Great, great read - Rachel and Alleyne are wonderful, and the secondary characters extremely colorfulSUMMARY (Bedwyn Family, Book 5):Slightly Sinful overlaps significantly (chronologically speaking) with the previous book in the Bedwyn series, Slightly Tempted (Morgan and Gervase's story). Lord Alleyne Bedwyn (26), working as a British diplomat in Brussels, is sent to deliver a letter to the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo. He receives a reply letter to deliver and heads back to Brussels, though he is in pain from being shot in the leg. When his horse throws him from the saddle, he hits his head and is knocked unconscious.When we meet Miss Rachel York (22), she is practically all alone in the world, with an estranged uncle as her only remaining relative. She has recently split with her betrothed, who was a relatively new acquaintance made while she was a companion to an elderly woman in Brussels. After entrusting her pretty meager funds to him and convincing four other women to do the same, she overhears him and his sister talking and realizes that they are not the charitable Christians they appear to be (he's posing as a reverend) but are in fact con artists. They had been departing Belgium and heading for England, but she makes a quick getaway and returns to Brussels and the four women, whom she feels honor-bound to tell the truth to and in some way recompense.The four women (fantastic characters! - they had me laughing throughout the book) are Flossie Streat, Geraldine Ness, Phyllis Leavey, and Bridget Clover, the latter of whom was Rachel's nurse for six years in her youth. They are prostitutes and have been running a brothel for the past four years, saving up money so that they can return to England and retire.I tend to be long-winded in these descriptions, so I'll try to cut it down to the basics (and fail horribly): Rachel comes across Alleyne and the women take him in, nursing him back to health. Due to his fall, he has amnesia and unfortunately remembers nothing, including his own name; he is given a new one in the meantime - "Jonathan Smith." They also pick up Sergeant William Strickland (another wonderful secondary character), a soldier who lost one of his eyes at the Battle of Waterloo. They all head to England after deciding to visit Rachel's uncle, Baron Weston, in order to deceive him into thinking that Rachel and "Jonathan" are betrothed so that she can secure the jewels her mother left her. They will then be able to track down the evil con artists and get back their money. Of course, things don't go exactly as planned - nothing in life is ever that simple - but everything ends well and there are happy/deserved endings all around (who would expect otherwise?!).REACTION:I greatly enjoyed this book and thought it was a real treat, especially after having been somewhat disappointed by Slightly Tempted I've looked through some of the Amazon.com reviews and have seen many of the same complaints. The first is that people are tired of Balogh's repeated use of the same plot devices: fake/will-be-broken-off betrothals; in this case she goes past a fake engagement to a fake marriage (my question is, has anyone else also noticed how there is *always* a lake with a small island that the main characters row to and make love on?!?). The second complaint is that this book's plot leaned to the implausible.My response to the first would be that I agree, but that Balogh is such a good writer that when she is able to succeed in all other ways (good writing, great chemistry, wonderful characters) I frankly don't care, but that's personal preference. To the second, I really have to protest - do we actually read these books because they are based on reality and believability? No, we read it for the romance and the chemistry, for the wonderful if-only-they-were-real-and-waiting-outside-my-door heroes and the great, strong heroines whom we can (let's face it) either imagine to be us in another life and alternate universe or a dear, dear friend, so we can share in the happiness.CHARACTERS (main and secondary):The book is brimming with wonderful characters. It's nice for a change to read about a Bedwyn who doesn't carry himself with haughtiness and arrogance, but instead has an easy grin and is good-humored (even before he falls in love!). Alleyne definitely changes from how we've seen him in past stories (somewhat shallow and aimless) to how he is by the end of the book (responsible, with a sense of purpose), and I think the development rings true and is well-done. I thought Rachel was a great heroine (and what a great change to have the heroine save the hero - literally). She's a strong young woman who has had a painful childhood and youth, but is hard-working and tries to be positive. I especially liked that she was friends with the wonderful female-quartet and was slightly protective of them, refusing to look down on them because of their profession (though I don't think Balogh should have had her call them "whores" in her thoughts as often as she does at the beginning).Not only are the hero and heroine wonderful, but all of the secondary characters are well-written and add much laughter and tenderness to the story. The reunion that Alleyne has with his family is very emotional if you've read the other Bedwyn books, though I'll concede it occurs later in the book than I had expected. I also agree with the other reviewer who said that Balogh was brave in having the first romantic encounter not be wonderfully successful so that we can see the characters work through it; adds a certain reality to the story which is otherwise blissfully far too perfect to be real. I loved this book and think it is definitely one of the best ones of the series (ranks up there with Slightly Married and Slightly Dangerous, IMO).
