Helpful Score: 4
Once again an solid story from Balogh, if a little more formulaic given it is the fourth in the series and I now know what to expect. Still, I genuinely liked Cassandra and found the supporting cast believable. The story I really want is Con's, and I'm hoping that comes next! Highly recommend.
Helpful Score: 3
This was my favorite book of the series. Even though you may want to shake some sense into Cassandra, it's easy to see why she puts up a wall around herself. Stephan is the ultimate knight in shining armor. He's masculine but sensitive due to the influence of his three sisters. Mary Balogh is one of the most gifted authors around. She has the ability to make you really care about her characters. I read this in one night and didn't want it to end. I too hope Con's story is yet to come.
Helpful Score: 2
This is the 4th in the Huxtable series and is the long awaited Stephen's story. I love this series and have Con's story on my wish list. This was not my favorite book maybe because it didn't seem to have that edgy feel of the previous stories. Stephen is such a sweetheart and I was so glad he found his true love. The story gave good insight into the fate of a noblewoman alone without a father/brother/husband to protect her. But there seemed to be something missing and I can't quite decide what. I did like the book and all the sisters showed up to lend support which I loved. I would recommend this addition if you have been following the Huxtables and I have high hopes for Con's story - he is such a mystery man.
Helpful Score: 1
Not the best of the series but good story.
Helpful Score: 1
This might have been my least-favorite in the series. Part of the problem is that it is largely the same as the previous book except that the woman is notorious and the man is the paragon of virtue. And of course there is an explanation for everything and strangely even that is too similar to At Last Comes Love.
Also I must confess I was very disappointed in the love scenes. There are a couple early on in the book but Balogh makes it clear that Cassandra never really enjoys the experience and I think she (unwittingly?) paints Stephen to look a bit like a selfish boob in the bedroom. So when they finally make love the right way, under the right circumstances, Balogh basically skips it. I hope it doesn't sound salacious to say that I enjoy reading those parts and I was so disappointed that this couple never had a proper love scene.
Also I must confess I was very disappointed in the love scenes. There are a couple early on in the book but Balogh makes it clear that Cassandra never really enjoys the experience and I think she (unwittingly?) paints Stephen to look a bit like a selfish boob in the bedroom. So when they finally make love the right way, under the right circumstances, Balogh basically skips it. I hope it doesn't sound salacious to say that I enjoy reading those parts and I was so disappointed that this couple never had a proper love scene.
Helpful Score: 1
The series over all wasn't a favorite and I found it a bit dry
I waited a long time to get this book from my wish list, but I should've just bought it because in that time, I seemed to have forgotten much of the premise with the previous stories.
Having said that, I will say that I was disappointed reading it. The heroine is a widow who was previously abused by her former husband. While I know that this is an important issue, I usually tend to read books to escape the everyday ugliness that weigh me down. The story line is well planned and the hero comes up to snuff by the end, I just wish the path there didn't have to be so rocky.
Having said that, I will say that I was disappointed reading it. The heroine is a widow who was previously abused by her former husband. While I know that this is an important issue, I usually tend to read books to escape the everyday ugliness that weigh me down. The story line is well planned and the hero comes up to snuff by the end, I just wish the path there didn't have to be so rocky.
loved the last of the series about the family.
Very good book; not as dark as some of Balogh's novels, but compelling all the same. It's so nice to actually like the main male character in the story, so many times authors make the male so arrogant and full of himself that it's hard to like him at all; but in this novel Stephen Huxtable is truly likeable, which is a refreshing change.
A beautiful love story. Well worth the read.
it was good.
I liked this book. Definitely should read the books before. Mary balough is good at making you feel like you already kow the huxtable family from the previous books. Good love story about Stephen and Cassandra.
While I liked the characters and the plot, I struggled with the predictability and the lack of suspense or real romance I kept hoping to find. I really did enjoy Stephen and Cass, there just lacked the pop I kept hoping for. I have enjoyed the Huxtable series and look forward to reading about Con and finally learning the truth with that last remaining portion of the saga.
I really like Mary Balogh, and very much enjoyed this fourth book in the Huxtables series. Her books are not the typical historical romance, and this was no exception.
He is to be wealthy, wellborn, and want her more than he wants any other woman. Those are the conditions that must be met by the man Cassandra Belmont will choose as her lover. Marriage is out of the question for the scandalous widow who must now barter her beauty in order to survive. With seduction in mind, she sets her sights on Stephen Huxtable, the irresistibly attractive Earl of Merton and London's most eligible bachelor. But a single night of passion alters all the rules. Cassandra, whose reputation is already in tatters, is now in danger of losing the one thing she vowed never to give. And Stephen won't rest until Cassandra has surrendered everything-not as his mistress, but as his lover and his wife.
