A Secret Affair
Huxtable Family Series – Book V
Mary Balogh

Piatkus (Little, Brown)
2 December 2010 / ISBN: 0749953780
Historical Romance / Regency London
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Hannah Reid has enjoyed being the Duchess of Dunbarton for the past eleven years, but now her elderly husband is dead and she is ready to enter the world once more. She is determined to enjoy her newfound freedom and comes to London for the season, with one aim in mind – taking a lover. She has even decided who the lucky man will be - Constantine Huxtable, dark, brooding and dangerous as the devil himself. He is intrigued to see the fabulously beautiful Duchess making a play for him and thinks that having her for a mistress might be fun. They are both going to have quite a few surprises as the season progresses…

This time it is the Huxtable who has been wronged and cast as a villain by society, although Hannah too has quite a reputation. Both parties hide secrets from the world and have quite a bit of healing to do for various reasons so the pattern of this series is being adhered to for the fifth and final volume. Ms Balogh manages as ever to not only bring the period to life but make a very similar plot to the other titles in this series come to not inconsiderable life. By this time there are plenty of back-stories to draw upon, and it is fun to see what the other Huxtables and their spouses are up to. I had not read anything by this author prior to embarking upon this set of books, but can now see why she is hailed as one of the queens of the genre. There are shorter books, more sizzlingly sexy ones or those involving murders, spies or exotic settings but Ms Balogh excels at igniting a spark between her protagonists that kindles into love. She then makes the reader believe it all which is no mean feat and it is easy to get swept along in a torrent of romance. As this is not a short book I might recommend some editing during some of the more repetitive passages but otherwise it is easy to see why this author is so very popular.

Reviewers Note: Some sex

A Secret Affair
Huxtable Family Series – Book V
Mary Balogh

Piatkus (Little, Brown)
2 December 2010 / ISBN: 0749953780
Historical Romance / Regency London
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Hannah Reid has enjoyed being the Duchess of Dunbarton for the past eleven years, but now her elderly husband is dead and she is ready to enter the world once more. She is determined to enjoy her newfound freedom and comes to London for the season, with one aim in mind – taking a lover. She has even decided who the lucky man will be - Constantine Huxtable, dark, brooding and dangerous as the devil himself. He is intrigued to see the fabulously beautiful Duchess making a play for him and thinks that having her for a mistress might be fun. They are both going to have quite a few surprises as the season progresses…

This time it is the Huxtable who has been wronged and cast as a villain by society, although Hannah too has quite a reputation. Both parties hide secrets from the world and have quite a bit of healing to do for various reasons so the pattern of this series is being adhered to for the fifth and final volume. Ms Balogh manages as ever to not only bring the period to life but make a very similar plot to the other titles in this series come to not inconsiderable life. By this time there are plenty of back-stories to draw upon, and it is fun to see what the other Huxtables and their spouses are up to. I had not read anything by this author prior to embarking upon this set of books, but can now see why she is hailed as one of the queens of the genre. There are shorter books, more sizzlingly sexy ones or those involving murders, spies or exotic settings but Ms Balogh excels at igniting a spark between her protagonists that kindles into love. She then makes the reader believe it all which is no mean feat and it is easy to get swept along in a torrent of romance. As this is not a short book I might recommend some editing during some of the more repetitive passages but otherwise it is easy to see why this author is so very popular.

Reviewers Note: Some sex

A Secret Affair
Huxtable Family Series – Book V
Mary Balogh

Piatkus (Little, Brown)
2 December 2010 / ISBN: 0749953780
Historical Romance / Regency London
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Hannah Reid has enjoyed being the Duchess of Dunbarton for the past eleven years, but now her elderly husband is dead and she is ready to enter the world once more. She is determined to enjoy her newfound freedom and comes to London for the season, with one aim in mind – taking a lover. She has even decided who the lucky man will be - Constantine Huxtable, dark, brooding and dangerous as the devil himself. He is intrigued to see the fabulously beautiful Duchess making a play for him and thinks that having her for a mistress might be fun. They are both going to have quite a few surprises as the season progresses…

This time it is the Huxtable who has been wronged and cast as a villain by society, although Hannah too has quite a reputation. Both parties hide secrets from the world and have quite a bit of healing to do for various reasons so the pattern of this series is being adhered to for the fifth and final volume. Ms Balogh manages as ever to not only bring the period to life but make a very similar plot to the other titles in this series come to not inconsiderable life. By this time there are plenty of back-stories to draw upon, and it is fun to see what the other Huxtables and their spouses are up to. I had not read anything by this author prior to embarking upon this set of books, but can now see why she is hailed as one of the queens of the genre. There are shorter books, more sizzlingly sexy ones or those involving murders, spies or exotic settings but Ms Balogh excels at igniting a spark between her protagonists that kindles into love. She then makes the reader believe it all which is no mean feat and it is easy to get swept along in a torrent of romance. As this is not a short book I might recommend some editing during some of the more repetitive passages but otherwise it is easy to see why this author is so very popular.

Reviewers Note: Some sex