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Holt Sisters Trilogy #3
The Secret To Seduction
WANTON!
A vicar's daughter unafraid to control her fate, Sabrina Fairleigh arrives at an exclusive country soiree with marriage in mind. How shocking --- and intriguing --- to discover her host is an infamous ladies' man known for his indecent (and, ah, inspiring) poetry!
WICKED!
They call him The Libertine, and his poetry is just as scandalous --- and irresistible --- as he is. But after one duel too many forces Rhys Gillray, Earl of Rawden, from lively London to his country estate, he's in desperate need of a cure for boredom. And the proper but beautiful vicar's daughter seems like the perfect test of his sensual skills.
WONDROUS!
With wit and wiliness, Rhys strips away Sabrina's defenses. But as he teaches her pleasure, the emotional stakes of their sensual duel go beyond anything Rhys has ever known. For deep in his past lies the missing clue to the crime that destroyed Sabrina's family. And all The Libertine's seductive secrets may not be enough to save their future and their hearts.
A vicar's daughter unafraid to control her fate, Sabrina Fairleigh arrives at an exclusive country soiree with marriage in mind. How shocking --- and intriguing --- to discover her host is an infamous ladies' man known for his indecent (and, ah, inspiring) poetry!
WICKED!
They call him The Libertine, and his poetry is just as scandalous --- and irresistible --- as he is. But after one duel too many forces Rhys Gillray, Earl of Rawden, from lively London to his country estate, he's in desperate need of a cure for boredom. And the proper but beautiful vicar's daughter seems like the perfect test of his sensual skills.
WONDROUS!
With wit and wiliness, Rhys strips away Sabrina's defenses. But as he teaches her pleasure, the emotional stakes of their sensual duel go beyond anything Rhys has ever known. For deep in his past lies the missing clue to the crime that destroyed Sabrina's family. And all The Libertine's seductive secrets may not be enough to save their future and their hearts.
411 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
84 people are currently reading
938 people want to read
About the author
Julie Anne Long
38 books2,959 followersWell, where should I start? I've lived in San Francisco for more than a decade, usually with at least one cat. I won the school spelling bee when I was in 7th grade; the word that clinched it was 'ukulele.' I originally set out to be a rock star when I grew up (I had a Bono fixation, but who didn't?), and I have the guitars and the questionable wardrobe stuffed in the back of my closet to prove it.
But writing was always my first love.
I was editor of my elementary school paper (believe it or not, Mrs. Little's fifth grade class at Glenmoor Elementary did have one); my high school paper (along with my best high school bud, Cindy Jorgenson); and my college paper, where our long-suffering typesetter finally forced me to learn how to typeset because my articles were usually late (and thus I probably have him to thank for all the desktop publishing jobs that ensued over the years).
Won a couple of random awards along the way: the Bank of America English Award in High School (which basically just amounted to a fancy plaque saying that I was really, really good at English); and an award for best Sports Feature article in a College Newspaper (and anyone who knows me well understands how deeply ironic that is). I began my academic career as a Journalism major; I switched to Creative Writing, which was a more comfortable fit for my freewheeling imagination and overdeveloped sense of whimsy. I dreamed of being a novelist.
But most of us, I think, tend to take for granted the things that come easily to us. I loved writing and all indications were that I was pretty good at it, but I, thank you very much, wanted to be a rock star. Which turned out to be ever-so-slightly harder to do than writing. A lot more equipment was involved, that's for sure. Heavy things, with knobs. It also involved late nights, fetid, graffiti-sprayed practice rooms, gorgeous flakey boys, bizarre gigs, in-fighting—what's not to love?
But my dream of being a published writer never faded. When the charm (ahem) of playing to four people in a tiny club at midnight on a Wednesday finally wore thin, however, I realized I could incorporate all the best things about being in a band — namely, drama, passion, and men with unruly hair — into novels, while at the same time indulging my love of history and research.
So I wrote The Runaway Duke, sent it to a literary agent (see the story here), who sold it to Warner Books a few months after that...which made 2003 one of the most extraordinary, head-spinning years I've ever had.
Why romance? Well, like most people, I read across many genres, but I've been an avid romance reader since I got in trouble for sneaking a Rosemary Rogers novel out of my mom's nightstand drawer (I think it was Sweet Savage Love). Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Laurie McBain...I cut my romance teeth on those ladies. And in general, I take a visceral sort of pleasure in creating a hero and a heroine, putting them through their emotional paces, and watching their relationship develop on the page. And of course, there's much to be said for the happy ending. :)
And why Regency Historicals? Well, for starters, I think we can blame Jane Austen. Her inimitable wit, compassion and vision brought the Regency vividly to life for generations of readers. If Jane Austen had written romances about Incas, for instance, I think, we'd have racks and racks of Inca romances in bookstores all over the country, and Warner Forever would be the Inca Romance line.
But I'm a history FREAK, in general. I read more history, to be perfectly honest, than fiction (when I have time to read!) these days. When we were little, my sister and I used to play "Littl
But writing was always my first love.
I was editor of my elementary school paper (believe it or not, Mrs. Little's fifth grade class at Glenmoor Elementary did have one); my high school paper (along with my best high school bud, Cindy Jorgenson); and my college paper, where our long-suffering typesetter finally forced me to learn how to typeset because my articles were usually late (and thus I probably have him to thank for all the desktop publishing jobs that ensued over the years).
Won a couple of random awards along the way: the Bank of America English Award in High School (which basically just amounted to a fancy plaque saying that I was really, really good at English); and an award for best Sports Feature article in a College Newspaper (and anyone who knows me well understands how deeply ironic that is). I began my academic career as a Journalism major; I switched to Creative Writing, which was a more comfortable fit for my freewheeling imagination and overdeveloped sense of whimsy. I dreamed of being a novelist.
But most of us, I think, tend to take for granted the things that come easily to us. I loved writing and all indications were that I was pretty good at it, but I, thank you very much, wanted to be a rock star. Which turned out to be ever-so-slightly harder to do than writing. A lot more equipment was involved, that's for sure. Heavy things, with knobs. It also involved late nights, fetid, graffiti-sprayed practice rooms, gorgeous flakey boys, bizarre gigs, in-fighting—what's not to love?
But my dream of being a published writer never faded. When the charm (ahem) of playing to four people in a tiny club at midnight on a Wednesday finally wore thin, however, I realized I could incorporate all the best things about being in a band — namely, drama, passion, and men with unruly hair — into novels, while at the same time indulging my love of history and research.
So I wrote The Runaway Duke, sent it to a literary agent (see the story here), who sold it to Warner Books a few months after that...which made 2003 one of the most extraordinary, head-spinning years I've ever had.
Why romance? Well, like most people, I read across many genres, but I've been an avid romance reader since I got in trouble for sneaking a Rosemary Rogers novel out of my mom's nightstand drawer (I think it was Sweet Savage Love). Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Laurie McBain...I cut my romance teeth on those ladies. And in general, I take a visceral sort of pleasure in creating a hero and a heroine, putting them through their emotional paces, and watching their relationship develop on the page. And of course, there's much to be said for the happy ending. :)
And why Regency Historicals? Well, for starters, I think we can blame Jane Austen. Her inimitable wit, compassion and vision brought the Regency vividly to life for generations of readers. If Jane Austen had written romances about Incas, for instance, I think, we'd have racks and racks of Inca romances in bookstores all over the country, and Warner Forever would be the Inca Romance line.
But I'm a history FREAK, in general. I read more history, to be perfectly honest, than fiction (when I have time to read!) these days. When we were little, my sister and I used to play "Littl
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
August 26, 2020
I am re-reading all my 5 star rated romance novels. There are 62 on my shelf (and counting). This is book 50.
(Tropes: Class Difference, Marriage of Convenience, Opposites Attract, Unstarched (her & him), Unrequited Love)
This is how my 50th re-read held up.
Parts are great, parts are not.
Rhys is a bit too full of himself to my liking – a coldness and arrogance that I never really warmed up to. The main obstacle in the story is very big, and I am not sure I could forgive him for what he did.
He is also bored with life, bored with money, bored with being envied by his peers, bored with women falling all over him…..
There are many POVs that distract from the romance, so I was a bit bored, tempted to skim (I didn’t). That said, when Rhys and Sabrina interact it’s funny, electric and very passionate.
Almost makes up for it.
Changed from 5 stars to 3 stars.
