laurenjodi's review against another edition
4.0
The Secret of My Seduction
4 Stars
Series note: This novella is the final installment in the Scandalous series, but can be read as a standalone. While the hero and heroine do appear in book #4, their roles are minor and their story is unrelated to the previous books. That said, this is a delightful series and I highly recommend it.
As an author of scandalous tales, Bathsheba Crawford is convinced her writing would benefit from some more in-depth personal experience. Toward this end, she approaches her publisher, Liam MacGregor, with a very indecent proposal.
Bathsheba and Jack's characters are quite well developed despite the short format, and their romance is sinfully sexy. Their banter and interactions are engaging and contribute to the believability of their relationship.
Overall, an entertaining end to a wonderful series.
4 Stars
Series note: This novella is the final installment in the Scandalous series, but can be read as a standalone. While the hero and heroine do appear in book #4, their roles are minor and their story is unrelated to the previous books. That said, this is a delightful series and I highly recommend it.
As an author of scandalous tales, Bathsheba Crawford is convinced her writing would benefit from some more in-depth personal experience. Toward this end, she approaches her publisher, Liam MacGregor, with a very indecent proposal.
Bathsheba and Jack's characters are quite well developed despite the short format, and their romance is sinfully sexy. Their banter and interactions are engaging and contribute to the believability of their relationship.
Overall, an entertaining end to a wonderful series.
lassarina's review against another edition
4.0
Short, sweet, fun. Bathsheba's practicality and focus was charming, and Liam was fun. A cute coda to an enjoyable series.
joanav's review against another edition
4.0
I've received this eArc in exchange for an honest review.
Review in Portuguese here: http://pepitamagica.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/livro-secret-of-my-seduction-de.html
After reading a small novella by Caroline Linden in Dressed to Kiss, I knew I had a new author to follow. When the opportunity to read this book came up, I didn’t hesitate.
The Secret of my Seduction has a very appropriate title because that’s all the book is about. The seduction of…is it of Bathsheba Crawford, the main female character, or could it be the seduction of Liam MacGregor? It’s true that it’s Bathsheba the one who proposes that Liam teaches her flirtation and seduction, but, it’s Liam that, even though he finds it odd that the author of erotic romances needs to come to him for advice, accepts her proposal, “for business sake”.
I really liked their chemistry, the fact that they had already known each other for some time, not just “love at first sight”, but something that grew between them.
There were some seduction lessons and my only con against the book is…. how short it is! I wanted their relationship to be a bit more developed, more explored, in every way. The amount that was given, I really liked it, but I wanted more, that’s why I’m not giving it a higher score.
It was a book that I read really quickly and that gave me immense pleasure to read.
Review in Portuguese here: http://pepitamagica.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/livro-secret-of-my-seduction-de.html
After reading a small novella by Caroline Linden in Dressed to Kiss, I knew I had a new author to follow. When the opportunity to read this book came up, I didn’t hesitate.
The Secret of my Seduction has a very appropriate title because that’s all the book is about. The seduction of…is it of Bathsheba Crawford, the main female character, or could it be the seduction of Liam MacGregor? It’s true that it’s Bathsheba the one who proposes that Liam teaches her flirtation and seduction, but, it’s Liam that, even though he finds it odd that the author of erotic romances needs to come to him for advice, accepts her proposal, “for business sake”.
I really liked their chemistry, the fact that they had already known each other for some time, not just “love at first sight”, but something that grew between them.
There were some seduction lessons and my only con against the book is…. how short it is! I wanted their relationship to be a bit more developed, more explored, in every way. The amount that was given, I really liked it, but I wanted more, that’s why I’m not giving it a higher score.
It was a book that I read really quickly and that gave me immense pleasure to read.
elizabethlk's review against another edition
5.0
This was a genuinely fun and enjoyable finish to a series that I have adored. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.
melbsreads's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Trigger warnings: poverty, physical injury to a sibling (in the past)
Someone on Bookstagram (I think Amanda from Talk About Swoon??) was talking about this book the other day as hitting the sex lessons trope and I was...intrigued, especially given that it's a tiny little novella. And luckily it was on Scribd so I flew through it in an hour or so.
