Rated: 3.5
From Library
Mary Balogh is my fall back light reading author. She generally writes plesant. feel good regency romance books that are well writen and make me smile. This particular series, not so much. This is the fourth book in this latest series and only two of them have been remotely readable. I abandoned the one before this one because It was so silly that I could not finish it. This one is marginally better. I am looking forward to the fifth one however as it is supposed to address the story of Constantine, the only really interesting secondary character in the series. Lets hope Balogh gets her grove back.
LIBRARY SUMMARY: "Here Stephen will risk his reputation and his heart as he enters a scandalous liaison with the infamous beauty intent on seduction. But when passion turns the tables on them both, who can say who has seduced whom? He must be wealthy, wellborn, and want her more than he wants any other woman. Those are the conditions that must be met by the man Cassandra Belmont chooses for her lover. Marriage is out of the question for the destitute widow who stands accused of murdering her husband and must now barter her beauty in order to survive. With seduction in mind, she sets her sights on Stephen Huxtable, the irresistibly attractive Earl of Merton and London’s most eligible bachelor. But Stephen’s first intriguing glimpse of the mysterious, alluring Lady Paget convinces him that he has found the ideal woman to share his bed. There is only one caveat. This relationship fueled by mutual pleasure must be onhisterms. As the two warily circle each other in a sensual dance of attack and retreat, a single night of passion alters all the rules. Cassandra, whose reputation is already in tatters, is now in danger of losing the one thing she vowed never to give. And Stephen, who wants Cassandra more than he has ever wanted any woman, won’t rest until she has surrendered everything—not as his mistress—but as his lover and wife. . . ."
