Irresistible

In this trilogy the first, Indiscreet, is the best by far. This is a close runner up, whilst the middle book is a distant third. None of the characters are perfect, that is to say they are human, and the basic storyline is credible for the era. Balogh gives us an array of talent from the superb to the boring. This one is NOT boring and will not make it to my donation shelf.

This was the first book by Mary Balogh that I read. I must be older that some of the others doing reviews as I can understand exactly what Sophie has gone through in her marriage. I loved the book and thought that it was well written. I enjoyed the enteractions and descriptions of other persons depicted. I have to applaud Ms Balogh for the way she approached Sophie's problem about her husband. I remember how such things were NOT spoken about even when I was a girl. I can imagine how difficult it was for Sophie to overcome such problems. I also. enjoyed the discussions between Eden and Lavinia. I laughed quite a lot at the byplay. Irrististible is a beautiful story. I knew that Ms Balogh was a very good writer after reading this story. I've always looked for her books ever since.

This is the third and final volume in the trilogy Balogh started with 'Indiscreet'; an excellent series about four friends who fought in the Peninsular war together, came home, planned to have a riotous time together as bachelors... and, one by one, succumbed to the lure of love and marriage - though not necessarily in that order!After Rex and Kenneth's stories, in Irresistible we finally get Nat's, with Eden's thrown in as an extra (I wasn't surprised to discover that Ede didn't get his own book: throughout the series, he was the least well-drawn character. However, his and Lavinia's fiery relationship made a pleasant diversion in this book). Two years after going home to deal with family responsibilities, Nat returns to London, partly to see his friends again, but mainly because he has one remaining sister and a cousin to marry off. He is also feeling quite sexually frustrated, and looks forward to some carousing... until he realises that sex with prostitutes no longer has any appeal. So he decides to look for a willing widow of his own class with whom to have an affair.In the meantime, Sophie Armitage, widow of an old friend of the four, is still in London; the four run into her and remember how much they all liked her in years gone by, so she joins their social circle. An unexpected sexual attraction strikes between Sophie and Nat, and they take advantage of it; Nat then is amazed when Sophie suggests that they have a discreet affair. Not that he's at all averse to the idea, of course... But there is more to Sophie's current circumstances than meets the eye. She's being blackmailed, and gradually she is forced to deny all her friendships, including her relationship with Nat, as her blackmailer becomes angry at the actions of the four in trying to protect her. So can Nat find out what is going on in time, and can he and Sophie realise what their feelings really are for each other before they say goodbye for ever?This is a heart-warming love story about two friends who begin an affair and fall in love. Both were always fond of each other, even though Nat never saw Sophie as a possible romantic or sexual partner before this; each has a high degree of respect for each other. And this fondness and respect is always there, even during the points in this book when they're at odds or when Sophie has to withdraw from her friendships with Nat and his friends. It's a delightful read, and one you'll want to keep.

This story is charming and endearing, and is one which I have re-read too many times to admit. The heroine and hero are the most realistic of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" trilogy characters. Even though the subplot involving the romance of the last of the Horseman and Nathaniel's younger cousin is very stylized and pluperfect Regency, it is also hilarious. Buy this for the wonderful writing and the darling characters.

Nobody does yearning better than the marvelous Mary Balogh. Irresistible is truly irresistible, a delicious love story that will keep the reader turning pages into the wee hours of the night. (I was up until 3 a.m.) Widowed Sophie Armitage is being blackmailed by a thorough cad who would ruin her late hero husband's memory (he died saving the lives of Wellington and several of his officers)and seriously injure her family's standing in society.When she was following the drum in Spain, sophie and her husband were friendly with four popular noblemen known as the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, officers she never forgot---particularly one of them,the handsomest in her eyes, and the kindest, Nathaniel Gascoigne. Sophie runs into them again just as the blackmailer is about to drive her into deep debt. Her pride, however, forestalls asking for help, and not until she has become intimately involved with Nat is the story of her predicament revealed. Added to Sophie's distress is the emotional toll her love affair with Nat is taking; lacking in self-esteem, she cannot believe he really cares. Recommended for all readers who prefer live, breathing, REAL characters rather than the 1-dimensional clones found too often in the genre.