an evil twin was just some Sweet Valley High type nonsense and I rolled my eyes more than once.
The romance itself was...fine, I guess? But I feel like it would have been better without all the moustache twirling villain nonsense, especially when the story goes from BIG! DRAMATIC! VILLAIN! PLOT POINTS! to "it's a year later, lemme dedicate two sentences to what happened to the villains before we cut back to the hero and heroine for some more sex." More than a little anticlimactic...
I wanted to like this, I really did. But there was a LOT going on and a lot of it honestly didn't need to be there. I skim read the stuff from the perspective of the villains because, like, I didn't care. But also, it could have been much more impactful WITHOUT knowing that Claire was a villain and knowing what their plans were.
Also, the fact that Francie literally had an evil twin was just some Sweet Valley High type nonsense and I rolled my eyes more than once.
The romance itself was...fine, I guess? But I feel like it would have been better without all the moustache twirling villain nonsense, especially when the story goes from BIG! DRAMATIC! VILLAIN! PLOT POINTS! to "it's a year later, lemme dedicate two sentences to what happened to the villains before we cut back to the hero and heroine for some more sex." More than a little anticlimactic...
kimmerp's review
3.0
Things to like about this sweet romance: typical ups and downs of the H&H sealing the deal were not drawn out and I really liked the scheming aspect of the secondary characters - both positive and negative - as they put some fun/whimsy into the story. Aspect I did not like: Heroine seemed positively juvenile - kept thinking of her as way younger than she was stated to be. I would describe this as a totally fine, perfectly average and enjoyable regency romance. Not superb writing but not awful either.
nicraemae's review
2.0
Cartoon-ish antagonists, a 'not like other girls' heroine, and a male protagonist that has relationship issues because of his parents.
brandylyons's review
4.0
Sweet and a good story with well developed characters. I need to find and read Mad Jack’s story now!