The Perfect Seduction

Conqueror #3

by Margo Maguire

To burn with passion . . . to surrender to the power of a man's desire . . . Kathryn de St. Marie's years in a French convent have taught her such things are forbidden. Still the chaste Norman beauty dreams of a soul-stirring love. But cruel destiny intrudes when she is taken prisoner by Scot barbarians—though a kinder fate intervenes when she is rescued by proud, haunted Edric of Braxton Fell, a bitter Saxon lord displaced by Norman rule. Though he despises the conquerors, Edric can sense that Kathryn is different—gentle and giving, yet possessing a fire that enflames Edric in turn—and he grudgingly allows her into his broken life. For Kathryn's capture has tainted her in the eyes of her people, and she can never again return home. Her future rests in the strong hands of her enemy champion . . . and in a long-cherished dream of a perfect seduction and a dangerous, rapturous love.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Medieval, Medieval Romance, British Literature, Historical Fiction

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 28, 2006

About the author

As a nice, sane break from the drama and fast pace of working as a registered nurse in an intensive care unit, Margo Maguire returned to college to study history, and fell in love. Writing about the historical characters she encountered in her classes was a good way to unwind from a crazy day in the unit. She soon started creating her own fictional characters and putting them into historical settings.

Margo is the author of twenty historical romance novels. Her books have been published in numerous languages, and have even come out in Japan as manga—animated books. She is the mother of three grown children and lives with her scientist husband in southern Michigan.

Reviews

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Kathryn's story better than Isabel's ( The Bride Hunt). Kathryn and Edric had better chemistry (or it seemed so to me) than Isabel and Anvrai. Margo Maguire' style is interesting. It almost reads, provincial somehow. This is not a critique at all. I think it worked very well for the time period Margo Maguire has chosen for this book, England of William the Conqueror, 11th century. Like the Scottish/English feud later on this island, Normans and Saxons hated each other. Kathryn, a Norman noblewoman and Edric, a Saxon lord who had submitted to the Norman king William found themselves together during this period in history.

I have already said this in the Bride Hunt, the historic feeling is done very well. Margo Maguire successfully took me back in time. I think her secret is not "polluting" our characters with modern feminist ideas. Not that I think women had such a great life back then, but I appreciate that Maguire's characters stay true to their time period. They acted and talked like the medieval people that they were.

The story is simple: Kathryn was abducted by the Scots. Edric's brother saved her and Kathryn ended up residing in Edric's household. Edric was married to another Norman woman, who died in child birth, which we read about when Edric and Kathryn returned to his home. Edric became a widower early in the book with a young son who only responded to Kathryn (how convenient, but this is fiction, what the heck). So Kathryn was forced to stay in Edric's home. She knew she would not be able to return home because her abduction had marked her as "tainted". So she resigned to the idea that she must stay away from her family. She wanted to go to a nunnery and asked Edric to allow her to go. But one thing happened after another and boom they slept together and Edric now could not let her go because you know, sex was so great.

This was a very quick and comfortable read. Nothing original but was great for downtime.

[Lisa Key · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

[Mariairam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primera lectura (2005 aprox)
Lo leí casi detrás del anterior, pero aunque está bastante bien no me gustó tanto como el de "el marido perfecto"

Leído marzo 2021
Al igual que me sucedió con el primer libro de la serie, leerlo después de tantos años ha hecho que pierdan gran parte de la gracia. Me ha resultado bastante más soso y simplón que la primera vez.
Me apena que casi no se haga mención a los personajes del otro libro (su hermana Elizabeth sí que la mencionaba y recordaba con mucha frecuencia en su historia).
Da la sensación de que la trama de fondo se podría haber explotado un poco más. Edric no me ha terminado de convencer como personaje; por momentos es bastante sensato y coherente, pero en otras ocasiones es un poco estúpido y cabezota.
Lectura rápida y amena. Agradable de leer y entretenida.

[Amelia Juhl]

Norman nun. captured by scottish barbarians. rescued by a giant, oversized Saxon warrior whose cold Norman wife lays dead after bearing him a son. Saxon son will only take a crock of milk from Norman nun.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one felt so refreshing again after the previous historical romance I read where the love interests kept on fighting and it wasn't nice at all. This one, even though the characters were supposed to be enemies and wary of each other, they still showed each other some respect and didn't harass them to divulge all their secrets. Of course, the story followed the classic format and was rather predictable. I have to say that the woman wasn't super headstrong and defiant in this book. She was still strong and tough, but definitely a lot more reserved. It was nice for a little change to have the woman character a little bit different. I also appreciated that the man character wasn't afraid to show tenderness and care for others.

[Elena Micheli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stelle stracciatella..come storia non è male ma il finale...o hanno tagliato nella traduzione o non so ..è come tronco...saltando in un epilogo veloce ...

[I_love_a_happily_ever_after · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hi Everyone,

This is the second Margo Maguire book I have read. It has an interesting historical time peroid (late 10th century) with three different converging cultures. I found this time period very interesting. The romance between the hero and heroine is off balence for quite a while during the story, she falls for him pretty quickly, he appreciates her and lusts her, but does not realize he loves her until much, much later in the story. At first I was frustrated with the with this plot thread, and disliked the hero greatly, but I understand the reason the author made him this way. I loved the thread with the heroine Kate and the infant. I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the story for you. I gave it a 3 star rating, which is technically an "I liked it". Some writers are not happy with threes, but it is not a bad rating. Give this book a try if you want to read a medieval set in a very interesting time period.

[Jenika Ioffreda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I even didn't finish reading the book, after a while I was so bored I couldn't go on. There was nothing original on the story and the characters didn't stand out at all. I know it's not fair writing about a book without even finishing reading it but there was nothing interesting to keep me going.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

year 1072

[Stormy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the heroine in this one. Feisty. All in all, not that memorable.