To Seduce a Bride (2008)

This is Lily Loring's story. She is the youngest of the Loring trio and she is also the most irritating. She has been complaining and insulting men since the first book. She has tried over and over to talk her sisters out of marrying the men that love them and make them happy. She can’t see that not all men are like her despicable father. She is so wound up in her beliefs that she is right and everyone is wrong that she almost loses the one man that would do anything to make her happy. I am surprised that she hasn't been severely hurt since she can’t evaluate a situation before losing her temper and charging in where cooler heads might hesitate. I agree with her that the defenseless need to be championed but taking on a gang of bullies bigger and meaner than you are isn’t smart. Lily is smart, compassionate, passionate, and loyal to a fault. She is patient, caring and honorable as well. She is just so very stubborn and unyielding.

Heath Griffin, Marquess of Claybourne, is enchanted with Lily from the moment that he kisses her in a barn on the Danvers Estate. I loved the way that Heath understood Lily from the very beginning. He was tender and caring. He never backed down from any of the things that Lily asked of him. He proves is compassion and loyalty over and over. He also never tries to change who Lily is at any point. I loved his dedication and stubbornness. He never gives up. In fact Heath provides some of the more lighthearted moments in the story.

I was also glad that Fanny found someone to love her as well. She has been so helpful to all the girls that I hoped she would find someone to care of her. The person that wins her heart was unexpected and delightful.

This is a well written story and there are some wonderful moments throughout the story. This could have been a great story if only Lily hadn't been so obstinate. We get to see glimpses of the other two couples in this story which is always great. I am looking forward to the next story in this series. ( )

I'm tired of these books where the woman is so contrary, especially when it is contrived. If the other books weren't so good I wouldn't have bothered. Nicole Jordan is a very good author. ( )

I really loved To Bed A Beauty and was looking forward to this book but this was disappointing. Lily and Heath were very annoying and there was no spark. ( )

The youngest of the beautiful Loring sisters, Lily is determined never to marry. After her parent's hostile marriage, the spitfire cannot bear to risk her independence by submitting to a husband - even if that husband comes in as attractive a package as Heath Griffin, Marquess of Claybourne. To evade her would-be suitor, Lily hides in the last place anyone would think to look for her: with her friend Fanny Irwin, instructing members of the demimonde in etiquette and deportment.

I'm somewhat ambivalent about this read. There were parts of this that I absolutely loved, including most of Heath's courtship. In trying to win her, he was thoughtful, generous and strong, and I adored him in those moments. But I found myself much less drawn to him when things turned steamy. The phrase most often on his lips was "Don't bother to deny it". I find that kind of presumption incredibly vexing, and I was surprised that Lily didn't throw something at him.

I was also a bit disappointed that we didn't see more of Lily's adventurous side. I loved her work with the prostitutes and how it influenced her view of things, but I could have done with rather more races through the park, fencing lessons and similar hoydenish moments. That said, I did think her reluctance to wed was well-thought-through, though I'm not as sure of her sudden revelatory turn-around.

More at my blog ( )

A dissapointment. I liked the characters Lilly and Heath so much more in the previous novels of the series leading up to their story. This book made Heath so stifff and boring, and Lilly just stupid. Of the three novels of this series, this was the only bad one. ( )