A review by julianaphilippa
Slightly Sinful, by Mary Balogh
5.0
Great, great read - Rachel and Alleyne are wonderful, and the secondary characters extremely colorful
SUMMARY (Bedwyn Family, Book 5):
Slightly Sinful overlaps significantly (chronologically speaking) with the previous book in the Bedwyn series, [b:Slightly Tempted|110303|Slightly Tempted (Slightly series #4)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635988s/110303.jpg|106303] (Morgan and Gervase's story). Lord Alleyne Bedwyn (26), working as a British diplomat in Brussels, is sent to deliver a letter to the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo. He receives a reply letter to deliver and heads back to Brussels, though he is in pain from being shot in the leg. When his horse throws him from the saddle, he hits his head and is knocked unconscious.
When we meet Miss Rachel York (22), she is practically all alone in the world, with an estranged uncle as her only remaining relative. She has recently split with her betrothed, who was a relatively new acquaintance made while she was a companion to an elderly woman in Brussels. After entrusting her pretty meager funds to him and convincing four other women to do the same, she overhears him and his sister talking and realizes that they are not the charitable Christians they appear to be (he's posing as a reverend) but are in fact con artists. They had been departing Belgium and heading for England, but she makes a quick getaway and returns to Brussels and the four women, whom she feels honor-bound to tell the truth to and in some way recompense.
The four women (fantastic characters! - they had me laughing throughout the book) are Flossie Streat, Geraldine Ness, Phyllis Leavey, and Bridget Clover, the latter of whom was Rachel's nurse for six years in her youth. They are prostitutes and have been running a brothel for the past four years, saving up money so that they can return to England and retire.
I tend to be long-winded in these descriptions, so I'll try to cut it down to the basics (and fail horribly): Rachel comes across Alleyne and the women take him in, nursing him back to health. Due to his fall, he has amnesia and unfortunately remembers nothing, including his own name; he is given a new one in the meantime - "Jonathan Smith." They also pick up Sergeant William Strickland (another wonderful secondary character), a soldier who lost one of his eyes at the Battle of Waterloo. They all head to England after deciding to visit Rachel's uncle, Baron Weston, in order to deceive him into thinking that Rachel and "Jonathan" are betrothed so that she can secure the jewels her mother left her. They will then be able to track down the evil con artists and get back their money. Of course, things don't go exactly as planned - nothing in life is ever that simple - but everything ends well and there are happy/deserved endings all around (who would expect otherwise?!).
REACTION:
I greatly enjoyed this book and thought it was a real treat, especially after having been somewhat disappointed by [b:Slightly Tempted|110303|Slightly Tempted (Slightly series #4)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635988s/110303.jpg|106303] I've looked through some of the Amazon.com reviews and have seen many of the same complaints. The first is that people are tired of Balogh's repeated use of the same plot devices: fake/will-be-broken-off betrothals; in this case she goes past a fake engagement to a fake marriage (my question is, has anyone else also noticed how there is *always* a lake with a small island that the main characters row to and make love on?!?). The second complaint is that this book's plot leaned to the implausible.
My response to the first would be that I agree, but that Balogh is such a good writer that when she is able to succeed in all other ways (good writing, great chemistry, wonderful characters) I frankly don't care, but that's personal preference. To the second, I really have to protest - do we actually read these books because they are based on reality and believability? No, we read it for the romance and the chemistry, for the wonderful if-only-they-were-real-and-waiting-outside-my-door heroes and the great, strong heroines whom we can (let's face it) either imagine to be us in another life and alternate universe or a dear, dear friend, so we can share in the happiness.
CHARACTERS (main and secondary):
The book is brimming with wonderful characters. It's nice for a change to read about a Bedwyn who doesn't carry himself with haughtiness and arrogance, but instead has an easy grin and is good-humored (even before he falls in love!). Alleyne definitely changes from how we've seen him in past stories (somewhat shallow and aimless) to how he is by the end of the book (responsible, with a sense of purpose), and I think the development rings true and is well-done. I thought Rachel was a great heroine (and what a great change to have the heroine save the hero - literally). She's a strong young woman who has had a painful childhood and youth, but is hard-working and tries to be positive. I especially liked that she was friends with the wonderful female-quartet and was slightly protective of them, refusing to look down on them because of their profession (though I don't think Balogh should have had her call them "whores" in her thoughts as often as she does at the beginning).
Not only are the hero and heroine wonderful, but all of the secondary characters are well-written and add much laughter and tenderness to the story. The reunion that Alleyne has with his family is very emotional if you've read the other Bedwyn books, though I'll concede it occurs later in the book than I had expected. I also agree with the other reviewer who said that Balogh was brave in having the first romantic encounter not be wonderfully successful so that we can see the characters work through it; adds a certain reality to the story which is otherwise blissfully far too perfect to be real. I loved this book and think it is definitely one of the best ones of the series (ranks up there with [b:Slightly Married|110295|Slightly Married (Slightly series #1)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635895s/110295.jpg|344054] and [b:Slightly Dangerous|71648|Slightly Dangerous (Slightly series #6)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170782663s/71648.jpg|69382], IMO).
