Seducing an Angel

Never Received, Do Not Have Order Number

Cassandra Belmont is a woman down on her luck, and in Regency England that is very far down indeed. Her husband was brutally murdered, and suspicion has fallen on Cassandra, and all of polite society has assumed that there is no smoke without fire. She is untouchable as far as marriage goes, but Cassandra has always had the kind of looks that attract the men's attention, so she will turn to the last option open to her and she will become some man's mistress. Now, all she has to do is find the right man, demonstrate her qualification, and start a life of quiet comfort. And find the right man she does, a perfect angel in the form of Stephen Huxtable, Earl of Merton. But, don't you find that angels can be the very devil? Cassandra definitely does! Ah what a great book! I found the character of Cassandra Belmont to be very interesting and believable. Bent by the force of an abusive husband, she sets out to use men, while at the same time avoiding giving her soul to another one. Stephen Huxtable is the sort of strong yet sensitive man that would make any woman's heart melt. I enjoyed the book as I watched Cassandra's story open up like a flower bud unfolding. It kept me entertained and amused and wanting to see what would happen next. It's a very good book, one you should pick up! (Review of Seducing an Angel by Mary Balogh)

The story of the Huxtable siblings is completed with Seducing an Angel . Readers who began with the first book in this series have seen Stephen Huxtable grow from a seventeen year old with no future prospects higher than becoming someone's secretary or perhaps a vicar, into the Earl of Merton and head of the Huxtable family. This final installment in the Huxtable series introduces us to Stephen Huxtable as a man, and the most eligible bachelor of the Season. As the Earl of Merton, and at the ripe age of twenty-five, Stephen Huxtable knows that it is time for him to think about taking a bride and setting up a nursery. His guardian, his second cousin, and his brothers-in-law have all schooled him in avoiding the most obvious of man-traps that the matchmaking mamas and their charges might lay for him. He has looked over the Season's crop of young ladies and has seen one or two who might be worthy of becoming his wife, but he would like to find the sort of love that has blessed his sisters. Unfortunately, none of the sweet young things he has met has stirred anything of that nature within his heart. Cassandra Belmont, the notorious widowed Lady Paget, has her eye on Stephen. He seems exactly what she needs to provide a way out of her current situation. He appears to be innocently harmless, almost angelic, and if she must take on a lover to keep her financially sound, then he is her choice. She brazenly attends the one ball she thinks she has a chance of not being turned away from without an invitation in order to make his acquaintance. The Earl and Countess of Sheringford are no strangers to scandal and welcome Cassandra, much to her surprise. It appears that Cassandra's plan will succeed when Stephen agrees to set her up as his mistress. Stephen is not quite the innocent that Cassandra believed. He has quickly seen through the mask she wears to the woman hiding behind it. Determined to help her clear her name and reclaim her place within polite society, he decides to become her friend rather than her lover. In doing so, he finds himself falling in love with her and becomes determined to win her love. Cassandra is falling for her Angel, as she has taken to thinking of him, but believes he deserves better than a woman tainted by scandal. Cassandra's reputation is gradually being restored and it seems that Stephen has worked miracles in her life as she becomes reconciled with what remains of her family and finds friendship among the ton . Everything they worked towards is threatened in a careless moment when their growing feelings for one another are revealed. Stephen's actions to save what remains of her reputation could destroy the fragile thing growing between them for marriage is a state Cassandra never wishes to enter into again. To change her mind, Stephen must face the dark secrets that are hidden beneath the civility of some ton marriages and win not only Cassandra's heart, but most importantly, her trust. In the fourth book of Huxtable fa

