Seduce a Stranger by Susanna Craig was the first book I've read by this author and book numberof the Runaway Desires series, but I read well as a stand alone novel.
Charlotte and Edward make for a wonderful love story, and an especially well written sex scene which was written wonderfully and although the story is fraught with characters who have run away or escaped from something and nicknames, it was charming and interesting non the less.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a honest review, The third installment in this loosely linked series lacks a little of the sparkle of the first two books but is still a very enjoyable read.
Very firmly rooted in all the traditions of modern Regency well Georgian, but you know what I mean romance it is full of lavish and interesting historical detail.
Edward Cary is a decent chap, an all round good guy, but love has some how passed him by, Returning to the inheritance fled an a young boy he meets another runaway with secrets to keep, Following the death of her elderly husband, Charlotte Blakemore is on the run from her dastardly step son who plans to cut her out of the will and ruin her.
How running away is going to help this situation I do not know, but it all seemed to make sense at the time, Charlotte is half French, of dubious parentage and awfully pretty, she is also scared, penniless and alone, Edward rescues her at the roadside and they pretend to be married to avoid scandal and conceal her identity, Edward then returns to his grand family home, now abandoned, and pretends to be the new manager rather than the Heir, What follows becomes increasingly complex, fake marriages, secret marriages, lost children, lost parents in various different permutations, As if the author really wanted to use up a lot of leftover bits of plot, But I did enjoy it, it kept me reading till the end, even though, huh, its a regency romance, we all know how it is going to go down in the last chapter.
The characters are both thoroughly decent and hard working, quite likable, but I did find Charlotte a little dull, she does lots of cleaning and is very quick to get in tizzy.
The inevitable romance between then was nicely paced and believable but I felt some of the steamier scenes did not hit the right note nipple nibbling :/ ick.
For the most part this is a very well written celebration of the genre I enjoyed it, A lot of twists and good turns
A young widow is on the run from her stepson, who has now inherited the title and will do anything to deny her settlement from his father's will.
On the run and losing her funds, a dark haired stranger comes to her rescue, Only this is no ordinary stranger,
This my first book by this author and I'm already downloading another, Stayed up all night damn good bookout ofI am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher
Charlotte is having a bad day her husband has passed and left her a fortune, but her vile stepson has made it his mission to take it from her.
Desperate to get away, she trades places with her maid and ends up stranded at an inn with no money,
Edward Carey is on his way home afteryears in Antigua, He doesn't know what he will find upon his return and decides
to keep his identity a secret for now, When he stops at the inn, the last thing he expects to do is rescue a damsel in distress and find himself with a "wife", It is clear to Edward that Charlotte has secrets, but so does he and when he offers to take her with him, she accepts,
When they arrive at his home, he is in for more than one surprise, Ravenwood is not how Edward remembered it it is deserted and in disrepair, No one from his youth is there any longer and he learns heartbreaking news, He introduces Charlotte as his wife and is then shocked to find that Mari from Antigua has followed him, He decides to stay for a few days and get the lay of the land before setting out to London to confront his demons,
Charlotte and Edward continue the charade of being married, but they both know that it will have to end they share an mutual attraction, but neither of them has been honest with the other and know when their secrets are revealed that they will not be together.
When an impostor comes to Ravenwood and the truth about Charlotte is revealed, she runs,
Edward is shocked to learn the truth about Charlotte and has to wonder if she used him but he knows that he can't just let her walk away, so he follows her to London.
Once in London, he happens upon St, John Sutliffe, Viscount Fairfax whom he knew as Mr, Fairfax in Antigua. He is shocked to learn that St, John is the son of a marquis and was married, He confesses his secrets to St, John and tells him he is searching for Charlotte, St. John knows her stepson and offers to help,
When Charlotte and Edward are finally reunited, it is very sweet and there are more surprises in store for Charlotte,
This book was very good, I really enjoyed the story and became invested in the characters, While it is part of a series, it could easily be read as a stand alone title without any problems, I would happily recommend this book, I didn't read the description of this book, Not before I bought it, nor after, So when I realized it was about Edward Cary I was beyond excited, And then the cameo at the end I, Love. These. Books. If Susanna Craig publishes it, I will buy it, Full at: sitelinkWhat's Beyond Forks
Oh my goodness, there were so many secrets and so many lies, and I'll be honest, both of those things in abundance usually irk me in fiction, but in this case It worked, and it worked well.
Both Edward and Charlotte have survived on secrets and lies, and I guess that's the biggest reason why it worked so well, They did it for survival or self preservation rather than selfish reasons, The romance was just how I like it, . a lot of build up, a lot of cute, with a little naughty, I haven't read the previous two books yet, but this one stands alone just fine, and I'm anxious to get my hands on those two as well.
