There are very few Mary Balogh's book that I don't like. I liked A Secret Affair as well.

Often time a series will bog down, or become overly repetitive. I am happy to say this is not the case with the Huxtable series. In this last book you finally get the answers to Con's mysterious life, and as it is the 5th book Balogh does an artful job of reminding you of past story lines that are pertanent without making you want to yell get on with it.

Con is in London for the season, and as he has in the past books he is supposed to take up with a beautiful widow for a no strings attached affair that will end with the season. The beautiful Duchess Dunbarton Hannah, has just come out of morning ready to enjoy her widowhood with a sizzeling affair. She knows who she wants, and what she wants, and Con is it.

Con is intrigued by the beautiful mysterious Duchess, but is she as shallow and arrogant as she seems? Does that even matter? Is Con as devilish and jaded as he seems? Is he as good in bed as she and everyone has been lead to believe? You'll have to read it to find out.

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Best book of the series. There is a risk in continuing series romances that the character saved for last has been built-up so much that the story is a letdown. A good example of this actually was another Balogh series, the Bedwyns. I thought Bewcastle's book didn't quite live up to the character built over five (if you include Kit Butler's story) previous books.

A Secret Affair is just the opposite. While Constantine is in all the previous stories, he remains an enigma. You feel for his situation, born first but denied his title because his parents married two days after his birth. You can understand how he might be resentful or angry or spiteful. You wonder if he's playing with these people or if he really cares for them. You always knew, of course, that there was an explanation for whatever happened with the jewels. Even the first book with the situation told from Elliot's point of view, it seemed pretty obvious that the main problem was Elliot's high-handed assumptions about someone he supposedly loved.

Balogh took her time revealing the layers of the hero and heroine here. The story built to a point where the real Constantine and the real Hannah were revealed to their friends and family and it was so touching I cried and read it several times. Good crying. Happy sad. It was just well written and sweet and emotional.

The only downside for me is that this is the second book in a row in this series where Balogh just kind of threw in the towel on the love scenes. I know some people don't like them. I really like reading them and am disappointed when a book doesn't have them. There are a couple love scenes in the book but in this case, just written to actually not sound very...pleasing for the lady. Con doesn't sound like much of a lover and same with Stephen in the previous book. Balogh never has written scenes that were particularly graphic, but previous efforts at least give you the sense that there is mutual enjoyment. Lately the love scenes seem very one-sided and then in this book there was a lot of purple prose suggesting that something happened about the 10th time they did it. And she has Con acknowledge to himself that he's not even sure if his partner is reaching her peak. Anyhow, glad he isn't my lover! That was kind of a bummer.

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