Jillian Hunter - The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

It would have been the wedding of the year–had the groom, Sir Nigel Boscastle, bothered to put in an appearance. To the shock of her distinguished guests, the respectable Lady Jane Welsham is left humiliated at the altar. Yet truth be told, although outwardly ruined she is elated to have escaped marriage to a man she does not love.
Enter Grayson Boscastle, the irresistible Marquess of Sedgecroft (and cousin to Nigel). Grayson’s duty is clear: salvage the young lady’s pride and reestablish the family’s good name, while repairing his own tarnished reputation as one of London’s most notorious scoundrels. Their whirlwind affair is the talk of the ton. Yet nothing is as it seems between the bewitching Lady Jane, who knows that her wedding was cleverly sabotaged, and her charming rogue, as they are drawn into an amusing game of seduction and secrets.

Comment: I had this book in the pile since 2014. I can't remember why I had it, but having now read it, I can assume it's because it's the first book in a long series featuring several family members. I probably imagined I'd love it and then would have plenty more stories to be entertained with later.

In this story we meet the main cast of characters as they attend the wedding of lady Jane Welsham and sir Nigel Boscastle. The problem is that Nigel is very, very late and people are starting to make comments. When the bride decides to leave, Grayson, the marquess of Sedgecroft, and the now responsible for the Boscastle family, believes is his duty to address her and seem to court her, so that the ton will not consider Jane a jilted woman, which would make other men wary of considering her for marriage now. 

There are, however, two problems with this idea, being one the fact Grayson starts noticing Jane is actually a very fetching and likable woman, and also the fact Jane and Nigel concocted the whole failed wedding together and now that she is starting to fall in love with Grayson, she thinks he won't trust her because she didn't tell him the truth...

The premise of this story was certainly original, and even more so when we discover just how unlikely it would be for Nigel and Jane to marry. They know each other since childhood and their families have always liked the idea of them becoming a couple, but the truth is they are friends and don't like one another that way. I could accept their need to do something without causing a social scandal which would affect their families too - they both would get something out of this failed wedding day, but they believed it would not extend to others around them.

This is one of those situations where the historical context kind of justifies some apparently unwise decisions, things that make no sense if one thinks contemporary instead: why not confessing to their families they didn't want to marry? Although I'd say the explanation truly didn't convince me anyway... but even if this were to be more consistently executed, it seemed, from the start, the main interest in this story was to show how much in control of the situation Grayson wanted to be, and I just could not really sympathize with him. Nor with Jane, as a matter of fact.

My problem with this story is the way it was written: it felt as if the author wanted to convey this never ending sense of something happening, when it didn't. For instance, Jane and Grayson would interact in such a way, they would have constant dialogue, often including innuendos, and then not as much that but explicit things, as if they were witty conversationalists and the reader had to be proven their connection went beyond the physical. This was made to seem as if they were establishing the base for a relationship, but I was constantly tired of the way they talked, when nothing really substantial was happening.

Even the faked courting Grayson begun doing was focused on his need to kiss her or to think about sex with her, and Jane, being so clever to have planned the failed wedding, simply could not think straight when Grayson was around. I just could not enjoy the plot that much when the focus was on details that, frankly, didn't really matter. It started to grate on my nerves how things were developed, as if the author wanted me to believe Grayson and Jane, so different personality wise, were really becoming a couple. Well, this is not news in a romance novel, but the writing style was simply too irritating.

Still, despite my personal preferences, the story could still be a good one, but I was also unimpressed with Grayson. I didn't like him that much and not exactly because he was poor hero material in my eyes (his attitude towards Jane and women in general made me annoyed, even though I know it was not uncommon for men at the time to have those views on women), but also for how he "managed" his family, now he is the head of the family. He was considered a rake or close to it from the beginning of the story and, of course, falling in love with Jane, made him see things differently which is great, but I think his personality wasn't very attractive.

About Jane, I don't have much to say, actually, she was like any other female character in a romance novel, who seemed to be described one way and her actions would not match that description. Her interactions with her family were also a little... I can't say but it feels as if the author also wanted to convey a little lighthearted flavor to the story by making almost every character a humorous one, but which to me is more a caricature... her sisters didn't behave seriously, her brother was always drunk/careless if he had to chaperone as if that was very funny, her parents were superficial and not that concerned about them unless it suited the plot... 

All in all, most elements put aside were quite weak, and as whole this was not the type of story I prefer to read about. When things get close to the end, something happens and Grayson behaves as if he is playing juvenile pranks which assuredly made me like him even less. Therefore, although a few interesting elements in the beginning, and here and there, I cannot say this book won me over that much.

Grade: 5/10