Alexandra Benedict, Too Scandalous to Wed

Too Scandalous to Wed

Alexandra Benedict

Avon, Sep 2007

ISBN: 9780061170430

Since she was a little girl, Henrietta Ashby has loved Viscount Sebastian Galbraith. However, to her chagrin by 1821 though she is an adult he sees her as his kid sister Henry. Her efforts to seduce him are amusing to him, but he also knows he must leave England so that she chooses a suitor to marry.

Henrietta refuses to give up on the man she loves even if she thinks he is an idiot. She hires a notorious courtesan Madam Jacqueline to teach her the art of seduction waiting to spring her alluring trap when her unrequited beloved returns. Sebastian is stunned by the new Henry make that Henrietta as he no longer has sibling feelings towards her. However, he runs from her to a brothel as he assumes she loves some image of a paragon and not the rakish real him; she follows him there to confront him. When her note to him is intercepted by a rogue, they are forced to marry to prevent scandal. Her deepest wish fulfilled, Henrietta suddenly realizes she loves this flawed man not some statue on a pedestal; he feels the same way about her, but hides his heart because he cannot measure up to what he believes remains her dream of who he is.

The changing thought processes by Henry re her beloved make TOO SCANDALOUS TO WED a superb Regency. Whereas her paragon of perfection knows his secret makes him inferior to a woman like Henry, she goes after what she most covets in the world even if it means scandalous behavior. Once she achieves her objective, she begins to see Sebastian's flaws but loves him even more while praying he loves her back as his mate and not his sister. Alexandra Benedict writes a delightful charmer due to the capricious, courageous and changing Henry.

Harriet Klausner