Avon, $5.99, ISBN 0-380-81526-5
Historical Romance, 2001

Saraphina Lawrence married at 17 and the marriage didn’t go too well (to put it in gross understatement). Now a widow, she wants to have fun, but too bad her meddlesome brothers just want to see her shackled. Damn, now all she needs is a biddable, preferably doddering husband who will indulge her every whim. Where can she find such an idiot? Hmm.

Can it be…? No, Nicholas Montrose, the Earl of Bridgeton (no, he has nothing to do with Julia Quinn‘s Bridgerton books, because I’m sure Karen Hawkins doesn’t want to be known as “that Julia Quinn clone”… right?), is too notorious. Plus, he won his fortune at a French gambling table, yucks. He will not do, even as he stakes his claim on her and stalks her around ballrooms and… ooh. (By the way, French readers may want to skip those bits where French women are described as wanting compared to guileless, innocent British flowers.)

“He will not do!” Sara insists.

Tough luck, babe. See her go down screaming, heh heh heh.

Aww, poor Nick. He has come a long way since The Abduction of Julia, and he is so cute, so territorial. I like. Sara’s a pretty smart heroine too, not too ditzy that she can fry eggs on her skull or something like that. She’s fine as a girl who just wants to have fun.

Less interesting are Sara’s annoying big brothers (I. See. Sequels.) and that stereotype old biddy Delphi. These people are stereotypes that don’t have any depths at all. They are just there to annoy me. Go away, you lot, or I will get my flyswatter. Get lost! I want Nick and Sara.

Incidentally, what’s up with the sudden dumbing down of Nick and Sara towards the end. I know every romance wants a conflict, but what’s with all those contrived misunderstanding thingies? Conflict is fine, yes, but manufactured padding is something best left to pillow and mattress makers, alright?

Still, this a fun read. Karen Hawkins still has some work to do before she can cast off that Julia Quinn clone mantle, but hopefully, she’ll one day get to try to do something that will give her a unique voice that’s all hers. Until then, oh well, I’m still content to enjoy. The Seduction of Sara? I’m seduced.