Proof By Seduction is my least favourite Courtney Milan book so far. However, given how much I adore all the others, this merely means it's only quite good.Jenny Keeble has for years been supporting herself by playing Madame Esmerelda, a fortune-teller. One of her clients is Ned Carhart, a young aristocrat. Ned has issues with depression, but since Madame Esmerelda told him he had a wonderful, happy future, that has given him hope and he seems to be doing better. And then his cousin Gareth, the Marquess of Blakely, finds out about her. Gareth is a scientist, so he immediately knows the woman is a fake and must be taking advantage of Ned. He insists on coming to meet her, and when Ned sees him challenge her, he asks Jenny to demonstrate to Gareth that she's the real thing by making a prediction. I won't go into details about this (it's pretty silly), but it works to throw Gareth and Jenny together and the silliness helps slowly thaw Gareth's cold kind of rationality. This is a mainly character-driven romance. That's my favourite kind, when done well, and it requires really good characters. Milan gets that mostly right. I liked Gareth well enough (although the cold scientist thing felt a bit clichéd, to be honest, and I really enjoyed Jenny. She's in a difficult situation, where she knows what she's doing with Ned is not *right*, but can't really see a way of telling him the truth without harming him. I wasn't crazy about the way it turned out, but I did understand it.Jenny and Gareth are a good couple together, even if having the cold aristocrat being made to unbend and become more human by the inappropriate heroine is not particularly revolutionary. Milan takes this common plot and makes it feel more real, by making her characters feel real.There is a further book in this world, telling Ned's story. I will be reading it at some point, even though I suspect I could have some issues buying a HEA for a character with mental health issues in a historical setting. However, if anyone can be trusted to deal with this well, it's Ms. Milan.MY GRADE: A B. Unputdownable and funny and everything I can hope for from a book by Courtney Milan and infinitely more! ^ _ ^ [Every book I read written by her....makes me more and more aware of the fact that I have one book less to read...of this gem of an author....and it makes me sad. So, the fact that I am about to start this series now, read this book, is making me apprehensive. The fact that one day I'll have read all books written by her and feel empty(like a part of me is gone with the end of that book) inside...is making me feel kinda nostalgic already.And yet, I can't seem to stay away...'cause I know I am going to savour this reading experience, and quite possibly fall in love with the characters, like I always do in Courtney Milan's books, which are nothing short of magical. ^__^]
What do You think about Proof By Seduction (2010)?
Ph my God Courtney Milan and my feelingggssssss. Great book, misleading cover and title. Really.
—Joy
I enjoyed this. I had gotten a little tired of regency romances but this was slightly different.
—dkoolkat
