A Seduction in Scarlet

Aphrodite's Club #1

by Sara Bennett

One wicked night . . . Lady Portia Ellerslie, dearest confidante to Queen Victoria and a woman of impeccable breeding, normally wouldn't dream of dallying in Aphrodite's Club, London's most exclusive and erotic bordello. But one lonely night she finds something enticing about the idea of a wild encounter in the notorious hothouse. Donning a daring, dangerously low-cut scarlet dress and a veil to mask her identity, she arrives at the club ready to succumb to the torrid desires raging inside her . . . and is shocked to find herself gazing into the eyes of Marcus Worthorne, the man she swooned over at seventeen. Could lead to a lifetime of ecstasy . . . Back then, Marcus barely knew she was alive, but now he's about to make her most wanton fantasies come true. Portia's proper life is about to change forever . . . because for Marcus one night with the lady in red could never be enough.

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

383 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Sara Bennett writes with passion. She has been published by Avon HarperCollins in the USA, and also publishes independently. She recently wrote a series of Regency novellas about Second Chances called Mockingbird Square. The four novellas are Unforgettable, Enraptured, Surrender and Reckless. They're available at all eBook stores.

Currently she is writing a second series of Mockingbird Square. The first three novellas, Fascination, Seduction and Temptation are available, and Obsession is under way.

Sara also writes paranormal romance as Sara Mackenzie, steamy historical romance as Evie North, and Australian Women's Fiction as Kaye Dobbie.

Reviews

[Angelc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good, I liked the hero a lot, but the plot was only ok. Marcus was very sweet and didn't hide the fact that he was in love with Portia, unlike the typical rake found in a lot of historical romances. I found myself skimming a lot of the murder plot portions of the book. I would have liked it if she made more of the fact that she was infatuated with him from afar when they were younger. Overall good read!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the hero and heroine in this, but I never quite managed to understand why the conflict was...well, a conflict.

[Brianne Geier · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.25

[Draven · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Oh so boring. For two people having an illicit, scandalous affair, they sure lacked the requisite heat. Codependent and simpering, it had everything I hate in a romance novel, not to mention all the liberties Bennett took with historical fact regarding Queen Victoria. Did not enjoy a single aspect of Portia and Marcus' story. This is a bottom of the sale bin book for me.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. Just bad. The plot was thin and overwrought. Skimmed through all of it. I'm surprised I didn't throw this against the wall.

[Breanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one should be surprised by the cliches and predictable plot. Compared to other books, this should probably be two-stars, but set within the context of romance, it was enjoyable enough.

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say. It's a romance book that starts off in a brothel where the main characters are getting it on. Which basically sets the tone of the book. You can't go wrong with that in my opinion.

[Maria Almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manter nossa sanidade e simplesmente não fazer nada ou pular no precipício e conquistar o novo? Quando deixamos de viver e apenas existimos, passamos a interpretar papéis que não queremos, deixando o fluxo seguir rumos questionáveis apenas por medo de desagradar as expectativas alheias.
Lady Ellerslie, Portia é uma jovem que se casou com um homem bem mais velho. Por ser um militar e condecorado sua vida mudou da água para o vinho, de filha do pastor para esposa de um herói de guerra. A Rainha Victoria tinha uma admiração absurda por ele, e quando ele veio a óbito, sua atual esposa se tornou um símbolo para a sociedade britânica.
Portia não era mais a Portia, mas sim a viúva do Lorde Ellerslie. E foi aí que sua luz começou a apagar. Tudo se tornou em prol da Rainha, em prol da sua família, em prol de uma imagem fictícia, mas não mais em prol da sua felicidade.
Em um ato, que muitos chamariam de loucura, ela resolveu se permitir e procurou o clube Aphrodite e fez um pedido inusitado a dona do local. Que ela a ajudasse a ter uma noite em que pudesse se entregar e sentir algo novamente, mas mal sabia ela que esse seria o princípio de uma nova era em sua vida.
Marcus Worthorne é um ex-hussar, membro da cavalaria militar e atualmente um bon vivant. Adora os prazeres da carne e por enquanto só quer viver sem se preocupar com nada.
Em uma noite foi para o clube da Aphrodite e se encantou por uma linda dama em escarlate.
Tudo foi muito visceral e rápido, e o que era para ser apenas uma noite, passou a ser muito mais.
Portia já o conhecia antes em sua juventude e sempre foi apaixonada por ele, porém a vida seguiu e os seus caminhos não haviam se cruzado novamente até agora.
É um relacionamento bem intenso, pois ele a faz sentir coisas que ela nunca imaginou sentir e isso coloca em check tudo o que ela vem vivendo até o momento e suas perspectivas de futuro. Continuar vivendo uma vida triste seguindo as vontades e necessidades dos outros ou buscar sua própria felicidade e viver um grande amor?
É uma história que põem a vida em perspectiva, mostrando que todas as situações são válidas para a construção de quem somos e quem queremos ser no futuro.

[Sharyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelf for awhile, but I didn't want to read it until I had the next. I have read the 3 preceding it years ago apparently. These are Victorian times and Queen Victoria actually plays a part. I did enjoy the characters, especially the hero, who came out if the army and had to find a place for himself. The heroine had been married at a young age to an older war hero, which caused problems for her as the widow of said hero. The historical references were quite interesting to me. The villian was quite telegraphed, but we learned his backstory, which was sadly interesting. On to book 2.

[Quedma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para quem aprecia romances com uma boa dose de er0tism0 e uma trama intrigant3, este livro é uma recomendação imperdível. A autora consegue equilibrar perfeitamente a sedução e a profundidade emocional, deixando o leitor ansioso pelo desfecho dessa história envolvente.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how easy this book was to read. I find a lot of period romances to be every long winded but this book wasn't. I know that I'm going to reread this book and love it even more.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lame historical romance. Not well written. Plot a bit far fetched.

[Cath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I liked Marcus and Portia, the story was quite bland

[Jacque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story and loved the book.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get over thinking Marcus was kind of a jerk.

[Paige Sellars · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the characters aren’t super developed. Great if you want a historical romance with a lot of mixed signals but steamy sex scenes.

I’m not sure how historically accurate this is but it’s definitely an entertaining read. It’s not a fast read at first, it took me a couple chapters to ease into the background and know all the characters but afterwards it goes pretty quick. There’s a lot of unrequited romance from earlier in Marcus and Olivia’s lives that led to the steaminess later on. Her family is the absolute worst and her ex husband’s memory as a war hero, and best friend and confident, queen Victoria sound absolutely stifling to the protagonist. Which I think is pretty spot on with how Victoria would have felt about morning periods. But overall I kept getting annoyed with the side characters because my girl just wants Marcus to take her to bed every night.

[Sara G · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at page 110. "I'm not going to stop you, Marcus. Stopping you is NOT what I want to do." Bad dialogue and an odd premise wrecked this one for me. The heroine is the widow of a much older war hero, and supposedly Queen Victoria wants her to be a model for the nation regarding mourning. This is prior to Prince Albert's death, by the way. The hero is... I'm not sure who he actually is, other than too wealthy to worry about anything and too arrogant to live. "With her veil and her mystery, he'd forgotten she was just a woman, and he had always had complete confidence when it came to his domination over the fair sex." No thanks. I'm cutting my losses with this one.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

too damn predictable, that was the problem. All three books followed a similar plot line and convenintly the heros turned out to be titled. Hello, take a leaf from Ms Heyer - a true gentleman is sometimes just that.

[Karine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A easy romance read set in a beautiful location and time in history. The main characters were pleasant, despite everything that was happening to them. Life never seems easy, and matters of the heart always make in more complicated than it really is.

[Evelyn Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story line had a slow started for me. The plot was all over the place and there was never a real end with the plot. Portia and Marcus story within the book was okay their story did had a beging and end but ther rest was just to water down for me.

[Elisia Crawford · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was such a let down... I disliked so much about this book its hard to know where to start. It was slow, boring, and ultimately I didn't really like either main character. The author tried creating a reason why these 2 couldn't be together that I just couldn't get on board with....

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't work for me. I'm not fond of this plot-line but I was willing to give it a try.

[Kassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the characters and enjoyed the storyline.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not impressed with this author.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated 3.5

[Mary Vilarino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, slow going not a book I really enjoyed

[Sasha]

Blargh.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't believe I'm saying this buuuuuuuut the book needed LESS plot.

[Sec2000 · Rating 1 out of 5]

blah didn't read

[Verthandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. You can play a drinking game with the phrase 'angel in widow's weeds,' and Portia and Marcus...Oy. Finished this one out of spite.