*****
- He supposed there was a modicum of drama in doing the honorable thing, even if the remainder of his life he was tied to a woman who thought London the equivalent of Gomorrah.
*****
- You haven’t turned more than two pages since you’ve sat down, Miss Fairleigh. Do you read so very slowly? Or does my presence disconcert you? If it’s the latter, I do apologize.”
She’d thought poets possessed clouds for brains. This one possessed a rapier.
“You’re not sorry, Lord Rawden,” she said evenly.
Oh, and at that, he smiled fully. And what a smile it was: genuinely, brilliantly pleased with both her and with himself. The kind of smile that made his eyes all but vanish and lines ray from their corners.
Andsmack : just like that, her wits scattered like billiard balls.
- She was cleverer than he preferred her to be. She had an unnervingly direct gaze, when it was more fashionable for a woman to look sideways through lowered lashes, or cast eyes modestly down. Her view of the world was uncluttered by cynicism but clouded by naïveté. She didn’t know any better, he supposed, than to look a man in the eye and deliver stripping truths.
She’d managed against all odds…to surprise him. Again.
And it had been as exhilarating—and about as pleasant—as being pushed off a cliff.
- He’d meant it to be a swift touch of the lips, just enough to scandalize her and to satisfy his own half-whimsical impulse, to prove to himself that he had won: he had lured her here, and his reward was to be a kiss.
But when his lips met hers, something went terribly wrong.
Or perhaps it was just that something went too terribly right.
Because…oh, God. Her mouth was a dream beneath his. So softly, surprisingly welcoming, it was as though she’d been anticipating this kiss her entire life.
- “And that’s what it feels like, Miss Fairleigh, to lose control,” he said softly.
She dropped her hands and her head jerked up, and she stared at him. He wondered if he should prepare to be slapped.
Instead, he saw her jaw set.
“It wasn’t I who lost control, Lord Rawden. I believe it wasI, in fact, who had it the entire time.”
She watched him as the truth of this sank in. Rhys froze, realizing it.
And then she turned swiftly on her heel, dipping to gather her dropped shawl, and walked swiftly from the room, wrapping it around her.
- “Pretending something didn’t happen doesn’t quite mean it didn’t happen, you know,” he said idly. “It’s not quite the same thing, is it?”
He didn’t turn. Not yet.
But the silence was interesting. He wondered if her face had gone that lovely pink, or whether she’d stopped breathing.
“But pretending it didn’t happen helps hasten the process offorgetting that it ever happened,” she told him, in an admirably steady voice. “In fact, I’ve very nearly forgotten it already.”
“Have you?” he said absently, then knelt to study the books on the row below.
“Of course,” she said idly.
He let a silence go by. Long enough to allow her to perhaps relax a little.
“You’ve forgotten how my lips felt against your throat, and how your body felt pressed against mine?”
This he said conversationally, his voice almost drifting, as he pulled a book from the shelf, leafing through it slowly. Romans, this one was about.
Ah. He thought he could hear her breathing now.
- “I think that you’ll be dreaming of me perhaps until the day you die.”
She clapped the book shut then and stood abruptly. “It was only,” she ground out, “a kiss.”
“Was it?” He was laughing now.
“And moreover, ” she all but growled, “you, Lord Rawden, murmured my name rather feverishly into my throat, as I recall.”
His smile disappeared. Good God, but a man didn’t like to be reminded of the things he did or said in the heat of passion. She was a very good player. He eyed her somewhat cautiously.
“And you were breathing rather like a bellows,” she continued. “Like a mating bull.”
“A mating bull ?”
- “And so I believe you now know the price of succumbing to your animal nature.” She said it somewhat sardonically, as though concluding an argument.
Ah, Miss Fairleigh. She never could resist.
But nor could he. He rose to it. “Oddly enough, Miss Fairleigh, I have kissed dozens of women and managed not to enter into any engagements.”
“Dozens? Oh, my. I fall more in love with you by the minute.”
It was time to reveal his hand. “I believe you stood on tiptoe, Sabrina.”
Hot color crept into those pale cheeks. “I beg your pardon?” She sounded outraged.
Hmmm. A bit too outraged. Hadn’t the bard written something about protesting too much?
“What I mean to say, Sabrina,” he clarified relentlessly, on a drawl, “is that you met me halfway today in the library. You wanted a kiss.”
- Instead, on impulse, he took her hand in his, gently turned it palm side up, rubbed his thumb over it. A pretty hand, the fingers long and straight and slim, the nails short. But the palms weren’t satiny smooth. They weren’t tended hands. They’d been used a bit.
“Not the hand of a fragile woman,” he murmured.
“No,” she agreed softly, after a moment. The word a distracted-sounding little syllable.
And there was a silence. And as the silence stretched, it seemed to gather a charge.
He’d only meant to hold her hand, touch her, let it go. But he gazed down at her, and his thumb continued to move slowly over the mounds of her palm, tracing a feathery pattern. As if this were the map to Sabrina.
And what had begun almost absently became, as it did every time he touched her…intent.
As he watched the warm color rise in her cheeks, that nearly irrational want surged in him. Dear God. And he’d only touched her hand.
***
- She was in love with her husband.
She suspected that her husband—The Libertine—was falling in love with her.
(Tropes: Class Difference, Marriage of Convenience, Opposites Attract, Unstarched (her & him), Unrequited Love)
This is how my 50th re-read held up.
Parts are great, parts are not.
Rhys is a bit too full of himself to my liking – a coldness and arrogance that I never really warmed up to. The main obstacle in the story is very big, and I am not sure I could forgive him for what he did.
He is also bored with life, bored with money, bored with being envied by his peers, bored with women falling all over him…..
There are many POVs that distract from the romance, so I was a bit bored, tempted to skim (I didn’t). That said, when Rhys and Sabrina interact it’s funny, electric and very passionate.
Almost makes up for it.
Changed from 5 stars to 3 stars.
*****
- He supposed there was a modicum of drama in doing the honorable thing, even if the remainder of his life he was tied to a woman who thought London the equivalent of Gomorrah.
*****
- You haven’t turned more than two pages since you’ve sat down, Miss Fairleigh. Do you read so very slowly? Or does my presence disconcert you? If it’s the latter, I do apologize.”
She’d thought poets possessed clouds for brains. This one possessed a rapier.
“You’re not sorry, Lord Rawden,” she said evenly.
Oh, and at that, he smiled fully. And what a smile it was: genuinely, brilliantly pleased with both her and with himself. The kind of smile that made his eyes all but vanish and lines ray from their corners.
Andsmack : just like that, her wits scattered like billiard balls.
- She was cleverer than he preferred her to be. She had an unnervingly direct gaze, when it was more fashionable for a woman to look sideways through lowered lashes, or cast eyes modestly down. Her view of the world was uncluttered by cynicism but clouded by naïveté. She didn’t know any better, he supposed, than to look a man in the eye and deliver stripping truths.
She’d managed against all odds…to surprise him. Again.
And it had been as exhilarating—and about as pleasant—as being pushed off a cliff.
- He’d meant it to be a swift touch of the lips, just enough to scandalize her and to satisfy his own half-whimsical impulse, to prove to himself that he had won: he had lured her here, and his reward was to be a kiss.
But when his lips met hers, something went terribly wrong.
Or perhaps it was just that something went too terribly right.
Because…oh, God. Her mouth was a dream beneath his. So softly, surprisingly welcoming, it was as though she’d been anticipating this kiss her entire life.
- “And that’s what it feels like, Miss Fairleigh, to lose control,” he said softly.
She dropped her hands and her head jerked up, and she stared at him. He wondered if he should prepare to be slapped.
Instead, he saw her jaw set.
“It wasn’t I who lost control, Lord Rawden. I believe it wasI, in fact, who had it the entire time.”
She watched him as the truth of this sank in. Rhys froze, realizing it.
And then she turned swiftly on her heel, dipping to gather her dropped shawl, and walked swiftly from the room, wrapping it around her.
- “Pretending something didn’t happen doesn’t quite mean it didn’t happen, you know,” he said idly. “It’s not quite the same thing, is it?”
He didn’t turn. Not yet.
But the silence was interesting. He wondered if her face had gone that lovely pink, or whether she’d stopped breathing.
“But pretending it didn’t happen helps hasten the process offorgetting that it ever happened,” she told him, in an admirably steady voice. “In fact, I’ve very nearly forgotten it already.”