Each of the books in the Huxtable quartet improves the series, in that each gives further depth to the characters as they appeared in the earlier books. At Last Comes Love, for example, explained the reason for some of Meg's attitudes and actions that just appeared to be excessively annoying in the first two titles of the series. Stephen is a wonderful hero. I'm so tired of tortured, angsty, heroes. It's wonderful to find one who's deepest levels are the same as what appears on the surface, only more so. I'd give this title an A-. It would be an A (there were a couple of places where I had tears in my elderly eyes) except for some of the vocabulary. Over the more-than-a-quarter-century that I've been reading Balogh's regencies, I've noticed that she has an increasing tendency to have the protagonists think to themselves in modern psychobabble ("victim mentality" anyone?). It's not that people in the regency era wouldn't have experienced these feelings and meditated about them. It's just that they wouldn't have used these words to the purpose, so there's the reason for the point off. Otherwise, I'm anxiously awaiting the 5th book (Constantine Huxtable).

If you really stop to look at it, all four of the Huxtable books are about hope. The salient feature of the four Huxtable siblings is that they all believe in love, not just the kind that often fills romance novels, but the kind that makes hard choices and lives with the consequences because, as Meg says in the third book, "That's what love does when it must." In order to create a plot, of course, Mary Balogh has to pair these realistic yet determined optimists with people who have been betrayed by love. It is a testament to her skill as a writer that she does so in a way that is believable. And all four of the love interests are already gritty, strong, loving people. They just don't realize it. They are all survivors, however, and Cassandra is like Duncan (in At Last Comes Love) in that she knows she loves the people she loves. She just has been so badly hurt that she doesn't believe she can risk being married ever again. And so she sets out to protect the people she does love in the only way she knows how, which leads her to seduce Stephen, Earl of Merton. The youngest Huxtable is stronger than she knows, and considerably more than she allows herself to believe she deserves. They sleep together too soon, and they both know it, on some level. Then they spend the rest of the book going back and fighting through the detritus of Cassandra's past to find their way to loving one another. It's a very good book. Some of the subplots are tied up too easily (I wanted to punch Cassandra's brother myself, and while her restraint when he finally showed up again was useful in teaching her something about herself, his willingness to slide back into his old role without a more credible apology left me angry at him). Aside from the Epilogue (which had me in tears, I admit), the book ends in a way very similar to how the first book (First Comes Marriage) starts, with Constantine in the family graveyard, talking to his dead brother. This full-circle treatment makes it very clear how interconnected the stories are. Unlike some of her other series, where Mary Balogh seems to just be working her way through a collection of characters, all of whom deserve to have their own happy endings, this collection of books seems to be a more coherent series, with a larger message about love, and hope, and human resilience. I have high hopes for Constantine's story, whenever it comes. In the meantime, these four books about the Huxtable siblings will give me plenty of rereading pleasure. I do think that it's worth reading these four books in order.

I've read a few reviews of my favorite historical authors and wondered if the reviewer was reading the same book. Then I considered what perhaps a reader was expecting in a historical novel. I enjoy the fabric of the romance, and Mary Balogh has always delivered luxurious material for loyal readers. It's not erotica, if you're expecting just sex, you'll be disappointed. There is a swirl of rich environment creating a sensual repast. This is also no mean feat with the titillation available for todays reader. I grew up with fine work available, Georgette Heyer is a good example of an author who could give you a romantic story filled with wit and wisdom and the mores of the day. Now I believe all my favorite authors have an allowance to add more sensual love scenes with the mores of today. Still I really enjoy the romance of the story, the fabric which good authors fill out my favorite characters. And if a few are too good to be true, well so much the better. Because Mary Balogh did give me The Golden Earl. Now with such a Angel, the heroine was going to come into any story at a distinct disadvantage, I mean who was going to be good enough for Stephen? Ah, but Mary has the wit to find Cassandra for him. Wickedly, good sense, in my humble opinion. A poignant love story was a perfect way for me to spend a quiet day off from a busy 40 hour work week. Um, I also hear mention that a new character isn't like a previous one, duh! Now that could disappoint. I reread Mary Balogh books,quite happily, as I am a voracious reader, if I want to read an old story the old booklist is wonderful. But I am so happy with each new offering. Thanks Mary Balogh, another winner!