The premise is that a young woman who writes smutty romance stories to support herself and her disabled brother decides that her work needs a little more...spice, and in order for that to happen she needs to experience spicy situations to put into her stories. So she talks her editor into giving her said experience.
This was a lot of fun. The characters were great. The premise was fun. The romance was solid. Do I wish it had been a full length novel? Yes. But whatever. I'll definitely be picking up more books by this author in the future!
Someone on Bookstagram (I think Amanda from Talk About Swoon??) was talking about this book the other day as hitting the sex lessons trope and I was...intrigued, especially given that it's a tiny little novella. And luckily it was on Scribd so I flew through it in an hour or so.
The premise is that a young woman who writes smutty romance stories to support herself and her disabled brother decides that her work needs a little more...spice, and in order for that to happen she needs to experience spicy situations to put into her stories. So she talks her editor into giving her said experience.
This was a lot of fun. The characters were great. The premise was fun. The romance was solid. Do I wish it had been a full length novel? Yes. But whatever. I'll definitely be picking up more books by this author in the future!
elizabethlk's review
5.0
This was a genuinely fun and enjoyable finish to a series that I have adored. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.
lunasmaria's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
This book was good, not as good as the other shorts but cute.
I didn't vibe with the characters very well despite being a fan of Liam in Madeline's novel. It was also very PWP, they built up a relationship but I felt like the majority of scenes were just sex scenes.
The book closed nicely and while the series may have finished without it, it was a nice little end to the Scandals and all their players.
Note: you should read the main stories before this one, the novellas aren't necessary. Also - there's no final epilogue or wrap up for the characters. This is really just another one off shot of story.
This book was good, not as good as the other shorts but cute.
I didn't vibe with the characters very well despite being a fan of Liam in Madeline's novel. It was also very PWP, they built up a relationship but I felt like the majority of scenes were just sex scenes.
The book closed nicely and while the series may have finished without it, it was a nice little end to the Scandals and all their players.
Note: you should read the main stories before this one, the novellas aren't necessary. Also - there's no final epilogue or wrap up for the characters. This is really just another one off shot of story.
bonzaklibo's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
cakt1991's review against another edition
1.0
I received an digital ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I loved the previous books in the Scandals series, and the other novellas she has written have been great, so I was excited to read more.
But this book was not my cup of tea. I understood going in that the heroine was the author of a scandalous book, and I am well aware that it is hard to create a well-developed story within a hundred or so pages, when longer novels have almost 400 pages to develop the story. But I couldn't find a reason to like either the hero or heroine enough to keep myself interested.
One thing I had an issue with was that it felt too rushed, like they just fell into bed and there was no emotional connection between the two. I realize the whole point was that Bathsheba wanted to have more sexual experience for her books, but it just felt too abrupt for me, and the fact that if Liam said no, she was willing to go seek it out from strangers just made me feel uncomfortable. I have no problem with sexual intimacy in historical romance novels, and they don't even need to be in a committed relationship at that point, but this one just felt too rushed.
But this book was not my cup of tea. I understood going in that the heroine was the author of a scandalous book, and I am well aware that it is hard to create a well-developed story within a hundred or so pages, when longer novels have almost 400 pages to develop the story. But I couldn't find a reason to like either the hero or heroine enough to keep myself interested.
One thing I had an issue with was that it felt too rushed, like they just fell into bed and there was no emotional connection between the two. I realize the whole point was that Bathsheba wanted to have more sexual experience for her books, but it just felt too abrupt for me, and the fact that if Liam said no, she was willing to go seek it out from strangers just made me feel uncomfortable. I have no problem with sexual intimacy in historical romance novels, and they don't even need to be in a committed relationship at that point, but this one just felt too rushed.