“Have you?” he said absently, then knelt to study the books on the row below.
“Of course,” she said idly.
He let a silence go by. Long enough to allow her to perhaps relax a little.
“You’ve forgotten how my lips felt against your throat, and how your body felt pressed against mine?”
This he said conversationally, his voice almost drifting, as he pulled a book from the shelf, leafing through it slowly. Romans, this one was about.
Ah. He thought he could hear her breathing now.
- “I think that you’ll be dreaming of me perhaps until the day you die.”
She clapped the book shut then and stood abruptly. “It was only,” she ground out, “a kiss.”
“Was it?” He was laughing now.
“And moreover, ” she all but growled, “you, Lord Rawden, murmured my name rather feverishly into my throat, as I recall.”
His smile disappeared. Good God, but a man didn’t like to be reminded of the things he did or said in the heat of passion. She was a very good player. He eyed her somewhat cautiously.
“And you were breathing rather like a bellows,” she continued. “Like a mating bull.”
“A mating bull ?”
- “And so I believe you now know the price of succumbing to your animal nature.” She said it somewhat sardonically, as though concluding an argument.
Ah, Miss Fairleigh. She never could resist.
But nor could he. He rose to it. “Oddly enough, Miss Fairleigh, I have kissed dozens of women and managed not to enter into any engagements.”
“Dozens? Oh, my. I fall more in love with you by the minute.”
It was time to reveal his hand. “I believe you stood on tiptoe, Sabrina.”
Hot color crept into those pale cheeks. “I beg your pardon?” She sounded outraged.
Hmmm. A bit too outraged. Hadn’t the bard written something about protesting too much?
“What I mean to say, Sabrina,” he clarified relentlessly, on a drawl, “is that you met me halfway today in the library. You wanted a kiss.”
- Instead, on impulse, he took her hand in his, gently turned it palm side up, rubbed his thumb over it. A pretty hand, the fingers long and straight and slim, the nails short. But the palms weren’t satiny smooth. They weren’t tended hands. They’d been used a bit.
“Not the hand of a fragile woman,” he murmured.
“No,” she agreed softly, after a moment. The word a distracted-sounding little syllable.
And there was a silence. And as the silence stretched, it seemed to gather a charge.
He’d only meant to hold her hand, touch her, let it go. But he gazed down at her, and his thumb continued to move slowly over the mounds of her palm, tracing a feathery pattern. As if this were the map to Sabrina.
And what had begun almost absently became, as it did every time he touched her…intent.
As he watched the warm color rise in her cheeks, that nearly irrational want surged in him. Dear God. And he’d only touched her hand.
***
- She was in love with her husband.
She suspected that her husband—The Libertine—was falling in love with her.
April 21, 2025
3.7⭐️ The first half was *chef’s kiss.* JAL writes in a class by herself. Her style is magic.
It was a sound unlike anything she’d ever heard in her life. The volume was otherworldly; it seemed impossible for a human, let alone a slight one like Sophia Licari, to produce it. Her voice was an instrument, as surely as a bell or a trumpet or a battering ram. It ascended, trilled, toyed with a single note, then raced back down the register to attend to another note, flirting with it before moving on to seduce and linger over the next phrase. And as it swelled, filling the entire room, Sabrina felt it ringing inside her chest, until she felt of a piece with the song.
What a description! And she does the same with describing poetry and complex characters and lovemaking. 🥰
Sabrina and Rhys.😍
Where Long and I part ways is her 3rd act dramarama. It felt forced and artificial with a dollop of The Da Vinci Code thrown as an extra measure. A glib comment from secondary characters swept stray plot holes under the rug. The good news: the ending could have gone darker, but the aforementioned glibbies prevented it from happening.
In all fairness, this was the 3rd book in a trilogy. I never read the first two, so it didn’t quite work as a standalone.
It was a sound unlike anything she’d ever heard in her life. The volume was otherworldly; it seemed impossible for a human, let alone a slight one like Sophia Licari, to produce it. Her voice was an instrument, as surely as a bell or a trumpet or a battering ram. It ascended, trilled, toyed with a single note, then raced back down the register to attend to another note, flirting with it before moving on to seduce and linger over the next phrase. And as it swelled, filling the entire room, Sabrina felt it ringing inside her chest, until she felt of a piece with the song.
What a description! And she does the same with describing poetry and complex characters and lovemaking. 🥰
Sabrina and Rhys.😍
Where Long and I part ways is her 3rd act dramarama. It felt forced and artificial with a dollop of The Da Vinci Code thrown as an extra measure. A glib comment from secondary characters swept stray plot holes under the rug. The good news: the ending could have gone darker, but the aforementioned glibbies prevented it from happening.
In all fairness, this was the 3rd book in a trilogy. I never read the first two, so it didn’t quite work as a standalone.
April 14, 2025
Nov 2022: 5 stars
Apr 2025: 5 stars
I recalled almost nothing about my first reading of this book and the big question is why? Possible answers: my memory sucks. I read too many books back-to-back to retain details about them, even the exemplary ones (my mistake, which I probably won’t correct). Julie Anne Long has written so many 5-star books it’s hard to keep them distinct in my mind. And, possibly, because this strikes me more as a character study than a story, although a three-book plot arc explodes rather dramatically in the last 25% of this book.
Regarding my original review: this is still a really good book. The writing is breathtaking. Even the sex scenes, hot as they are, are poetry. Rhys appears to be a clever hedonist, bent only on pleasure. He is what he appears to be, but slowly the reader becomes aware he’s using the pursuit of pleasure to mask guilt and pain and pride and fear. He initially dismisses the little vicar’s daughter brought as a guest to his house party as judgmental, prim and prudish, countrified, provincial, but then he glimpses something more in her clear eyes, her blunt words. And because she’s pretty, he decides to make sport of her…just a little.
She had no idea that poetry and passion lived in her soul, or how open she left herself to sensual gambits because of it. She would know in a day or so. She was cleverer than he preferred her to be. She had an unnervingly direct gaze, when it was more fashionable for a woman to look sideways through lowered lashes, or cast eyes modestly down. Her view of the world was uncluttered by cynicism but clouded by naïveté. She didn’t know any better, he supposed, than to look a man in the eye and deliver stripping truths.
Sabrina is curious about but appalled by the fascinating Rhys, only interested in securing her future with his cousin Geoffrey, a curate of her father’s. Until, that is, Rhys demonstrates she might not be as even-tempered and buttoned-down as she supposed.
He was a dangerous, dangerous, bad, bad man. Bad man. Oh, dear God, he tasted heavenly.
Both forget that when you play with fire, you might get burned.
And that plot explosion that happens at 75%? It’s a legitimate mountain, not an overhyped mole-hill.
Thanks for the non-synchronous buddy read, Izzah and Lori! I was thrilled to have a reason to reread this beautiful piece of writing.
___________________
Original Review:
I wish, I wish, I wish. I wish all historical romances could be this good. Why can’t they?
Both main characters are problematic: Rhys shies from emotional involvements, preferring to remain intellectually superior and concentrating on the pleasures of the flesh. Sabrina encases herself in sanctimony, priding herself on remaining controlled and even tempered, and centering her life around being helpful. Rhys decides to challenge Sabrina’s invincibility and both get caught in a trap of passion that eventually deepens to something more, not without a struggle, but an ugly shared history threatens to destroy their bond and Rhys’ existence.
The writing style is a thing of beauty. The characters are fascinating and their evolution is believable. The plot is pothole-free and the pace is neither rushed nor leisurely—it feels just right. I loved this book and will now have to back up and read the previous books in the series.
Apr 2025: 5 stars
I recalled almost nothing about my first reading of this book and the big question is why? Possible answers: my memory sucks. I read too many books back-to-back to retain details about them, even the exemplary ones (my mistake, which I probably won’t correct). Julie Anne Long has written so many 5-star books it’s hard to keep them distinct in my mind. And, possibly, because this strikes me more as a character study than a story, although a three-book plot arc explodes rather dramatically in the last 25% of this book.
Regarding my original review: this is still a really good book. The writing is breathtaking. Even the sex scenes, hot as they are, are poetry. Rhys appears to be a clever hedonist, bent only on pleasure. He is what he appears to be, but slowly the reader becomes aware he’s using the pursuit of pleasure to mask guilt and pain and pride and fear. He initially dismisses the little vicar’s daughter brought as a guest to his house party as judgmental, prim and prudish, countrified, provincial, but then he glimpses something more in her clear eyes, her blunt words. And because she’s pretty, he decides to make sport of her…just a little.
