huxtable family

ISBN: 0440244234

Publisher: Dell

Release: March 24, 2009

Source: I purchased this book to read and review

At the age of 25, Jasper Finley, Baron Montford, London’s most notorious hellion, had tried to seduce the very innocent and virtuous Katherine Huxtable in order to win a wager. He had lost the bet. Now three years later they meet again and are soon embroiled in a new high stakes wager and an eruption of scandal and seemingly certain disaster. There is only one way out…

Then Comes Seduction is the second installment in the lives and loves of the Huxtable family.  This book is about Katherine  Huxtable – the younger of the 3 sisters in the family – and Jasper Finley, Baron Montford.

This story starts on the night of Jasper’s 25th birthday.  He has been drinking all night and now finds himself with a collection of drunk friends still drinking in his house.  The next few pages are the funniest that I have ever read in a Mary Balogh novel!!  Jasper and his friends try in their drunkeness to have an intelligent conversation about a challenge for Jasper.  Interspersed in this conversation are comments about why the floor is wavy-does the house need to be inspected by an architect, and their lips not working to form words!  It is decided that Jasper will have a fortnight to seduce and have intercourse with, the virtuous Katherine Huxtable.  There are several comments made about what Con Huxtable (their friend and Katherine’s cousin) will think about this wager, but any concerns are dismissed in their drunkeness.

Although Jasper has second thoughts when he wakes up with a hangover the next morning, he decides to go ahead with the challenge as he has never backed away from a challenge yet. He then arranges to join an outing to Convent Gardens with a group that Katherine is part of.  He charms the chaperone and proceeds to center out Katherine, get her alone and seduce her.  Although she is completely under his spell, he stops before he fulfills the terms of his challenge and takes her back to her group of friends.  The next day he admits failure to his friends.  Meanwhile, Katherine is so upset by the outcome of the evening, she heads off to the country to join her other family members.  She doesn’t tell anyone what has happened.

The next time we see our hero and heroine, it is 3 years later, and Katherine is back in London.  The first night of her return to town, she unexpectedly runs into Jasper.  They are both struck by this encounter.  The next night they meet at a ball, dance and in keeping with their history, finds themselves arranging another challenge -this time to make the other fall in love!  You can well imagine what happens from there!

This book has a whole host of wonderful characters – some good, some bad, some redeemable, and two in particular are nasty and stupid!  I am again, struck by Mary Balogh’s ability to make her characters come alive on the page!  Jasper starts the story as a disreputable rake with no apparent redeeming qualities.  As his layers are peeled back, he shows himself to be a true match for Katherine.  I love the way Katherine not only adds to the Huxtable cohesion, but is a spicy, independent and strong minded character.  She is described as beautiful, as looking like an angel, but has a backbone to her beauty.  She has a paragraph about midway through the book where she describes who she wants to marry to Jasper. ‘ “I want him to be very special, she said, Heart of my heart, soul of my soul.  It is foolish to wait for him, I know.  Very few people actually do find that one unique mate we probably all dream of finding.  But I have never yet been able to persuade myself to settle for less.” ‘ I was stuck by this short passage as it succinctly sums up many women’s feelings on finding their true love.

The secondary characters of Sir Clarence, his mother are deliciously mean as well as uptight and stupid!  The character of Jasper’s uncle Seth Wrayburn is a wonderfully crusty old man.  I just had to smile when he arrived in the story!  So endearing under his prickly exterior!  The immediate members of the Huxtable family are also wonderful.  We learn more about the fight between Con and Elliott and we are left anxious to learn about Meg’s story.  Although I have read some reviews that panned this book as boring, I found it the opposite!  I was swept away by Jasper and Katherine’s story and completely enchanted by the progression of their attachment.

“Wickedly sensual, Then Comes Seduction, the second book in the HUXTABLES series is a magnificent historical romance. Readers will get caught up in the lighthearted romance between Kate and Jasper, which covers deeper and, at times, darker feelings, as Jasper struggles to overcome his past. The secondary characters add appeal to the story. Brimming with humor, sensual love scenes, a delightful plot, life-like characters and romance, this story is a winner.” RomanceJunkies.com

“Then Comes Seduction is Mary Balogh at the top of her game, bringing fantastic characters to life with passion and emotion. For Catherine, family is everything and love is automatic. For Jasper, family is a bad experience, with the exception of his half-sister, Charlotte, and love is just a word. Life to him is a game where most things are a wager. Catherine is betting on love, an emotion Jasper has never felt, and the stakes are high, with winner taking all. Then Comes Seduction is emotional, humorous, sensuous, and just plain wonderful. This is a fantastic series!”  ReaderToReader.com

I like the way Mandi at Smexy Books described Katherine and Jasper. “Katherine has quite a good sense of humor which is refreshing. There are many times where she chooses laughing over whining or being angry with Jasper and his rakish ways. She gets angry and sets him in his place when necessary, but she acts in a very mature manner. Jasper himself is a very fun character – quite the charmer and hellion, but underneath he has a good heart and you find yourself rooting for him. It is hard to resist a character that is always looking at the heroine with half drooping eyelids and and a smirk on his lips.”

