Seducing An Angel

by: Mary Balogh

Published by: Delacorte

Reviewed by Sarah Nagle

The heroines have become more complex and “grown up,” Witness her latest – widowed Cassandra Belmont has decided, because of precarious circumstances, to become a courtesan, and sets her sights on Stephen Huxtable, Earl of Merton. The youngest and only male of four siblings in Balogh’s Huxtable Quartet, Stephen has become quite the man about town. Being young, rich, and impossibly handsome, Stephen is an obvious choice, and Cassandra moves quickly to present her business arrangement to the young earl.

For Cassandra is not only penniless, she is notorious as well. Rumor has it that she murdered her late husband with an axe, and her place in society is not quite where she wishes it to be. She and Stephen find it easy to fall in love with Stephen – but her straightforward bargain is becoming more complicated than she thought. Being one of Balogh’s most romantic heroes, Stephen is determined to find the truth behind those rumors and Casssandra’s inability to trust. He wants to make her his countess; she wants only to be financially independent and free to leave Regency society behind her so that Stephen can make an appropriate match.

The author deftly unfolds the complexities of Cassandra and Stephen as she develops this latest chapter of the Huxtable siblings. We see Stephen’s sisters, now ensconced in happy but hard-won marriages, sympathize and plot for their brother’s romantic future. We learn the sometimes-unsavory details behind Cassandra’s first marriage and why she is denying her chance of a second, happy, marriage. Neither Stephen nor Cassandra are conventional Regency figures, and they must, to use modern parlance, “work through their issues” honestly before committing to each other and to a happy future.

One small detraction from Balogh’s smooth storytelling is her propensity for short sentences and frequent italics (important thoughts?) slowing down the prose. This quibble aside, the Huxtable Quartet comes to a satisfactory finale with Seducing An Angel, though the author has hinted that the story of a relative, woven though the four books, may have its own volume in 2010.

Armchair Interviews says: If you haven’t yet met the Huxtables, start the series with First Comes Marriage and prepare for a romantic treat – four of them, in fact!

Author’s Web site: http://www.MaryBalogh.com