She had no idea that poetry and passion lived in her soul, or how open she left herself to sensual gambits because of it. She would know in a day or so. She was cleverer than he preferred her to be. She had an unnervingly direct gaze, when it was more fashionable for a woman to look sideways through lowered lashes, or cast eyes modestly down. Her view of the world was uncluttered by cynicism but clouded by naïveté. She didn’t know any better, he supposed, than to look a man in the eye and deliver stripping truths.
Sabrina is curious about but appalled by the fascinating Rhys, only interested in securing her future with his cousin Geoffrey, a curate of her father’s. Until, that is, Rhys demonstrates she might not be as even-tempered and buttoned-down as she supposed.
He was a dangerous, dangerous, bad, bad man. Bad man. Oh, dear God, he tasted heavenly.
Both forget that when you play with fire, you might get burned.
And that plot explosion that happens at 75%? It’s a legitimate mountain, not an overhyped mole-hill.
Thanks for the non-synchronous buddy read, Izzah and Lori! I was thrilled to have a reason to reread this beautiful piece of writing.
___________________
Original Review:
I wish, I wish, I wish. I wish all historical romances could be this good. Why can’t they?
Both main characters are problematic: Rhys shies from emotional involvements, preferring to remain intellectually superior and concentrating on the pleasures of the flesh. Sabrina encases herself in sanctimony, priding herself on remaining controlled and even tempered, and centering her life around being helpful. Rhys decides to challenge Sabrina’s invincibility and both get caught in a trap of passion that eventually deepens to something more, not without a struggle, but an ugly shared history threatens to destroy their bond and Rhys’ existence.
The writing style is a thing of beauty. The characters are fascinating and their evolution is believable. The plot is pothole-free and the pace is neither rushed nor leisurely—it feels just right. I loved this book and will now have to back up and read the previous books in the series.
April 16, 2025
Current 2025 rating: 4-stars
Original 2017 rating: 5-stars
The rake of all rakes gets brought down by a beautiful vicars daughter.
📝 Rhys Gillray, the Earl of Rawden, aka The Libertine - writes poetry, sleeps with married women and duels their angry husbands, is now bored with the debauched lifestyle, throws a house party at his La Montagne property with his equally scandalous friends, including his opera singing mistress, mediocre painter best friend, his loser curate cousin George, amongst others.
⛪️ Sabrina - a small town vicar’s daughter who was charming and beautiful, attends the house party in hopes to be able to spend more time with Cousin George and hopefully pursue a path towards getting married and become missionaries in Africa one day.
Rhys initially is indifferent towards the little provincial Sabrina, but once he understands that she feels she could not be seduced and fall victim to strong emotions, he sets out privately to prove her wrong.
Things I didn’t enjoy as much:
⚜️- reread Rhys’s description. He doesn’t initially sound like hero material. I had a difficult time engaging with him, but the more I learned of him, the more I loved him.
⚜️- I felt the opera singing ex-mistress had too much page time. I will say that Rhys does not engage with any OW in this story, no cheating takes place. But he thought he was going to carry on as usual after getting married. But he was bit by the Love Bug.
⚜️ - the beginning half of the story was a bit slow for me, and I kept wanting to skim past to find the next scene of our MCs together. The last half was very entertaining though.
Things I loved:
⚜️- the early nonchalant sexy banter was great. He was trying to play it cool and act unaffected, but we knew!
⚜️- the first kissing scene in the statue gallery 🔥 where he accidentally got too excited and had to go change his breeches… that scene has instigated me to now go create a GR List of books containing this scene 😈
⚜️- the hair brushing scene on their wedding night was 🔥too.
⚜️- the motherly advice Anna gives to Sabrina about forgiveness and love.
Favorite quote, by my BR partner, Gloria - “I found him to be the least poet-y poet ever to take pen to paper”
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Original 2017 review:
What a great love story! I don't know why I left it on my to-be-read shelf for so long! This is book #3 in the series, and I actually did not read the first two books and I did not feel like it hindered me at all for not having read them.
The best part about this book is the hero and heroine. So very well developed! So much was shown to us, instead of being told to us. The chemistry was perfect, in my opinion. There was quite a bit of bantering, bickering that led up to their first kiss... but it was not done in a hateful, petty way. They were both serious, mature, had a general dislike for each other. The heroine was a very sheltered country girl but she did not come across as ignorant or backwards. She was very reserved and quick to learn, but very genuine and honest with her feelings. The hero had a lot of emotional baggage, and liked to provoke the heroine and was the one that fell hard for her, which was a great thing to watch happen.
There was a little murder mystery going on in the background, that I could have done without, but it was ok, not too crazy. (i'm just not big into suspense, makes me nervous)
Original 2017 rating: 5-stars
The rake of all rakes gets brought down by a beautiful vicars daughter.
📝 Rhys Gillray, the Earl of Rawden, aka The Libertine - writes poetry, sleeps with married women and duels their angry husbands, is now bored with the debauched lifestyle, throws a house party at his La Montagne property with his equally scandalous friends, including his opera singing mistress, mediocre painter best friend, his loser curate cousin George, amongst others.
⛪️ Sabrina - a small town vicar’s daughter who was charming and beautiful, attends the house party in hopes to be able to spend more time with Cousin George and hopefully pursue a path towards getting married and become missionaries in Africa one day.
Rhys initially is indifferent towards the little provincial Sabrina, but once he understands that she feels she could not be seduced and fall victim to strong emotions, he sets out privately to prove her wrong.
Things I didn’t enjoy as much:
⚜️- reread Rhys’s description. He doesn’t initially sound like hero material. I had a difficult time engaging with him, but the more I learned of him, the more I loved him.
⚜️- I felt the opera singing ex-mistress had too much page time. I will say that Rhys does not engage with any OW in this story, no cheating takes place. But he thought he was going to carry on as usual after getting married. But he was bit by the Love Bug.
⚜️ - the beginning half of the story was a bit slow for me, and I kept wanting to skim past to find the next scene of our MCs together. The last half was very entertaining though.
Things I loved:
⚜️- the early nonchalant sexy banter was great. He was trying to play it cool and act unaffected, but we knew!
⚜️- the first kissing scene in the statue gallery 🔥 where he accidentally got too excited and had to go change his breeches… that scene has instigated me to now go create a GR List of books containing this scene 😈
⚜️- the hair brushing scene on their wedding night was 🔥too.
⚜️- the motherly advice Anna gives to Sabrina about forgiveness and love.
Favorite quote, by my BR partner, Gloria - “I found him to be the least poet-y poet ever to take pen to paper”
————————————————————-
Original 2017 review:
What a great love story! I don't know why I left it on my to-be-read shelf for so long! This is book #3 in the series, and I actually did not read the first two books and I did not feel like it hindered me at all for not having read them.
The best part about this book is the hero and heroine. So very well developed! So much was shown to us, instead of being told to us. The chemistry was perfect, in my opinion. There was quite a bit of bantering, bickering that led up to their first kiss... but it was not done in a hateful, petty way. They were both serious, mature, had a general dislike for each other. The heroine was a very sheltered country girl but she did not come across as ignorant or backwards. She was very reserved and quick to learn, but very genuine and honest with her feelings. The hero had a lot of emotional baggage, and liked to provoke the heroine and was the one that fell hard for her, which was a great thing to watch happen.
There was a little murder mystery going on in the background, that I could have done without, but it was ok, not too crazy. (i'm just not big into suspense, makes me nervous)
October 12, 2010
Ooh I really like the beginning of this book. The way Lord Rawden is described, dark hair with light blue eyes and wearing a great coat; great combo. I am personally a huge fan of great coats but that aside Long has done a great job of giving her leading male character a powerful presence. I don't even know his first name yet but boy howdy do I want to get to know him.
Hot damn this is the kind of story I expected from Long after reading the first in this series. I absolutely love how it's being set up with Rhys (the hunk in the overcoat I mentioned earlier) and Sabrina to be in competition; the competitive game- seduction. Bring on all the witty comebacks, startling discoveries, lingering looks, and loving I can handle Ms. Long!
I know the storyline seems like one we've all heard before, rake seduces virgin, but kudos to Long for putting a fresh spin on it. This story felt very new and the main characters relationship felt like nothing I have read before.