Next Sunday I’ll post my review for the 3rd book in the Huxtable series – Meg’s book – At Last Comes Love.  The 4th book in the Huxtable series – Seducing an Angel – Stephen’s book and the 5th book – A Secret Affair – Con’s book will be posted the following Sundays.  If you have enjoyed the first two of this series, you are sure to enjoy the last three!
For more information on Mary Balogh’s work, check out her website HERE.

ISBN: 978-0440244226

Publisher: Dell

Release: Feb 24, 2009

Source: I purchased this book to read and review

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Elliott Wallace, Viscount Lyngate, has just acquired unwilling guardianship of Stephen Huxtable, the new young Earl of Merton. If he were to marry Stephen’s eldest sister, he would have the eligible wife he needs and she would be able to look after launching her younger sisters into society. It would be a comfortable arrangement all around. However, Vanessa, the middle sister, thinks otherwise. Margaret loves another man and has a secret agreement with him. And so Vanessa steps up as the sacrificial offering.

First Comes Marriage is the first novel in a series of 5 that has recently been published.  This series follows the lives of the Huxtable family. The immediate family is made up of Meg, Vanessa, Katherine and Stephen Huxtable.  In the trailer for one of the books the family is described as being made up of “three headstrong sisters and their dashing brother”.  You might note at this point that there are 5 books but I have only mentioned 4 Huxtables.  We’ll get to that later!!

Meg is the oldest and has been charged with raising her younger siblings since her parents passed away.  She has forgone marriage to her childhood sweetheart to continue to care for them.  We’ll get to that point later also!!  They live in genteel poverty in the small town of Throckbridge.  Vanessa is the middle sister and is a widow, having being married to a boy from the neighborhood who has since died.

Elliot Wallace, Viscount Lyngate arrives at their door one day to let them know that Stephen has inherited a title, and he will be taking over his eduction as his guardian.  The family is thrown into chaos as they come to terms with the change in their station and situation.  They are taken to Stephen’s new estate and are faced with the daunting task of entering London society in just a few short months.  Elliot decides that things would be easier for this family’s entrance into society is he was married to one of the girls.  He seemingly doesn’t care which, and decides to offer marriage to Meg as she is the eldest.  Vanessa finds out what he is going to do and decides to interfere.  Meg gave up marriage to her childhood sweetheart to care for them, and is still in love with her sweetheart.  Vanessa is afraid that Meg will agree to the marriage, thereby giving up any hope of happiness.  Vanessa interferes by proposing marriage to Elliot herself.  Shocked at first by Vanessa’s actions, Elliot eventually agrees to her proposal and the love story begins.  Elliot and Vanessa start their marriage as one of convenience, but discover the love underneath the surface.

This is a touching love story that doesn’t follow the traditional lines.  Vanessa is described as not a beauty.  A woman who has married once before for the comfort of a dying friend, and a woman who wants to take care of her family by this self-less act.   To her surprise, she finds love.

I find that in most series, the first book of any series is a complicated thing to write.  One must set the history for the group of people that will be populating the series, which can be awkward, and then proceed to introduce the hero and heroine of the first story.  In this case, Mary Balogh does a good job of setting the stage, as it were.  She breaks with traditional romance formulas with Vanessa and Elliot’s story.

I have read many Mary Balogh novels over the years, and haven’t found one yet that I didn’t like.  Some I like more than others.  That prejudice being admitted, I think this is one of the weakest novels that Mary Balogh has written.  When I first read this book, I questioned whether or not I would read the rest of the series.  I walked away from this author for a while, and then picked up the second book at some point later.  It was a winner!  I could then look back on this first book and appreciate it better.  If you are picking up this series for the first time and don’t like this book, persevere on to the other books.  You may possibly have the same reaction as I did!  Just keep in mind that a weaker novel by Mary Balogh is still way better than any book by almost any other author!

“Peppered with brilliant banter, laced with laughter…and tingling with sexual tension, this story of two seemingly mismatched people struggling to make their marriage work tugs at a few heartstrings and skillfully paves the way for the stories to come.” —Library Journal

“I’ve awarded First Comes Marriage a Perfect 10 mainly for its wonderful characterization, but also for its riveting plot. It starts off with a moving prologue that cannot fail to entrap any reader. Then, in chapter one, Ms. Balogh’s quick sketches of the people and the town bring them all vividly to life. The rest of the novel follows the Huxtables as they ready themselves to join Society while remaining true to themselves. As for the relationship between Vanessa and the viscount, two more mismatched people are hard to imagine, yet even as they rub each other the wrong way, a strange attraction persists.”  Romance Reviews Today

Romance Readers at Heart gave this book 4 hearts and said: “I just adore Balogh’s stories. She has such a superlative way of taking flawed and wounded characters and turning them into flesh and blood people whose lives and relationships you cannot help but be drawn into. FIRST COMES MARRIAGE is an excellent introduction to these loving and close knit Huxtable siblings, and I look forward to watching the rest of them fall in love.”