Sandy M’s review of Seductive Secrets (The Secrets Trilogy, Book1) by Lynne Connolly
Historical Romance ebook published by Samhain 10 Jun 08

I know when I read Lynne Connolly I’m going to get something different that I haven’t read before. I still get the feel and the taste of whatever era or subject she’s writing about, but the storyline is original and distinct. Very seldom am I disappointed.

I definitely was not disappointed in this first book in her new trilogy. Instead of living through the chase of the heroine by the hero, right off the bat Nick is determined to have Isobel as his wife, and they do marry within a short period of time. Because of this we also learn very early that Isobel is timid and frightened when it comes to men and, therefore, the coming wedding night. It’s with Nick’s sensitivity, his love for her that both he and the reader learn the why of her fear. I fell in love with Nick immediately because of his delicate treatment of his wife, knowing something was wrong and having the heart to find out why, to want to allay her fears, to want her completely and wholly as his wife in every way.

Both of them have gone through hell the past several years, Isobel in a horrendous marriage and Nick living a true rake’s life when he lost Isobel on the eve of their wedding years before. Nick’s hell was of his own choosing, but what Isobel suffered was much more damaging. She ran off with another man, who had courted her during her season, when she was overwhelmed by Nick’s nearly out-of-control ardor for her. Her husband’s deceit throughout their marriage, as well as his treatment of her in the bedroom, could perhaps have been avoided if only he’d been honest with her about his his love, which was never for Isobel. When her husband commits suicide, that’s when Nick is determined to have her after all and that’s when we begin to learn the sad, sordid story, plus a new mystery of extortion and murder that will test both Nick and Isobel and their love.

I liked both Nick and Isobel. Being a nobleman Nick has always had everything in life while Isobel had a terrible home life, a family that used and abused her, only tolerated her because of her money they wanted. She didn’t let that or her disastrous marriage beat her, though. She takes the lifeline Nick offers her and is determined to make the best of it, even when things begin to go wrong in her life again, allowing scandal right through the front door. Nick’s two best friends, Severus and Peter, are very likable fellows and will be the subject of the next two books in the trilogy. There are the usual money hungry and selfish characters to cause havoc, the kind you love to hate, but they’re taken care of quite nicely.

This book is vintage Lynne Connolly and I know the rest of the series is going to be just as lively and just as good. I look forward to them.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Nick is back.
After eight years of facing public scandal and private humiliation with her head held high, Isobel’s courage fails when the man she never stopped loving returns and asks her to marry him. Once he discovers her secret, he won’t visit her bed more than once. And she can’t bear his rejection.
Nicholas, Marquis of Cardington, is confident he can cope with the baggage Isobel carries from her first marriage. It doesn’t matter that the beautiful widow once left him to elope with another man. After all, he was partly to blame for that disaster. All that matters is he has always loved her, and now she’s free to accept his proposal.Only on their wedding night does Nick learn the terrible secret Isobel has harbored for eight long years. To win his wife’s trust will take every ounce of tenderness he possesses – when what he really wants is to show her the passion he saved for her and her alone.
But just as Isobel begins to believe her heart is safe with Nick, the blackmailers who drove her first husband to suicide reappear. And they want their pound of flesh.
Isobel must finally trust Nick will all her secrets—and her life—or their enemies will destroy them both.

Read an excerpt.