There are definitely some toe curling moments. One of my favorites involved these two lines: “It wasn’t I who lost control, Lord Rawden. I believe it was I, in fact, who had it the entire time.”
She watched him as the truth of this sank in. Rhys froze, realizing it."
This is what you call saying the right thing at the right moment.
I was little troubled?, disappointed? At how easily Sabrina accepted Rhys going to London and leaving her constantly without even a goodbye to her. Thank god for Mrs. Bailey though, great character! :)
This story really turned around for me from being a fun romp to being a serious heartfelt story after Rhys and Sabrina come together in the library (the sex scene not the kissing one). I felt Rhys' struggle to not love his wife and Sabrina's yearning for more than she is getting from him. Long did a wonderful job with taking their relationship slow and infusing it with beautiful emotional writing.
The scene where Rhys is with Wyndham at "The Velvet Glove" playing cards and he thinks back to the last conversation he had with Sabrina where she said "You just take" was superb. The atmosphere Long describes in contrast to Rhys inner thinking had my eyes watering for some reason. Maybe I got so emotional when I read this part because I was utterly connected to Rhys and his floundering discovery of his love for his wife but didn't know exactly what to do with his personal emotions or hers.
The connection of Rhys and the continuing story of how Sabrina and her sisters were divided up was ok but the last half almost felt like another book. I appreciate the creativeness of Long to connect and wrap everything up, but I honestly could have done without it.
The last two lines of this story had me grinning like a fool and I refuse to put them here because you just positively have to read them yourselves.
As far as commenting on the series as a whole, the first and third books are frickinfantastic and the second one should never have existed. I loved the original storyline in the first and where I thought it could go, however, the big mystery is solved in the first book. The second book maybe has a chapter discussing the original storyline, nothing really needed there. The third book deals with the problem of trying to locate the girl's mother Anna Holt and like I said before this part made it feel like a whole other book, like the author just tagged it on to make it fit into the series. Anyway read the first and third book and you will understand all you need to for this series. This book was a keeper for me and I just might go back and make the first book a keeper also.
Ok so final rant, what the hell happened to John Carr (from the first book)!?! I hate when authors introduce awesome characters and then never explain what happened to them! There had better be a book coming out with John being the center of attention.
A
Hot damn this is the kind of story I expected from Long after reading the first in this series. I absolutely love how it's being set up with Rhys (the hunk in the overcoat I mentioned earlier) and Sabrina to be in competition; the competitive game- seduction. Bring on all the witty comebacks, startling discoveries, lingering looks, and loving I can handle Ms. Long!
I know the storyline seems like one we've all heard before, rake seduces virgin, but kudos to Long for putting a fresh spin on it. This story felt very new and the main characters relationship felt like nothing I have read before.
There are definitely some toe curling moments. One of my favorites involved these two lines: “It wasn’t I who lost control, Lord Rawden. I believe it was I, in fact, who had it the entire time.”
She watched him as the truth of this sank in. Rhys froze, realizing it."
This is what you call saying the right thing at the right moment.
I was little troubled?, disappointed? At how easily Sabrina accepted Rhys going to London and leaving her constantly without even a goodbye to her. Thank god for Mrs. Bailey though, great character! :)
This story really turned around for me from being a fun romp to being a serious heartfelt story after Rhys and Sabrina come together in the library (the sex scene not the kissing one). I felt Rhys' struggle to not love his wife and Sabrina's yearning for more than she is getting from him. Long did a wonderful job with taking their relationship slow and infusing it with beautiful emotional writing.
The scene where Rhys is with Wyndham at "The Velvet Glove" playing cards and he thinks back to the last conversation he had with Sabrina where she said "You just take" was superb. The atmosphere Long describes in contrast to Rhys inner thinking had my eyes watering for some reason. Maybe I got so emotional when I read this part because I was utterly connected to Rhys and his floundering discovery of his love for his wife but didn't know exactly what to do with his personal emotions or hers.
The connection of Rhys and the continuing story of how Sabrina and her sisters were divided up was ok but the last half almost felt like another book. I appreciate the creativeness of Long to connect and wrap everything up, but I honestly could have done without it.
The last two lines of this story had me grinning like a fool and I refuse to put them here because you just positively have to read them yourselves.
As far as commenting on the series as a whole, the first and third books are frickinfantastic and the second one should never have existed. I loved the original storyline in the first and where I thought it could go, however, the big mystery is solved in the first book. The second book maybe has a chapter discussing the original storyline, nothing really needed there. The third book deals with the problem of trying to locate the girl's mother Anna Holt and like I said before this part made it feel like a whole other book, like the author just tagged it on to make it fit into the series. Anyway read the first and third book and you will understand all you need to for this series. This book was a keeper for me and I just might go back and make the first book a keeper also.
Ok so final rant, what the hell happened to John Carr (from the first book)!?! I hate when authors introduce awesome characters and then never explain what happened to them! There had better be a book coming out with John being the center of attention.
A
March 15, 2023
3.75 stars
Great romance, but the mystery part was disjointed and didn’t flow. It’s still entertaining, but you can tell that this is an early Julie Anne Long book.
Great romance, but the mystery part was disjointed and didn’t flow. It’s still entertaining, but you can tell that this is an early Julie Anne Long book.
December 14, 2025
The final pay off was worth it
I didn't immediately fall in love with this story. I didn't find the hero that sympathetic ("someone save me from all this money and women falling all over me") and while I initially liked the heroine, the author made her look a bit silly in my eyes because of who her first love interest is.
However,
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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I didn't immediately fall in love with this story. I didn't find the hero that sympathetic ("someone save me from all this money and women falling all over me") and while I initially liked the heroine, the author made her look a bit silly in my eyes because of who her first love interest is.
However,
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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September 8, 2021
Great end to a great, albeit uneven series. May add more later.
October 24, 2012
Julie Anne Long is fast becoming a favorite author of mine. This was a great book, from start to finish. I've only read this final book in the series, so I'll need to go back and read the other two to find out more about the other sisters and Anna Holt.
Both the hero and heroine are flawed, but completely likeable characters. That's a hard thing to do, and to do well, and Long succeeds. These characters show growth (it is especially sweet to watch them slowly fall in love) and development in ways that don't seem utterly contrived. When they fight, it makes sense, and when the reconcile, well, that makes sense too. The secondary characters are really interesting as well, and I even found myself wanting to know more about Morely.
The poetry stuff was really an afterthought, which I was more than fine with. I don't have a lot of patience for reading about writers who are writing about writers who have writer's block. Blech. I'm glad that the greater emphasis was placed on his reputation as a writer instead.
A suggestion for Ms. Long. You like to use the word ironic. A lot. And frequently in an incorrect manner. For your sake, and your readers, please back away slowly from the word ironic. Every time you think you want to type the word, stop. Just stop. It's better this way. Trust me.
Both the hero and heroine are flawed, but completely likeable characters. That's a hard thing to do, and to do well, and Long succeeds. These characters show growth (it is especially sweet to watch them slowly fall in love) and development in ways that don't seem utterly contrived. When they fight, it makes sense, and when the reconcile, well, that makes sense too. The secondary characters are really interesting as well, and I even found myself wanting to know more about Morely.
The poetry stuff was really an afterthought, which I was more than fine with. I don't have a lot of patience for reading about writers who are writing about writers who have writer's block. Blech. I'm glad that the greater emphasis was placed on his reputation as a writer instead.
A suggestion for Ms. Long. You like to use the word ironic. A lot. And frequently in an incorrect manner. For your sake, and your readers, please back away slowly from the word ironic. Every time you think you want to type the word, stop. Just stop. It's better this way. Trust me.
May 26, 2020
Love all of Julie Anne Long's books. Especially loved the Holt Sisters. You can't go wrong picking one up. After you read one, you'll want to get all of them like I did.
August 7, 2023
I don’t give five stars to every book I love, and this is a great example of that.
I LOVED this book. I loved their relationship, I loved the tone, I loved the writing, I loved the earl, I loved the housekeeper a lot, i loved that they were snowed in, I loved their steamy scenes together, I loved how they were discovered, I loved the sisters’ reunion and then I loved their reunion with their mother.
