Review by Ronny
Series Name: A Season to Wed, # 2
The Viscount’s Forbidden Flirtation is a delicious Regency romance by the talented Sarah Rodi.
Favourite Quote:
She placed her uninjured hand in his and, the moment his fingers tightened around hers, his skin burned.
Damn.
Book Synopsis:
A dance with temptation…sets his world ablaze!
Lieutenant Colonel Ezra Hart finds himself in urgent need of a wife—inheriting the viscountcy relies on it. But while he’s dutifully spinning the season’s jewels around society’s ballrooms, he finds himself desiring the one woman he shouldn’t covet…
French émigrée Seraphine Mounier is as beguiling as she is vivacious, but Ezra knows she has no interest in the marriage mart. What’s worse, she represents the very enemy he fought at Waterloo. As an undeniable connection sparks, resisting Seraphine seems one battle Ezra’s destined to lose!
Review:
This is Sarah’s first Regency romance, and I sure hope it’s not her last. I am a big fan of Regency romances, so getting my hands on a new book and series is always exciting. This is the second book in the A Season to Wed series and can be read alone. Each book in this series is written by a different author, which I just love. I like to remind readers who are new to Harlequin Historical books that these books are meant to be fun, romantic, quick reads and usually have a page count of a long novella. This just means that the plot moves along quickly, which is how they are designed to be. Now, don’t be fooled. There is still plenty of detail and depth in these books. I am a huge Harlequin Historical fan because I know that I can devour the story in one afternoon or on a Friday night, and I always enjoy the easy, breezy love story that is unfolding on their pages.
Now let’s chat about The Viscount’s Forbidden Flirtation. I really enjoyed this book. It has all those qualities that I love in a Regency novel, but Sarah also includes a new story element that I have not seen in a Regency romance before. As the title gives away, this is a Forbidden romance, and I would also say there is a dash of enemies to lovers in the mix in this story. This book stands out to me because the animosity between the English and French was front and center in the plot. Seraphine is French; her family fled France as enemies to the state when she was a little girl, but she and her family come to realize the English have little to no love for any French refugees living in their country. Ezra has just returned from the Napoleonic Wars and has his reasons for distrusting anyone who is French. As you can imagine, things between Seraphine and Ezra don’t get off to the greatest start. Ezra has made his dislike for the French known publicly, and Seraphine will never forget or forgive the distasteful comments Ezra has made about the French. This intense animosity instantly intrigued me because I wanted to see how Sarah would bring these two characters together. Not only do Ezra and Seraphine’s personal beliefs create this conflict, but there is also this larger animosity held by English society towards the French, which creates an even bigger and more challenging conflict these two will have to overcome to be together. I like how Sarah handled this aspect of the book. It added a lot of depth and richness to the story.
I enjoyed both Seraphine and Ezra as main characters. They were interesting and captivating characters that you were instantly drawn to. Both characters have to deal with personal struggles. Ezra is dealing with demons that come from fighting in a war and a strained relationship with his father. Seraphine is well aware of the fact that she and her family are considered to be outsiders in the English Ton and find it hard to conform to English society’s rules. Both characters are also pressured by their families to get married. I liked their chemistry. Seraphine doesn’t hold anything back and is a spitfire when it comes to her interactions with Ezra. She puts him in his place, which I always love. Ezra is a softy and is quick to realize that his public opinions about the French have negatively affected Seraphine and her family. He is set to make amends for any wrongs that may have befallen her family because of what he had said. Both characters are struggling with this growing dilemma they are facing. They obviously have growing feelings for each other, but they know that Society and Ezra’s father will frown upon any relationship. I loved their interactions, and Sarah did a great job at capturing what makes a forbidden romance so delicious.
The Viscount’s Forbidden Flirtation is a swoon-worthy romance by the talented Sarah Rodi.
