The Secret of My Seduction by Caroline Linden

May 22, 2017

http://www.carolinelinden.com/
Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the kitchen, another "Fifty" blah blah blah book appears. Only this time it's different - this one has some good writing in it.

Caroline Linden supposedly finished her Fifty Ways to Sin series with the book Six Degrees of Scandal. Surprise! There's always room for a novella. This small offering is called The Secret of My Seduction. I confess, I have never read the "Fifty Shades of.." which started the race to include tons of sex in books to the exclusion of a storyline. However, I did watch the trailers for the Razzie winning movie (worst picture and screenplay) and if - if - the writing in the book is as stilted as what appears in these trailers, the best I can say is I probably will never read the books.

So, when I pick up a book which has "Fifty" in its title I always hesitate. It wasn't long before I began to relax and enjoy Caroline Linden's short little book. Not only is it a charming story, it's quite hot!

Now, there's nothing new in The Secret of My Seduction's set-up. Our heroine, Batheshba Crawford, has been writing a series of naughty stories called Tales of Lady X. While she is not an innocent, her experience is rather limited and she fears her stories are not exciting enough and people may become bored with them. Of course, she has a plan. She will ask her publisher, Liam, to help her gain experience by taking her to his bed. Well, Liam is a tad bit shocked. He turns her down. But Bathsheba has read a few romance books in her time, she employs that good old stand-by incentive - "If you won't - dance with me, kiss me, pretend to be my fiancé, have sex with me - I will find someone else who will."  There are no surprises in this story, but it has a fresh feel about it - thanks to the writing.

Both Bathsheba and Liam are fairly well developed. Even though the story is very short there was still time for a back story of both characters. There was also room for plenty of hot, hot sex. All I can say is Wall-banger! Yipes! There were also a number of amusing scenes, especially when Bathsheba takes a notepad and pencil to their first rendezvous.

I do recommend this. Sure, sure it's a short story, but it's a darn good one and as we all know, good short stories are hard to find. So go ahead, take an hour or two and read this story. I think you'll like it. It also would have made a wonderful full-length book.

Time/Place: 1823 England
Sensuality: Hot