THE STUDY OF SEDUCTION is book 2 in Sabrina Jeffries'
Sinful Suiters series. I am an avid reader of
historical romances, and Sabrina Jeffries is an auto-read
author for me. This Regency series follows the men in a
club for gentlemen who are looking out for their sisters or
cousins, in order to protect them from bad suitors such as
fortune hunters, gamblers, and rakehells. What a fun
concept! Edwin Barlow, Earl of Blakeborough, is one of the
founding members of the club. Edwin's sister married the
other founding member, Mr. Jeremy Keane, in book 1. As I
predicted after reading book 1, The Art of Sinning, this
second
book follows Edwin's charming fall into love.
Warren Corry, the Marquess of Knightford, is a member of
the gentleman's club and Edwin's best friend. When Warren
asks Edwin to watch out for his cousin Lady Clarissa
Lindsey and squire her about the season's events after
Warren is suddenly called out of the country, Edwin can't
refuse the request. Edwin has decided it's finally time he
marries in order to sire an heir, but Edwin is such a
gruff
and unsocial man that Warren argues Clarissa can help
better socialize him so Edwin can catch a wife, all the
while protecting
Clarissa from an
unwanted suitor's attentions. Clarissa has been frightened
into hiding by a scarily ardent suitor who won't accept her
demurrals, and she has a history that rightly leaves her
frightened of men.
There's a mystery wrapped up in the creepy man's
attempts to woo Clarissa, which enlivens the story and
makes it more than a romance. Edwin concocts a story
of a secret engagement to Clarissa to protect her from her
stalker, and the dangers escalate to the point that
Clarissa must marry Edwin for her safety. But can this
marriage of convenience blossom from safety into something
more fulfilling? I adore a good marriage of convenience
story, and THE STUDY OF SEDUCTION is well crafted.
I like the story overall, although I have a few
complaints that keep this book from being a keeper for me
personally. My main issue is that, while sensitively
handled, I don't believe Clarissa's recovery from her
previous trauma would be as rapid as it is portrayed.
Despite a few niggles, overall THE STUDY OF SEDUCTION is
very enjoyable.
I eagerly await the next gentleman in the club and his love
to come! Jeffries's THE STUDY OF SEDUCTION is a charming
Regency tale with plenty of danger and a slow buildup of
romance to the Happily Ever After we are all rooting
for.
A marriage of convenience ignites into a passionate love
affair in the hotly anticipated second novel in New York
Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries’s
addictive Sinful Suitors series!
When Edwin Barlow, the Earl of Blakeborough, agrees to help
his best friend’s impetuous ward, Lady Clarissa Lindsey, in
her time of need, he knows he’s in for trouble. He’s been
hunting for someone to wed, and she’ll just get in the way.
Although captivated by the witty, free-spirited beauty, he
fears she’d be all wrong as a wife...if she would even take
such a gruff cynic for her husband. Yet he wants nothing
more than to have her for his own.
Clarissa has no intention of marrying anyone—not Edwin, whom
she’s sure would be an overbearing husband, and certainly
not the powerful French diplomat stalking her. But when
matters escalate with the diplomat, she chooses Edwin’s
gallant offer of a marriage between friends in hopes that it
will deter her stalker. She expects nothing more than an
amiable union, but their increasingly tempestuous kisses
prove more than she bargained for.
When her stalker’s vow to expose the lovers’ deepest secrets
threatens to destroy their blossoming attraction, will their
tenuous bond withstand public ruin, or will Edwin lose all
that’s important to him to protect his bride?
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