Seduction by Lauren Smith

You may remember that back in January I reviewed Forbidden by Lauren Smith, complaining that I had to wait for the second instalment...well look what's just come out. I'm usually a bit behind with my reviews, but as I finished this earlier, and it's only just come out, I thought I might review it straight away while it was still fresh.

As I mentioned, this is part two of a three part series, I would suggest that you read the first part first, there is some recapping, but I can't imagine that it would be enough if you hadn't read the first. They're also a really great price, so there's no reason why you wouldn't read Forbidden, before moving onto Seduction.

The story begins after Kat and Tristan have discovered that their parents, (his mother, her father) are not only seeing one another, but planning to get married. The idea of soon becoming step brother and sister, is enough to throw cold water on any new relationship, but Kat and Tristan have an electrically charged reaction that is too strong and simply cannot resist one another. Kat pushes Tristan away, trying to tell herself that it just can't be, but obviously struggles to believe that herself and as much as she tries to keep away from him, she just can't.

Much is made of the age difference and how young Kat is, personally, at 19, I don't think she's all that young. That could be because I met my husband at that age though (with a much bigger age gap than the 6 or 7 years between Kat and Tristan) but Kat's father is clearly very protective of her. Both Kat and Tristan know that they need to keep their relationship a secret to stop people from getting hurt.

I don't want to give too much of this book away, but I think it's quite safe to say that although they reach some decisions, with another instalment still to go, they still have a way to go before they get their happily ever after.

I loved this second instalment, again my only reservation would be that I have to wait until May, which seems a long way away before I get to read the final part; Climax.

Forbidden - Lauren Smith

I will admit that I was a in two minds about reading Forbidden by Lauren Smith. Not because of the topic (more on that shortly) but because, although I love Lauren Smith's writing, when I read one of her novellas, which this is, I am always left wanting more. To make matters even worse, this is the first of three books in a series, not only will I be left wanting more, but there will be more coming, just not for another couple of months.

My plan was to wait until the second and third books in the series were out and then read them all together. But I'd pre-ordered it and once it arrived on my kindle, I'm afraid I couldn't resist.

Kat, is an American student studying at Cambridge as her father has recently moved to London for work and she wants to be near to him. She meets Tristan Kingsley, the future Earl of Pembroke. There is a burning chemistry between them and despite Kat's innocence and inexperience, things get very hot, pretty quickly. 

There is one slight problem, Kat's father has met someone in London, someone who he's fallen for pretty hard and is planning on marrying, someone who happens to be Tristan's mother. I know a lot of people are put off by the idea of a step brother/sister relationship, but I don't think that really counts in this case, they've not been raised together and there is no real connection there, other than the marriage of their parents. So while it might not be everyone's cup of tea, personally I don't think that there's anything really distasteful about this.

What I really enjoyed about this (apart from the steamy, growing romance, which you all know is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, at least when well written) is that although this is a novella, being part one of three, there was plenty of room for the story to grow and develop. I enjoyed the growing blossoming between the two and the connection that they seem to instinctively share.

My only slight reservations were that I don't really fully get this fascination that many American authors have with Earls and Dukes and the like. Yes he's got a title, so what?! But that just might be my British working class roots coming through? Tall dark and handsome, yes, that I do get, of course. 

I'm looking forward to part two and three in the series, Seduction and Climax. If only I didn't have to wait...