The thing that kept this from being a five-star book is the not-totally-successful weaving in of the murder plot. This book did a good job of blending it with the love story, but the resolution of the case against Mr. Morley felt lackluster — not enough of a payoff in the courtroom scene. And JAL randomly namedropped Caroline Allston and John Carr, who I have completely blanked on. But let’s face it, I wasn’t reading this for the murder mystery element. In every other way, it delivered.
Stray thoughts
- Ooh, when he turns on the seduction to prove a point (“we are all animals”) 🔥
- Would that every straight woman’s first time could be with a tender and skilled Adonis, on a rug, in front of a fire.
- The scene after Rhys comes back to La Montagne (and finds her listening to Geoffrey’s sermon) because his friend Damien died is so beautifully done.
I LOVED this book. I loved their relationship, I loved the tone, I loved the writing, I loved the earl, I loved the housekeeper a lot, i loved that they were snowed in, I loved their steamy scenes together, I loved how they were discovered, I loved the sisters’ reunion and then I loved their reunion with their mother.
The thing that kept this from being a five-star book is the not-totally-successful weaving in of the murder plot. This book did a good job of blending it with the love story, but the resolution of the case against Mr. Morley felt lackluster — not enough of a payoff in the courtroom scene. And JAL randomly namedropped Caroline Allston and John Carr, who I have completely blanked on. But let’s face it, I wasn’t reading this for the murder mystery element. In every other way, it delivered.
Stray thoughts
- Ooh, when he turns on the seduction to prove a point (“we are all animals”) 🔥
- Would that every straight woman’s first time could be with a tender and skilled Adonis, on a rug, in front of a fire.
- The scene after Rhys comes back to La Montagne (and finds her listening to Geoffrey’s sermon) because his friend Damien died is so beautifully done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2022
Horrible, horrible synpopsis. Goodness me. I'd fire that copywriter right here right now.
Because this is actually a really good book. I think the writing was even better than that book in her Pennyroyal series about the marquess that so many people like. That book had the stupidest dialogue ever. Every fucking sentence had an ellipsis.
This book, I am happy to report, is so much fucking BETTER. The chemistry is there. The ennui is there. The douche is present, yes. But I like that. Everyone said the FMC was a bitch towards the end but respectfully, I disagree. I mean :)) if that happened to you, wouldn't you feel angry too?
Anyways, it was so good I might even bring myself to read the one with the Viscount (although I read the synopsis of that too and it was HORRID)
Because this is actually a really good book. I think the writing was even better than that book in her Pennyroyal series about the marquess that so many people like. That book had the stupidest dialogue ever. Every fucking sentence had an ellipsis.
This book, I am happy to report, is so much fucking BETTER. The chemistry is there. The ennui is there. The douche is present, yes. But I like that. Everyone said the FMC was a bitch towards the end but respectfully, I disagree. I mean :)) if that happened to you, wouldn't you feel angry too?
Anyways, it was so good I might even bring myself to read the one with the Viscount (although I read the synopsis of that too and it was HORRID)
December 30, 2012
Premise: Anna Holt was the much-loved and deeply loving mistress of Richard Lockwood. Together they had three daughters, Susannah, 3, Sylvie, 4, and Sabrina (not much older). One awful night Richard's good friend James Makepeace gave Anna the dreaded news: Richard was dead—and there's a witness who claims Anna was the killer. James advises Anna to flee—without her three tiny girls, since the authorities will be looking for a woman with three young girls. James promises to see Anna's daughters are cared for, and he'll let Anna know when it's safe to return.
Fast forward 20 years. Poor Sabrina—the eldest of the Holt girls. She was sent off to be raised by a vicar, of all things.
The man was kind but always left Sabrina with a sense that he was waiting for her to screw up. She grew up a pure and dutiful girl. Her adoptive father's curate, one Geoffrey Gillray, says he hopes to become a missionary, with her as his helpmeet. All they need is money from Geoffrey's cousin, Rhys Gillray, Earl of Rawden, also known as The Libertine
(Fortunately, Rawden's nose hasn't fallen off just yet—sorry, Johnny)
So Sabrina is game to attend a house party at the Rawden estates with a good friend, gadfly Mary Capstraw, to help persuade Rawden to support Geoffrey's cause.
Do you see it coming? Good. Because that's pretty much the way it works. Rhys Gillray is struggling with intense ennui, and the smug, self-righteous little virgin under his roof presents a challenge. He's way too smart and she's way too naïve to deal with the seduction when it comes—and then they're busted. Caught swapping tonsils and various other anatomical bits—by Sabrina's vicar father, no less—there's not much choice.
Despite being a virgin, Sabrina is a bit more woman than Rhys has ever experienced before. But he's still a jerk, so he has to treat her like crap for a few chapters until he realizes that he really wants TRANSCENDANT SEX—the kind of sex that ties into the heart strings and really, really blows his tiny, useless mind. Who knew that LOVE might make SEX that much better? Not this dumbass.
And then he has an even bigger problem. Yes, behind Rhys's wealth there's a really nasty, earth-shaking secret that will make Sabrina hate him. And seems the facts just won't lie low. He makes some really dumb decisions before he faces the Inevitable. And by then he's burned a buttload of bridges…
This is a fine tie-off to the trilogy, and a fair complement to Beauty and the spy.
Fast forward 20 years. Poor Sabrina—the eldest of the Holt girls. She was sent off to be raised by a vicar, of all things.
The man was kind but always left Sabrina with a sense that he was waiting for her to screw up. She grew up a pure and dutiful girl. Her adoptive father's curate, one Geoffrey Gillray, says he hopes to become a missionary, with her as his helpmeet. All they need is money from Geoffrey's cousin, Rhys Gillray, Earl of Rawden, also known as The Libertine
(Fortunately, Rawden's nose hasn't fallen off just yet—sorry, Johnny)
So Sabrina is game to attend a house party at the Rawden estates with a good friend, gadfly Mary Capstraw, to help persuade Rawden to support Geoffrey's cause.
Do you see it coming? Good. Because that's pretty much the way it works. Rhys Gillray is struggling with intense ennui, and the smug, self-righteous little virgin under his roof presents a challenge. He's way too smart and she's way too naïve to deal with the seduction when it comes—and then they're busted. Caught swapping tonsils and various other anatomical bits—by Sabrina's vicar father, no less—there's not much choice.
Despite being a virgin, Sabrina is a bit more woman than Rhys has ever experienced before. But he's still a jerk, so he has to treat her like crap for a few chapters until he realizes that he really wants TRANSCENDANT SEX—the kind of sex that ties into the heart strings and really, really blows his tiny, useless mind. Who knew that LOVE might make SEX that much better? Not this dumbass.
And then he has an even bigger problem. Yes, behind Rhys's wealth there's a really nasty, earth-shaking secret that will make Sabrina hate him. And seems the facts just won't lie low. He makes some really dumb decisions before he faces the Inevitable. And by then he's burned a buttload of bridges…
This is a fine tie-off to the trilogy, and a fair complement to Beauty and the spy.
December 18, 2013
2.5 stars. This was a book that I picked back up after putting it down a while ago. Okay read, nothing spectacular. The romance between the H/H was nice to watch. The banter and seduction was entertaining. The book ran out of steam towards the end. The mystery didn't really appeal to me. I would have loved to see more done with the hero's mistress causing problems since he seemed so infatuated with her at first. I would have preferred that over all the other conflict that took place. It was actually a bummer to see that more wasn't done with her as it was his infatuation with the other woman and her voice in the beginning that made the book so interesting. Also this one seem not to have as much dept as JAL other books.
September 19, 2017
This would VERY easily have gotten 5 stars if it were half the length and not part of a trilogy.
July 7, 2025
more book papa~~
November 4, 2018
Sabrina yg cantik sudah memutuskan bhw Geoffrey adalah calon tunangannya, seorang calon vikaris yg bersepupu dgn Earl of Rawden, si Bajingan. Dan saat Sabrina diundang ke kediaman super mewah Earl ini, dia tidak bisa menampik pesona Earl tampan ini, dan saat mereka kegep berciuman, Rhys (Earl of Rawden) dgn ksatria melamar Sabrina.