The ARC of To Seduce a Stranger by Susanna Craig was kindly provided to me by Silver Dagger Book Tours for review, The opinions are my own, To Seduce a Stranger has one of my favorite tropes in Historical Romance, the fake marriage, I specifically look for plot lines that incorporate this into them,
The premise is pretty simple Edward has been away from his family home for a very long time and has finally decided to return to claim his inheritance and eventually confront the father he hated when he was a child.
Charlotte on the other hand is recently widowed and needing to hide from her stepson for a while until the finances can be worked out, He has vowed that he will see her inherit nothing from the very short marriage,
When Charlotte tries to escape her stepsons prying eyes she runs into an incognito Edward and remarkably they fall into claiming to be married so none would suspect either of what they are really doing.
Neither thinks the other is being extremely truthful and so each tries slowly to draw the other out and discover their secrets,
This read a little slow for me, The beginning outlining why Edward ran off was a good start but then It seemed that the book took a long time to get where it was going.
I liked Charlotte well enough, she is a likeable character and I felt bad that she up until this point in her life had a pretty unloved life.
The only man who was ever kind to her did her a favor in one sense but then cursed her in another, I did like Charlottes backstory once we got to it,
There were a few surprises along the way but nothing that really grabbed me, I maybe just wanted a little more chemistry between Edward and Charlotte or fun banter, There is a little but not quite what Im used to in the Historical Romances Ive read in the past,
There were some references and appearances by other characters that perhaps if Id read the first two books in this series I might have picked up on or cared more about.
For instance the references to Tempest and the ship captain she ends up with in the second book seemed like it might be more for me.
I might just give one of the other books in this series a try,
Overall: The characters were a little Meh for my taste but it could have just been this story I wasnt really into.
But I'll probably give another book in this series a try in the future,
Delightfully entertaining novel! Talk about troubled people having a very bad day!!! Charlotte's much older husband passes away and leaves her a substantial bequest, but her very, very bad stepson threatens her and says he'll sue to invalidate the will, cause a scandal and drag her deceased husband's name through the mud.
Yep not a good way to start your day, So, what does she do stand and fight No way then we wouldn't have this great book, She decides to flee and when she spots a man she thinks is one of her stepson's henchmen following her, she separates from her traveling party to head out on her own.
However, through a baggage mixup, she's left without funds, Yes indeed a very bad day indeed,
Edward Cary is every bit as troubled as Charlotte is poor boy, His trouble is just not quite as immediate and blatant in the beginning,
I like both of these troubled characters, Both had unfortunate childhoods and one or more very unloving, uncaring parents and/or caregivers, Both are damaged, fearful and insecure, so it is a real delight to watch them come to grips with their pasts, their present and their future.
I don't know who picks out the titles for these books, Maybe they just drop a quarter into a slot and it spits out a fortune cookie with a name on it, The book doesn't have much seduction in it and at the point there is seduction, the parties aren't strangers at all,
"I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.
" I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley,
Charlotte's elderly husband has just died after a very brief marriage, leaving her fairly wealthy, Her stepson, who inherits a generous amount too, tells her he is going to contest her marriage and inheritance on the basis that his father was insane when he married her.
Charlotte believes that she is being watched by a man employed by her stepson and arranges to trade places with her maid to escape this surveillance, but unfortunately trades bags too and is left penniless when her maid is driven off in her carriage.
She is rescued by Edward, who is travelling to his father's estate to confront him afteryears in Antigua, Finding his father absent and the place in ruins, Edward tells Charlotte and the few estate tenants/ servants that he is Mr Cary, the new steward.
The plot of this story has far too much going on in it, and I suspect this is partly because some of the characters appeared in previous instalments in this series.
There was Tempest, whom Edward mused about a lot, but whom we never got to meet, the Fairfaxes, who popped up out of nowhere towards the end, and Mari the freed slave, whose storyline I actually quite enjoyed.
Did we really need Charlotte's father to turn up at the end Jack's appearance seemed as if it might move things along, but just ended in the recital of yet more parts of the extended family tree.
Then there were the puzzling actions and motivations: when was Edward planning to confront his father and tell everyone who he really was Why did no one in the village recognize him, especially as he was using the family surname What was Charlotte's long term or even medium term plan Was Jack really a womanizer or only pretending to be Why didn't Charlotte tell Edward who she really was The storyline concerning Tessie was obvious from a mile off and too sentimental for me.
I did like the epilogue though, .