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SLIGHTLY SINFUL is Alleyne's story. Lord Alleyne Bedwyn is the fourth and last son in the Bedwyn clan. Stationed at the British embassy in Brussels, Alleyne is shot when returning from the front lines and left to die in a Belgium forest. Rachel York comes upon his naked body; Alleyne's next stop -- a Brussel brothel -- minus his memory.
Of course, Alleyne and Rachel are the main love interest; regrettably, their relationship lacks substance. Significantly missing is the romance, the lust, the sensuality between the two. In fact, the entire book just doesn't have enough interesting content. Tediously, I read to the end hoping to enjoy the Bedwyn family and their reaction when Alleyne returned to them. Letdown notice -- the family ONLY appears briefly in the waning pages. What a shame! The energy from the vivacious family would have given much life to this lackluster story.
Is there a highlight? The ladies of the brothel and a crusty sergeant are delightful people. Yet, is their participation enough to recommend this book? Sadly, no.
I am disappointed! Mary Balogh is one of my all-time favorites. Presently, I am tracking down her Signet Regency Romance books. These little treasures are wonderful stories; unfortunately, SLIGHTLY SINFUL is a poor imitation.
Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.
"Slightly Sinful" follows Lord Alleyne Bedwyn, youngest brother of the Duke of Bewcastle, as he approaches the Battle of Waterloo as a courier for a diplomat. Injured when carrying a letter away from the Duke of Wellington he falls from his horse and loses consciousness.
He awakes not knowing who he is - and finds himself in a brothel. He was rescued by Rachel York, a young lady who happens to be staying in the brothel with her former governess, now a prostitute, and her three co-workers. The five ladies are all bound together by a shared disaster - a clergyman they trusted to carry their money back to England has absconded with it. This clergyman was also engaged to Rachel but they now know he was only interested in her inheritance. The ladies decided to go and loot some of the bodies after the Battle of Waterloo and this is where Rachel found Alleyne, his body already stripped as he was thought dead. She brought him back to the brothel as the only place to take care of him, with the help of a one-eyed sergeant, and waited for him to wake up.
The descriptions of the battle are excellent, as is the way that Alleyne deals with his loss of memory. His romance with Rachel is gently portrayed - in fact it's something that arrives very gently over time. Of course both of them are very attractive (as usual in this kind of book) but Mary Balogh seems to be trying to say that shared experiences of fear and rescue are what originally bind them together.
They return to England and Alleyne agrees to masquerade as Rachel's husband so that she can get her jewels from her aloof uncle - they will come to her on her twenty fifth birthday or when she is married. She arrives at her uncle's house with Alleyne, the four prostitutes pretending to be maids or companions and the Sergeant. But her memory of her uncle isn't true to reality and she has to start reconsidering his dealings with her in the past and viewing them in a new way.
In some ways this book is a little cold and gentle - there's not too much action after the initial Waterloo battle, most of the scenes are between Rachel and Alleyne and I liked that, and the lovers themselves aren't as warm and passionate as some of the other books in the series. In a way I liked that about this book - it felt more real, particularly the description of Alleyne's emotions. He's afraid in the battle and once he realises who he is, he is afraid to go back to his family. This rang true and I liked it.
Overall I think this was a well-written book but it wasn't the sort of novel that stays in your mind and that you want to read over and over again.
I'll try to clarify.
The Waterloo battlefield description, the scenario, the secondary characters ( the 4 kind prostitutes especially ) are simply great .
But the real subject of the book is the personal tragedy of Alleyne - trying to recover his memory after he's shot and thrown from his horse during the battle.
" This is an opportunity for you to start a new life, and to become someone better than the person you've been so far " - the tenant tells Alleyne, and the wish will become true.
In the Bedwyns Alleyne has been always the charmer, far from having the strong personality of his elder siblings ( Rannulf the Viking, Freyja the Amazon, Colonel Aidan , Wulf the Ice Duke ) and much closer to sweet Morgan.
Only now, after the accident, he changes, and starts to show his emotions without shame, and to do efforts to understand somebody's else feelings ( Rachel's; her uncle's ); only now he dares to admit to be scared by the idea of getting back home alone , and he asks meekly for Rachel's help. He's really a different man now, no longer afraid to be weak, or shy, or scared, or grateful. Or sinful, too.
But I'm not sure that the mutual support Rachel and Alleyne are providing each other is something effective to base a lovestory upon. It can be perhaps realistic and closer to our day-by-day life ( how many marriages were born by gratitude ? ), but certainly it's not as intriguing and passionate as some relationships in other MB's stories - one for all, " More than a mistress " , which is my definitive keeper in all MB's books.
BTW: the silent hug between Wulf and Alleyne is a little cammeo. MB is already paving here the way to Wulf's story , and since now her attention is clearly focused on the sequel to this book, the it - will - never - be - published - too - soon " Slightly dangerous " that we are all waiting for with impatience.
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