Proof by Seduction [Kindle Edition]

Prior to getting Proof By Seduction, I heard a lot of buzz about this book and debut author Courtney Milan. I was eager to get my hands on a copy, and I was just as eager to see how this book would hold up to all the talk. I am happy to say it held up well, more than well. Courtney Milan writes a very smart, funny, and romantic book.

Lord Gareth Blakely is a broken man, a cold, tortured soul. He was raised to take over his title, and it left little room for fun. He knows nothing of showing his emotions or how to interact with people. One of my favorite things is that Gareth stays broken throughout much of the book. There are no overnight miracles. He doesn't take one look at Jenny and start frolicking through a meadow the next day. He has been an emotionless being all his life, and it takes time, and as he learns, much determination, to become someone better.

Jenny is posing in her life as Madame Esmerelda, a fortune teller, who possesses no actual gift, except the gift of persuasion and trust. She has taken what life has thrown at her and made the best of it. Although she in essence swindles money out of people, she has a good heart and would not choose this life if there were other alternatives.

Gareth, a scientist is determined to prove Madame Esmerelda a fraud for his cousin's Ned's sake. Ned went to Jenny years ago with severe depression, with thoughts of ending his life and Jenny predicted a future of happiness and hope. Ned has prospered since then, and Jenny feels a fierce loyalty and protection over him. Blakely feels the same feelings toward Ned, and sees Esmerelda as a liability to him.

Ned, desperate to show Gareth that Jenny is the real deal, pleas with her to predict something. Jenny doesn't want to let Ned down, nor does she want to admit to Gareth that she is a fraud. So she comes up with this prediction - at an upcoming ball, at a certain time, Gareth will look upon the woman he is to marry and then he must perform three tasks, to be named at a future time, to secure this match. Gareth seeing right through Jenny's absurdities, makes her come to the ball with him, so she can be their to witness this great coupling. The more Gareth and Jenny spend time together, they more their shields start to come down, and love is allowed to seep out.

For as much as Gareth is the serious, stern character, I found myself laughing out loud many times during his scenes - and that is how you will start to root for him. Courtney Milan puts him in situations where you can't help but have a little pity for him and he melts some of that ice off.

There are ridiculously, funny moments in this book - Jenny "sacrifices" an orange on her first meeting with Blakely, looking into the pulp for clues to his future. Jenny knows this is hogwash, and she knows Blakely knows, but she is determined to duke it out with him. His first task involves carving an elephant in a piece of ebony to give to his future bride. Then he must compose a poem about Ned. Let's just say, Gareth has no talent in the art department, and my stomach hurt from laughing.

Jenny has her moments of contradiction. Matching wits with Blakely as Esmerelda she is strong and smart. Then there are times as Jenny, where she wants to prove to Gareth that she is better than a mistress, yet finds herself unable to deny him entry to her house at night. They both are yearning for companionship and love and their desperation to have it is what drives them together.

Jenny and Gareth both want Ned to be happy and towards the end of the book it felt like Ned is forgotten a bit. He is such an integral character at the beginning I kind of thought he got lost in Jenny and Gareth's romance. Jenny has her fair share of personal problems, but for as much as she fights for Ned at the beginning of the book, she lets him down towards the end.

Courtney Milan does a great job of writing two characters that each hide behind a mask. Gareth hides behind Lord Blakely and Jenny hides behind Madame Esmerelda. As the two of them slowly strip away their masks, their love story is truly wonderful. When Gareth strips away everything and looks at Jenny just as Gareth, it is beautiful and almost heartbreaking. A truly lovely story, that I can't recommend enough.

Not quite a 4, but a thistle seed could barely fit into the gap.

I selected Proof By Seduction because there was a lot of good buzz out there, but also because I'd seen the author around blogs and she seems pleasant, level-headed, professional, and appreciative of readers without feeling a need to sell her soul. After one particularly eloquent reply, I pre-ordered PBS. Ha, just noticed the initials -- for all the people who must contend with literary snobs, they can for a brief period say they were "enjoying PBS."

Set in 1838, we meet Jenny Keeble who has spent more than a decade masquerading as a fortune teller. Through this ruse she's befriended a young man named named Ned who is in line to be a marquess. Jenny, while taking Ned's money, has also used her "abilities" to improve Ned's sense of self-worth. The current marquess, his cousin, is determined to show "Madame Esmerelda" is a charlatan. As proof of her abilities, Jenny tells Blakely, our science-minded hero, that if he follows her instructions that she'll identify his future wife and that he'll be engaged within a month of that. Her out would that he didn't obey on some technicality.

The tasks she asks of him also serve to humanize him and make him reach out to other human beings.

There are many things to enjoy about this debut, and I can see why people are excited about Ms. Milan's future. The characters are all amusing in different ways and most are intelligent. The author is skilled at making you care about them, particularly Jenny. I liked that fairly early on the Madame Esmerelda ruse was disposed of between Jenny and Gareth (Blakely), if not Ned. There was also the wonderful idea what she was so good at pretending to be a seer, because she was a astute judge of people.

However, I did have an issue with the hero's easy compliance. This isn't the first novel where the hero is suppose to be this unapproachable creature and the heroine has him become a lamb by spring shearing. I understand this to a large extent, because we want to believe that these people bring out the best in one another. I thoroughly enjoy it as a plot line and find it satisfying. It just seemed to be in this case that it was ridiculously easy for him to reach out to others 'cause Jenny said so. Jenny was clearly smart enough to have gotten there, but it just seemed all a little -- just a little -- too simple for someone who we're told is cold and logical. As much as I believe he wanted out of his shell, and the author did a wonderful job of showing the man underneath, the ease of the change took away something for me. Also, other than the needs of the plot, I was confused as to why Gareth couldn't have just told Ned that Jenny had confessed. Sure, Ned could have disbelieved him, but Gareth was considered almost painfully trustworthy, and Jenny would not have lied to Ned if confronted in that manner. The only reason not to do it that way is so that the hero could continue on his path to improvement.

The character of Ned, for the most part, seemed bacon-brained in the manner usually reserved for a young Hugh Laurie, if anyone is familiar with his pre-House work. Occasionally he'd get off a really good quip though, leading me to believe the author didn't plan him to be as dense as I'd assumed, but just young. He needed to do idiotic things in order to advance the story, but was smart when the story called for it. Along with my issues with the Gareth transformation, it led me to the feeling of plot-driven character inconsistencies. In a mystery, this makes sense, but a romance begs to have characters be understood.

The few issues I have, along with the feeling that Ms. Milan is still finding her footing, makes me rate this book as just a sliver under a 4. However, although I don't have my trusty Tarot before me, I see a very bright future for Courtney Milan!

I like authentic period romances, and really could not believe that class lines could be crossed so easily. Instead of an Earl if she had picked a younger son as the hero who was
a real scientist, I could have gone for the story, but it felt totally unbelievable that a
foundling who had been another mans mistress and was a fortune teller would attend ton parties and marry an Earl. On the other hand the plot and the romance and a lot of the writing was funny and engaging so I gave it three instead of two stars. There were also some inconsistencies in writing about the hero. On the one hand he was an outcast from society and on the other he was brought up by a rigid grandfather who taught him to understand his duty to his land and dependents. So if he could not leave those things to a bailiff for a day or week, it was strange that he had abandoned those very things for science for dozens of years in Brazil etc...