SUMMARY (Bedwyn Family, Book 5):
Slightly Sinful overlaps significantly (chronologically speaking) with the previous book in the Bedwyn series, [b:Slightly Tempted|110303|Slightly Tempted (Slightly series #4)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635988s/110303.jpg|106303] (Morgan and Gervase's story). Lord Alleyne Bedwyn (26), working as a British diplomat in Brussels, is sent to deliver a letter to the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo. He receives a reply letter to deliver and heads back to Brussels, though he is in pain from being shot in the leg. When his horse throws him from the saddle, he hits his head and is knocked unconscious.
When we meet Miss Rachel York (22), she is practically all alone in the world, with an estranged uncle as her only remaining relative. She has recently split with her betrothed, who was a relatively new acquaintance made while she was a companion to an elderly woman in Brussels. After entrusting her pretty meager funds to him and convincing four other women to do the same, she overhears him and his sister talking and realizes that they are not the charitable Christians they appear to be (he's posing as a reverend) but are in fact con artists. They had been departing Belgium and heading for England, but she makes a quick getaway and returns to Brussels and the four women, whom she feels honor-bound to tell the truth to and in some way recompense.
The four women (fantastic characters! - they had me laughing throughout the book) are Flossie Streat, Geraldine Ness, Phyllis Leavey, and Bridget Clover, the latter of whom was Rachel's nurse for six years in her youth. They are prostitutes and have been running a brothel for the past four years, saving up money so that they can return to England and retire.
I tend to be long-winded in these descriptions, so I'll try to cut it down to the basics (and fail horribly): Rachel comes across Alleyne and the women take him in, nursing him back to health. Due to his fall, he has amnesia and unfortunately remembers nothing, including his own name; he is given a new one in the meantime - "Jonathan Smith." They also pick up Sergeant William Strickland (another wonderful secondary character), a soldier who lost one of his eyes at the Battle of Waterloo. They all head to England after deciding to visit Rachel's uncle, Baron Weston, in order to deceive him into thinking that Rachel and "Jonathan" are betrothed so that she can secure the jewels her mother left her. They will then be able to track down the evil con artists and get back their money. Of course, things don't go exactly as planned - nothing in life is ever that simple - but everything ends well and there are happy/deserved endings all around (who would expect otherwise?!).
REACTION:
I greatly enjoyed this book and thought it was a real treat, especially after having been somewhat disappointed by [b:Slightly Tempted|110303|Slightly Tempted (Slightly series #4)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635988s/110303.jpg|106303] I've looked through some of the Amazon.com reviews and have seen many of the same complaints. The first is that people are tired of Balogh's repeated use of the same plot devices: fake/will-be-broken-off betrothals; in this case she goes past a fake engagement to a fake marriage (my question is, has anyone else also noticed how there is *always* a lake with a small island that the main characters row to and make love on?!?). The second complaint is that this book's plot leaned to the implausible.
My response to the first would be that I agree, but that Balogh is such a good writer that when she is able to succeed in all other ways (good writing, great chemistry, wonderful characters) I frankly don't care, but that's personal preference. To the second, I really have to protest - do we actually read these books because they are based on reality and believability? No, we read it for the romance and the chemistry, for the wonderful if-only-they-were-real-and-waiting-outside-my-door heroes and the great, strong heroines whom we can (let's face it) either imagine to be us in another life and alternate universe or a dear, dear friend, so we can share in the happiness.
CHARACTERS (main and secondary):
The book is brimming with wonderful characters. It's nice for a change to read about a Bedwyn who doesn't carry himself with haughtiness and arrogance, but instead has an easy grin and is good-humored (even before he falls in love!). Alleyne definitely changes from how we've seen him in past stories (somewhat shallow and aimless) to how he is by the end of the book (responsible, with a sense of purpose), and I think the development rings true and is well-done. I thought Rachel was a great heroine (and what a great change to have the heroine save the hero - literally). She's a strong young woman who has had a painful childhood and youth, but is hard-working and tries to be positive. I especially liked that she was friends with the wonderful female-quartet and was slightly protective of them, refusing to look down on them because of their profession (though I don't think Balogh should have had her call them "whores" in her thoughts as often as she does at the beginning).
Not only are the hero and heroine wonderful, but all of the secondary characters are well-written and add much laughter and tenderness to the story. The reunion that Alleyne has with his family is very emotional if you've read the other Bedwyn books, though I'll concede it occurs later in the book than I had expected. I also agree with the other reviewer who said that Balogh was brave in having the first romantic encounter not be wonderfully successful so that we can see the characters work through it; adds a certain reality to the story which is otherwise blissfully far too perfect to be real. I loved this book and think it is definitely one of the best ones of the series (ranks up there with [b:Slightly Married|110295|Slightly Married (Slightly series #1)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171635895s/110295.jpg|344054] and [b:Slightly Dangerous|71648|Slightly Dangerous (Slightly series #6)|Mary Balogh|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170782663s/71648.jpg|69382], IMO).