Rhys membereskan semua masalahnya, memutuskan hubungan dgn simpanannya, Sophia Licari. Sabrina bisa duduk-duduk tenang menikmati menjadi Countess Rawden. Ternyata tidak melakukan apapun menggelisahkan Sabrina sehingga memutuskan dia harus membantu warga desa utk gereja dan lumbung mereka yg nyaris ambruk. Rhys tidak suka istrinya tidak bisa duduk manis tetapi malah seperti ayam yg lari kesana-kemari. Rhys tidak bisa menampik bhw dirinya mulai jatuh cinta pada istrinya, dan malah kabur berminggu-minggu menjauhi istrinya. Saat sadar percuma menghindar dari istrinya, Rhys balik lagi. Hingga kedatangan 2 saudari istrinya mencemaskan dirinya dari masa lalu kelamnya.
Alur cerita berjalan lamban dan nyaris membuat saya ngantuk di paro awal novel. Setelah mereka menikah, sedikit menarik krn keaktifan aktivitas Sabrina yg mengusik Rhys. Tetapi dari segi plot, belum ada sesuatu yg berbeda atau unik. Jadi saya memberi rating biasa saja. Tidak ada yg merangsang rasa penasaran saya juga.
Rhys membereskan semua masalahnya, memutuskan hubungan dgn simpanannya, Sophia Licari. Sabrina bisa duduk-duduk tenang menikmati menjadi Countess Rawden. Ternyata tidak melakukan apapun menggelisahkan Sabrina sehingga memutuskan dia harus membantu warga desa utk gereja dan lumbung mereka yg nyaris ambruk. Rhys tidak suka istrinya tidak bisa duduk manis tetapi malah seperti ayam yg lari kesana-kemari. Rhys tidak bisa menampik bhw dirinya mulai jatuh cinta pada istrinya, dan malah kabur berminggu-minggu menjauhi istrinya. Saat sadar percuma menghindar dari istrinya, Rhys balik lagi. Hingga kedatangan 2 saudari istrinya mencemaskan dirinya dari masa lalu kelamnya.
Alur cerita berjalan lamban dan nyaris membuat saya ngantuk di paro awal novel. Setelah mereka menikah, sedikit menarik krn keaktifan aktivitas Sabrina yg mengusik Rhys. Tetapi dari segi plot, belum ada sesuatu yg berbeda atau unik. Jadi saya memberi rating biasa saja. Tidak ada yg merangsang rasa penasaran saya juga.
October 10, 2020
There was a clever lead up to marriage forced by a foolhardy kiss between a naive but rebellious vicar's daughter and a debauched sophisticate dubbed The Libertine for his salacious poetry. Though a seeming mismatch, Sabrina and Rhys were equal in pridefulness (that goeth before a fall) and incendiary sexual attraction. Rhys moved from being intrigued by Sabrina's fresh wit to lust he could not quite control to resignation that he must marry for her honor and his, to feelings he couldn't identify at first but outsiders including the reader could interpret as love.
However, Sabrina's finer feelings for Rhys turned out to be tissue thin as she cut him dead in favor of her scandalous birth family (murdered aristocrat father with 3 daughters by his mistress) when she found out a 15 year old Rhys contributed to their scattering by trying to save his own family. She was not torn by dual loyalties even for a minute. Instead she cocooned herself with 2 sisters she hadn't even remembered for 20 years and "built an impermeable wall" against her husband. The one smidgen of uxorious loyalty she retained was not revealing the secret that would destroy his family name irrevocably (though this was also self serving as she would have been equally ruined as his wife).
Rhys had friends (and an ex-mistress) who were more steadfast in their regard for him than his wife was. She rebuffed their concerns for him. Meanwhile, who were St. Sabrina's friends? An empty-headed chatterbox and a frenemy curate whose manipulations she was blind to.
Her eventual forgiveness such as it was did not spring in her own heart but from her long lost mother's words of wisdom. So Rhys who was prepared to give up the family reputation he'd spent a lifetime rebuilding out of deep love for Sabrina got a lukewarm love in return. - not the most satisfactory of endings.
However, Sabrina's finer feelings for Rhys turned out to be tissue thin as she cut him dead in favor of her scandalous birth family (murdered aristocrat father with 3 daughters by his mistress) when she found out a 15 year old Rhys contributed to their scattering by trying to save his own family. She was not torn by dual loyalties even for a minute. Instead she cocooned herself with 2 sisters she hadn't even remembered for 20 years and "built an impermeable wall" against her husband. The one smidgen of uxorious loyalty she retained was not revealing the secret that would destroy his family name irrevocably (though this was also self serving as she would have been equally ruined as his wife).
Rhys had friends (and an ex-mistress) who were more steadfast in their regard for him than his wife was. She rebuffed their concerns for him. Meanwhile, who were St. Sabrina's friends? An empty-headed chatterbox and a frenemy curate whose manipulations she was blind to.
Her eventual forgiveness such as it was did not spring in her own heart but from her long lost mother's words of wisdom. So Rhys who was prepared to give up the family reputation he'd spent a lifetime rebuilding out of deep love for Sabrina got a lukewarm love in return. - not the most satisfactory of endings.
April 26, 2013
Over-dramatic secret from the past comes back to destroy the burgeoning happiness of the scandalously married pair of near opposites!
Haven't I read this book before?
Haven't I read this book before?
October 19, 2015
I disliked Rhyes for most of this book and wish we could have had a bit more of an ending.
April 6, 2020
Sabrina Farleigh, la fille adoptive du pasteur de Tinbury, ne sait pas qu'elle est l'une des trois soeurs Lockwood, qui ont été séparées lorsqu'elles n'étaient encore que des fillettes, après que leurs parents aient connus une fin tragique. La jeune femme a des sentiments pour le vicaire du village et elle rêve de devenir missionnaire à l'étranger. Un rêve que son prétendant semble partager et il entend demander à son cousin de financer le projet. Sabrina est aussi invitée à séjourner dans la demeure du dit cousin, le comte de Rawden, dont la réputation sulfureuse lui a valu le surnom du Libertin.
Rhys Gillray, le comte de Rawden, s'ennuie depuis quelque temps et ne trouve même plus l'inspiration pour écrire de la poésie. Au premier regard, il ne semble pas attiré par Sabrina et bien que peu habituée de côtoyer la noblesse, elle ne semble pas impressionné de faire la connaissance de ce débauché notoire. Mais la jeune femme a beaucoup d'esprit et sa conviction que la passion n'est qu'une question de volonté si on veut y résister est un défi bien trop intéressant pour un homme tel que Rhys. Et peut-être que Sabrina n'est pas aussi indifférente qu'elle voudrait l'être face à ce maître de la séduction.
Ce n'est pas la première fois que je le dis, mais j'ai toujours du mal à m'attacher à un personnage et à l'apprécier lorsque je sens un esprit trop calculateur et c'est ce que j'ai ressenti avec ce héros. Il n'a pas l'intention de la compromettre et il s'est magnifiquement racheté à la fin, mais il reste que ses tentatives de séduction ne sont qu'un jeu pour lui et il ne jouait pas totalement franc jeu. Je dois dire cependant que un peu après le milieu du livre, l'histoire a pris une tournure inattendue qui a rendu les choses beaucoup plus intéressantes, tant au niveau narratif que de la romance et je n'avais aucunement deviné quel était le secret de Rhys avant qu'il ne soit révélé. J'aurais préféré de plus longues retrouvailles avec les 3 soeurs et un épilogue avec tous les personnages de la série.
Rhys Gillray, le comte de Rawden, s'ennuie depuis quelque temps et ne trouve même plus l'inspiration pour écrire de la poésie. Au premier regard, il ne semble pas attiré par Sabrina et bien que peu habituée de côtoyer la noblesse, elle ne semble pas impressionné de faire la connaissance de ce débauché notoire. Mais la jeune femme a beaucoup d'esprit et sa conviction que la passion n'est qu'une question de volonté si on veut y résister est un défi bien trop intéressant pour un homme tel que Rhys. Et peut-être que Sabrina n'est pas aussi indifférente qu'elle voudrait l'être face à ce maître de la séduction.
Ce n'est pas la première fois que je le dis, mais j'ai toujours du mal à m'attacher à un personnage et à l'apprécier lorsque je sens un esprit trop calculateur et c'est ce que j'ai ressenti avec ce héros. Il n'a pas l'intention de la compromettre et il s'est magnifiquement racheté à la fin, mais il reste que ses tentatives de séduction ne sont qu'un jeu pour lui et il ne jouait pas totalement franc jeu. Je dois dire cependant que un peu après le milieu du livre, l'histoire a pris une tournure inattendue qui a rendu les choses beaucoup plus intéressantes, tant au niveau narratif que de la romance et je n'avais aucunement deviné quel était le secret de Rhys avant qu'il ne soit révélé. J'aurais préféré de plus longues retrouvailles avec les 3 soeurs et un épilogue avec tous les personnages de la série.
