Slightly Tempted [Mass Market Paperback]

This a wonderful book, featuring Lady Morgan Bedwyn. She is singled out by Lord Rosthorn in Brussels because he wants revenge on her brother, the Duke of Bewcastle, then they are caught up in the aftermath of Waterloo together (beautifully described). Alleyne Bedwyn is missing presumed dead (although we are given a hint as to what happens to him, so we know he will come back for the next 'Slightly' book due out soon, but back in England we get to see the Bedwyns trying to come to terms with his death as well as catching a glimpse into Bewcastle's past and the antipathy between him and Rosthorn. Of course it all unravels towards a happy ending, but there are some interesting twists.

Mary Balogh's "Slightly" series have been variable in quality. I was rather disappointed with "Slightly Married" (Aidan), "Slightly Wicked" (Rannulf) and "Slightly Sinful" (Alleyne) but thought that "Slightly Scandalous" (Freyja) and "Slightly Dangerous" (Wulfric) were excellent. "Slightly Tempted" is the last of the Bedwyn series that I have read, although chronologically it's book 4 of the 6 (although "Sinful", Alleyne's story, occurs at the same time), and it was a really good read.

"Slightly Tempted" is the story of the youngest of the Bedwyns, daughter Morgan, who is 18 and in her first season. The events take place around the battle of Waterloo and Morgan is in Brussels with her brother Alleyne and a family who are looking after her. She meets Gervase Ashford, Earl of Rosthorne, at a ball and enjoys her conversation with him. Rosthorne's personality seems rather similar to that of Joshua, Marquess of Hallmere in "Slightly Scandalous" - he's fun, witty, a rake (of course!) and yet there are deeper things going on in his character. He was banished from England 9 years before after apparently ravishing a lady neighbour who was about to be betrothed to Wulfric, Duke of Bewcastle and Morgan's brother. Rosthorne feels distinctly uncharitable towards Wulfric and when he discovers Wulfric's sister is in Brussels he resolves to get some revenge on her brother by leading her into some indiscretions.

Of course his plan goes a little awry when he discovers there is more to Morgan than just being a lightweight debutante - they spend a lot of time together and his motives in spending time with her change significantly. However, when returning to England and the talk of society Morgan discovers his past and believes that all his behaviour was designed to hurt her brother Wulfric. How can Rosthorne prove his love is genuine, that he isn't guilty of the horrible event nine years before, and how can her persuade Morgan to marry him when she doesn't trust him?

This book has more historical detail than a lot of Mary Balogh's other works - the setting of the Battle of Waterloo (also shared with "Slightly Sinful") is very well described. I loved the way in which Morgan mucked in with people to help treat the injured and wounded and the descriptions of the final ball before the war were very good. There are also, for those who've read "Slightly Sinful", several events that coincide and the ending of this book introduces a significant event which we read about fully in "Slightly Sinful".

The main character of Morgan is interesting - she's young, brash, doesn't seem to mind too much about public opinion and sometimes seems rather uncaring about her chaperones and companions. On the other hand she's shown as truly caring for the injured after Waterloo and she works to effect forgiveness between Rosthorne and those who wronged him nine years ago. Rosthorne himself is well written although, as I mentioned above, he seems rather like Joshua Moore, Marquess of Hallmere, who also seemed rather like Kit Butler in "A Summer To Remember". Is Mary Balogh running out of types of male character?

The pacing in this book is really good, as are the descriptions of locations in both Brussels and Kent. The Bedwyn family are all over this book of course, and almost every reference to Wulfric seems to involve his quizzing glass (annoying) but in this book I didn't mind the Bedwyn references, although in some others they have been too much.

If you enjoyed the other "Slightly" books then you'll enjoy this one as it's one of the better ones.

A 3.5 Star read when I originally read it at the local library, but decided that it was probably worth an upgrade to a 4.

Whilst I enjoyed it, and it was good to get Morgan's side of the whole Bedwyn Series, it was a little slow going at the beginning, with a gentle curve towards a satisfactory ending. Probably best to read this before you read Slightly Sinful ..... I suspect it might have been better that way around!