Review: A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore

A Season of Seduction
by Jennifer Haymore
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Forever
Available: October 1, 2010
Genre: Historical Romance

Although the widowed Lady Rebecca has sworn off marriage, men are another matter. London’s cold winter nights have her dreaming of warmer pursuits-like finding a lover to satisfy her hungry heart. Someone handsome, discreet, and most importantly as uninterested in marriage as she is. Someone like Jack Fulton.

A known adventurer and playboy, Jack seems like the perfect choice. There’s just one problem: Jack isn’t interested in an affair. He needs the beautiful, mysterious Lady Rebecca to be his wife. And he doesn’t have much time to persuade her. A secret from Jack’s past is about to surface, and by Christmas Day he’ll be either married to Rebecca or dead.

Reviewed by: Amy

It’s the holiday season in historical London so with that setting alone I made a cup of hot cocoa and settled into A Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore.  This was my first read of Ms. Haymore’s and while it is part of a series centered around the Duke of Caldon’s family, the story easily stood alone.

Lady Rebecca Fist (Becky) is a young widow of four years and she has one thing on her mind.  Free of a marriage that she wished had never happened, Becky aches to feel physically “alive” with a man again.  Believing that Jack Fulton is a gentleman, with a hint of rogue, she singles him out for a mindless tryst knowing that he will not expect anything more.  After the hurt and betrayal Becky suffered with her first husband, she has no intentions of opening her heart to another man, so Jack presents the perfect solution to her carnal needs.  What Becky doesn’t plan for is getting caught during an intimate rendezvous.  Not wishing to consider marriage to save her reputation, Becky has no idea that marriage is exactly what Jack wants, but for different reasons.  Jack is being blackmailed by a childhood friend and if he does not marry a woman with money to pay off his debt, his past will come back to haunt him in a tragic way.  What Jack does not count on after beginning his courtship of Becky, is the fact that he truly enjoys her companionship and quickly forms deep feelings for her. Becky, on the other hand is trying every way in the world not to acknowledge her growing feelings for Jack.  Once both admit their love to one another, Becky finally agrees to marry Jack. However, the night before their wedding, she overhears Jack speaking of the blackmail. Betrayed again, Becky flees London without telling anyone and travels to Seawood, her parents old home which has been abandoned for years.  When Jack realizes that Becky is gone, he immediately believes she has discovered his betrayal and sets out to find her to tell her he has no intention of paying off the blackmailer and to convince her that his love is real.

Jennifer Haymore strikes a good balance of strength, sensuality, drama and intrigue in her characters as well as the storyline.  Becky is an independent, fearless woman except when it comes to opening her heart to another man.  And Jack, while strong and passionate, shows great sensitivity under his “rogue” persona. He quickly realizes that he must be cautious with Becky’s feelings in order to establish her trust and all the while feels guilty for his ulterior motives in pursuing her.  Despite these motives, as the reader I felt like I got a glimpse into his conscience and bit by bit saw the guilt and the reality of his feelings surface to where I was dying to know how he would get out of his predicament and have Becky as his wife.  Jack, who quickly became my favorite part of the story, was a persistent man in learning who Becky was in every way.  He recognized her intelligence, her knowledge and interest in medicine and put great thought into unique gifts for her during his courtship. Jack also made the effort to understand what went wrong in Becky’s prior marriage and truly desired to never cause Becky that same pain and unfaithfulness.  Becky, on the other hand, totally shocked me about three-fourths into the story and I actually did not know how they would make it past a certain defining and shocking incident between the two.  While the ending was not a typical “packaged with a pretty bow” HEA, it was bittersweet and real due to the circumstances of the characters.  The ending left me satisfied and pondering where Jack and Becky’s new journey would take them.  With enduring characters that exhibit strong chemistry, I very much enjoyed Ms. Haymore’s unique and engaging style and look forward to reading the other books that are a part of this series.

Favorite Quote:

“He slipped a finger inside her, and she sucked in her breath and pushed her forehead onto his shoulder. She trembled as he moved inside her, learned about her most secret places, her unspoken desires, the places that made her sob with a need for release.”

Other books in the series:

• A Hint of Wicked (Tristan Family, #1)
• A Touch of Scandal (Tristan Family, #2)

Other reviews on GoodReads

Jennifer Haymore’s  Website

Purchase Links: Amazon || Book Depository

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