I had low expectations for this book because I haven't really much liked Alleyne. He's aloof, cynical, and just a tad out of his depth. Maybe my expectations were simply low, but this book blew them out of the water and I am so happy. The amnesia thing is such a cliché that I was a bit surprised to see Balogh using it. She's better than that, I thought. Fortunately, she really is better than that and used that cliché to pull off a really interesting character arc.I have no idea what real amnesia might do or how realistic Alleyne's reaction was, but Balogh used it in this story as a way to distill down his essential character and strip it of his emotional background. Interestingly, this both worked really well as a device and served up an Alleyne I found easy to fall for. It turns out that the essential Alleyne is a rogue, but a kind-hearted, intelligent, easily pleased rogue who wants nothing better than to provide for his friends' happiness. Add in the essential uncertainty of a man who doesn't know his kin, his past, or his place in the world and you have someone immediately engaging for me.And I found Rachel equally engaging on her side. Mostly. She, too, is kind. Also loyal and brave and in desperate circumstances. Her willingness to figure out ways to help her friends was endearing and I enjoyed her interactions with Alleyne and their growing relationship. Building that relationship took a good deal of bravery all on its own as neither of them knew if he had circumstances that would turn their love into a great tragedy—after all, he could have a wife and children buried in the past he couldn't recall.I even liked the side characters, even though they were somewhat broadly drawn. I enjoyed their enthusiasms and determination to make the best they could with whatever life threw at them. They each had deeply silly moments, but they also balanced each other such that they ended up going in helpful directions (or at least, non-harmful ones). As is standard with Balogh, all the important people were extremely broad minded, but I kind of counted on that because it was really the only way things could work out in the end.The only real fly in the ointment came early in the novel. It provided a good deal of friction in the story and took a long enough time to work its way out to steal the five stars the book might otherwise have earned. (view spoiler)[Rachel's rather off-handed claim to be one of the "working ladies" was uncharacteristic and deeply foolish. That she doubled down on it any time she was presented a chance to walk it back was painful. That it created a wedge between her and Alleyne was more than a little annoying with both of them unreasonably attributing the worst interpretations on anything the other said for far, far too long. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Slightly Sinful (2004)?
More Madcap Then UsualSLIGHTLY SINFUL is the fifth book in the Bedwyn series. It is the story of Alleyne, the youngest son. The events in this book occur concurrently with those in SLIGHTLY TEMPTED. Alleyne is injured during the Battle of Waterloo. He is rescued by Rachel York, who find him unconscious and naked. Alleyne awakes with no memory of who he is. Rachel is a young woman who has fallen on hard times and is currently staying in a brothel with four prostitutes. Soon Alleyne is helping Rachel by masquerading as a newly married couple. This is a story about who we are and what knowledge of the past makes us. Both Alleyne and Rachel are missing the truth about their pasts. The two fall in love while engaged in the fake marriage. This book is more madcap adventure than the others. Rachel and Alleyne travel with four prostitutes and a one-eyes former sergeant. Their deception, however, allows them to discover the truth. I really enjoyed this book. It was funny and poignant at the same time. The end of the book where Alleyne finally finds himself was so incredible that I forgot that the madcap adventure went on just a touch too long. I really like Alleyne and Rachel's romance.
—Sheila Melo
Another. Fake. Betrothal.This book is, on its own, incredibly moving and lovely. But as a part of the series, it is hard to buy. It is the third fake-betrothal ruse in a row, after all, and there are some logical gaps in the story that are hard to miss. Not only that, but The Terror That Is Freyja returns--after her brother Alleyne "returns from the dead" after two months, what does she do? She punches him in the face. Why, if he controls the rest of the world with his every-so-icy, icicle-like,
—Amy
Oh, Mary Balogh - always with the really good stuff, be it excellent use of cliches or exploration of interesting themes within the context of historical romance, but always undermined by some really dodgy stuff. Yes, yes, this is dress-up-doll historical romance - they've all got their teeth, the women are always surprisingly independent - but you don't get to handwave away the things you don't like (bad dental hygiene, extremely limited spheres of influence for the vast majority of women, the actual number of dukes at any given time in what is now the UK, etc.) and keep things that are in fact problematic just for humor. To wit, two thumbs up for acknowledging that women who are forced by circumstance to become prostitutes are, in fact, human, too, but two thumbs down for then perpetuating "and they were born to be servants!" thing, not to mention the fact that Our Heroine could, of course, never whore herself out like her it's-a-valid-lifestyle-choice prostitute protectors for no other reason than because Our Heroine was born a lady. You don't get to have your cake and eat it, too. You don't get to pull an "it's okay for them; they're just born low class" and have it not completely yank me out of the romance. Don't get me wrong, I do love me some good amnesia!fic, and I adore pretend-to-be-married stories, but this one combined them in slightly awkward ways that didn't really work for me. Our Heroine came off a little irrational and over-the-top self-centered, even when she was supposed to be this angel. We didn't know enough about Our Hero pre-head injury to be amazed at any particular change in behavior. There were some delightfully wacky set-ups and over-the-top characters that were relatively well-played, but my lingering impression from this book is just generally feeling sympathetic towards Our Heroine's much-beleagured uncle.
—notyourmonkey