January 28, 2022
This book totally did not work for me. Aside from the fact that this book has the burden of wrapping up the trilogy's arc that began in book 1, I also don't understand the pacing of the relationship between the two leads.
I was really expecting the usual JAL deftness with banter and tension given the premise — a prim vicar's daughter meets a rake who writes salacious poetry — and while we got some of that, it takes a swift turn and cuts the tension short by (spoilers!) having the couple get caught smooching and then having to get married posthaste. I feel like this was done solely because it helps create tension when we later learn that Rhys was responsible for the Holt sisters' mother having to leave London, at a moment when Sabrina and Rhys were already married, and thus creating angst and conflict; but aside from serving the larger trilogy arc, it didn't make logical sense to me, and it felt very out of step with JAL's incredibly deliberateness in pacing her characters' relationships.
And my peripheral complaint not unique to this story is that I really am missing the emotional buildup when the sisters meet each other for the first time in books 2 and 3. Like, they've been separated for close to two decades now, I would expect to be a little more moved reading their reunions, but I'm not ... at all. A secondary peripheral complaint (lol) is that I don't truly know if I buy why their mother had to stay away for close to two decades. Surely at a certain point the government is not still trying to locate this woman who was wrongly accused of murder, especially at a time when technology was almost nonexistent and you can falsify your identity without batting an eye. It just doesn't make sense!
I was really expecting the usual JAL deftness with banter and tension given the premise — a prim vicar's daughter meets a rake who writes salacious poetry — and while we got some of that, it takes a swift turn and cuts the tension short by (spoilers!) having the couple get caught smooching and then having to get married posthaste. I feel like this was done solely because it helps create tension when we later learn that Rhys was responsible for the Holt sisters' mother having to leave London, at a moment when Sabrina and Rhys were already married, and thus creating angst and conflict; but aside from serving the larger trilogy arc, it didn't make logical sense to me, and it felt very out of step with JAL's incredibly deliberateness in pacing her characters' relationships.
And my peripheral complaint not unique to this story is that I really am missing the emotional buildup when the sisters meet each other for the first time in books 2 and 3. Like, they've been separated for close to two decades now, I would expect to be a little more moved reading their reunions, but I'm not ... at all. A secondary peripheral complaint (lol) is that I don't truly know if I buy why their mother had to stay away for close to two decades. Surely at a certain point the government is not still trying to locate this woman who was wrongly accused of murder, especially at a time when technology was almost nonexistent and you can falsify your identity without batting an eye. It just doesn't make sense!
December 14, 2021
I love it! The mystery was kinda “meh” and I did feel a little lost considering this was the 3rd book in a trilogy, but it was fine. More review to come later.
April 17, 2022
Re read... I enjoyed it as much as the first time. The story stands up and does not feel dated despite being published 15 years ago.
June 18, 2023
“fate does have a sense of humour (yes I’m spelling ‘humor’ with another ‘U’ in it, which is the only way), you know”
breathtaking.
THAT! ENDING! TO! THE! EPILOGUE! THOUGH!
breathtaking.
THAT! ENDING! TO! THE! EPILOGUE! THOUGH!
May 26, 2017
The Secret to Seduction, Julie Anne Long - Having read and enjoyed all of her Pennyroyal Green books (some numerous times), I still have but a few of her earlier novels left unread. I find that Long has developed quite a bit as a writer and all for the better, and so her earlier novels are somewhat weaker for me. Not so with this book. This novel features a recurrent theme in Long's books of heroines that repress their sensual natures and learn to embrace their passionate sides as well as heroes with risque reputations that are essentially kind and loving. The fun part of the novel is watching this unfold. The underlying plot is fairly conventional in that a rake is drawn to a virginal miss and wants to experiment at a dull week-long house party to see how quickly he can have her capitulate to him. They are caught committing a misdeed and marry hastily. Rhys attempts to maintain his bachelor ways and keep his lovely young innocent wife, Sabrina, on the side. But that's a losing proposition to nearly everyone who observes them together, including the servants who, quite amusingly, do some maneuvering of their own to get Rhys and Sabrina together in wedded bliss. I found the love story itself here beautiful and sexy. Both Sabrina and Rhys have wonderful banter scenes, where they try to best each other. Aside from the one-upsmanship, I also so loved the point in the novel after their marriage when Sabrina stops Rhys mid-seduction to tell him very earnestly that she fears their relationship is one-sided because she finds that he "just takes". The shock on his part is priceless and eye-opening and the consequences play out wonderfully in his subsequent reflections on what it means to be a rake and what it means to have a truly loving marriage.
The downside to the novel for me, however, is the awkward intrusiveness of the mystery, in addition to the fact that I found I didn't care that much about it. I cared about it a bit more in Beauty and the Spy, the first in the Holt sisters trilogy, but it's been too long since I've read that book, and so much of the tension of solving Sabrina's heritage was gone for me by now. All in all though, a passionate and engaging book with two developed and likeable main characters.
The downside to the novel for me, however, is the awkward intrusiveness of the mystery, in addition to the fact that I found I didn't care that much about it. I cared about it a bit more in Beauty and the Spy, the first in the Holt sisters trilogy, but it's been too long since I've read that book, and so much of the tension of solving Sabrina's heritage was gone for me by now. All in all though, a passionate and engaging book with two developed and likeable main characters.
February 3, 2016
Julie Anne Long put together a satisfying conclusion to the Holt Sisters Trilogy. (And I still need MOAR JAL.)
There was a lot about this book that I shouldn't have liked... but totally did. (Why do you do this to me, JAL? Why?) Both Sabrina and Rhys had their eyes on other people (for various reasons), and so the their relationship was super slow to begin. Slooooow.
Sabrina was almost painfully green, though, which provided a counterpoint for Rhys "The Libertine" and his constant need to be entertained or to seduce. He's not all that likable at first, but I think his growing attraction (and later, attachment) to Sabrina really helped. And in many ways, Rhys cracked open the cocoon Sabrina held herself in. There was a lot more to Sabrina than even Sabrina knew, but Rhys found a way to draw it out.
(And not just through seduction and sex. Even though both of those happen, obviously.)
As you might suspect, the sisters find a way to be together, and many things come to light, including who was really behind the murder of the ladies' father, the rest of the players that made it happen, and what actually happened to Anna Holt.
And while I like the rift that happened between Rhys and Sabrina toward the end (and also how hard Rhys fell), I don't feel like I got enough of their reconciliation. I wanted more at the end! I also wanted to see more of Rhys's housekeeper. It seemed like a small thread was opened with her and never quite closed.
Still. The Secret to Seduction was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, and now I need more Julie Anne Long in my life... again.
There was a lot about this book that I shouldn't have liked... but totally did. (Why do you do this to me, JAL? Why?) Both Sabrina and Rhys had their eyes on other people (for various reasons), and so the their relationship was super slow to begin. Slooooow.
Sabrina was almost painfully green, though, which provided a counterpoint for Rhys "The Libertine" and his constant need to be entertained or to seduce. He's not all that likable at first, but I think his growing attraction (and later, attachment) to Sabrina really helped. And in many ways, Rhys cracked open the cocoon Sabrina held herself in. There was a lot more to Sabrina than even Sabrina knew, but Rhys found a way to draw it out.
(And not just through seduction and sex. Even though both of those happen, obviously.)
As you might suspect, the sisters find a way to be together, and many things come to light, including who was really behind the murder of the ladies' father, the rest of the players that made it happen, and what actually happened to Anna Holt.
And while I like the rift that happened between Rhys and Sabrina toward the end (and also how hard Rhys fell), I don't feel like I got enough of their reconciliation. I wanted more at the end! I also wanted to see more of Rhys's housekeeper. It seemed like a small thread was opened with her and never quite closed.
Still. The Secret to Seduction was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, and now I need more Julie Anne Long in my life... again.
January 15, 2013
Very, very good, sexy, funny, poignant. There is enough background material provided throughout the book that you don't really need to read the first 2 books in the series to enjoy this one thoroughly. Love how the author developed the transformation of both of the main characters from The Libertine and The Vicar's Daughter to a wonderful couple.
July 4, 2017
Really dissapointing
January 24, 2016
Superb
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