Slightly Scandalous

Title: Slightly Scandalous
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 2003
Purchase Date: 6th January 2006
Purchase price: £4.97
Retail price: $6.99
Purchased from:




On book cover:

Growing up four unruly brothers has made Freja Bedwyn far bolder than most society ladies. From feisty manner to long, tumbling hair, Lady Freyja is pure fire, a woman who seeks both adventure and freedom. Adventure soon finds her on a visit to Bath, when a handsome stranger bursts into Fryja’s room and entreats her to hide him. His name si Josgua Moore, Marquess of Hallmere, a man with a hell-raising reputation of his own who is quickly intrigued by the independent beauty. Sointrigued, in fact, that he makes her a surprising request: to pose as his fiancee and help thwart his family’s match-making schemes. For two people determined to be free, it’s the perfect plan…until pasion blindsides them both. For as Joshua sets out to achieve his complete seduction of Freyja, a woman who has sworn off love is in danger of losing the one thing she never expected to give again: her heart…

Comments on book:

I will not comment on this book due to reasons I have mentioned in my comments for Slightly Dangerous.

Slightly Tempted

Title: Slightly Tempted
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 2004
Purchase Date: 6th January 2006
Purchase price: £4.75
Retail price: $5.99
Purchased from: Amazon.co.uk

On book cover:

Young. Ravishing. Exquisitely marriageable. From the moment he spies Lady Morgan Bedwyn across the glittering ballroom, Gervase Ashford, Earl of Rosthorn, knows he has found the perfect instrument of his revenge. But wedlock is not on the mind of the continent’s most notorious rake. Nor is it of interest to the fiercely independent Lady Morgan Bedwyn herself…until one night of shocking intinacy erupts ina scandal that could make Gervase’s vengeance all the sweeter. There is only one thing standing in his way: Morgan, who has achieved the impossible – she’s melted his cooly guarded heart. For Gervase, only the marriage bed will do, but Morgan simply will not have him. Thus begins a sizzling courtship where two wary hearts are about to be undone by the most scandalous passion of all: glorious, all consuming love.

Comments on book:

I will not comment on this book due to reasons I have mentioned in my comments for Slightly Dangerous.

Slightly Married

Title: Slightly Married
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 2003
Purchase Date: 17th December 2005
Purchase price: £3.76
Retail price: $5.99
Purchased from: Amazon.co.uk

On book cover:

Like all the Bedwyn men, Aidan has a reputation for cool arrogance. But this proud nobleman also possesses a loyal, passionate heart – and it is this fierce loyalty that has brought Colonel Lord Aidan to Ringwood Manor to honor a dying soldier’s request. Having promised to comfort and protect the man’s sister, Aidan never expected to find a headstrong, fiercely independent woman who wants nopart of his protection…nor did he expect the feelings this beguiling creature would ignite in his guarded heart. And when a relative threatens to turn Eve out of her home, Aidan gallantly makes her an offer she can’t refuse: marry him…if only to save her home. And now, as all of London breathlessly awaits the the transformation of the new Lady Aidan Bedwyn, the strangest thing happens: With one touch, one searing embrace, Aidan and Eve’s “business arrangement” is about to be transformed…into something slightly surprising…

Comments on book:

I thought this book was wonderful beyond words. Aidan, I feel is such a ‘manly’ hero – just like a normal man who does not really know his own feelings, what more to express them? And his sense of honour itself was just heroic. He will remain as one of my top 5 heroes of all time.

Rating: 8/10 - A real romance!

Slightly Wicked

Title: Slightly Wicked
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 1991
Purchase Date: 9th January 2006
Purchase price: £5.99
Retail price: £5.99
Purchased from: Borders bookshop

On book cover:

With his laughing eyes and wild, rakish good looks, Lord Rannulf Bedwyn is a hard man to resist. To Judith Law, a woman in need of rescue when her stagecoach iver-turns, Rannulf is simply her saviour, a heroic stranger she will reward with one night of reckless passion before she must become a companion to her wealthy aunt. Imagine Judith’s shock when the same stranger turns out to be among England’s most eligible bachelors…and when he arrives at harewood Grange to woo her cousin. Certainly, they had made no vows, no promises, but Rannulf never did forget his uninhibited lover…nor did she forget that one delicious night. And as scandal sets the household abuzz, Rannulf proposes a solution…but when Judith refuses to have him 0 in love or wedlock – Rannulf has only one choice: to wage a campaign ofpure pleasure to capture the heart of the woman who has already captured his…

Comments on book:

This was my second book of the Slightly series, so I didn't have any aversions to the Bedwyns and in fact loved them. All I can say is that the story gets better in this book after I read Slightly Married, even though when I was reading SM, I would have never thought that to be possible. I truly do recommend this book to all romance lovers.

Rating: 8/10 - A wonderful read!

Slightly Dangerous

Title: Slightly Dangerous
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 2004
Purchase Date: 2nd February 2006
Purchase price: £4.75
Retail price: $6.99
Purchased from: Amazon.co.uk

On book cover:

All of London is abuzz over the immenent arrival of Wulfric Bedwyn, the cold as ice Duke of Bewcastle, ast the most glittering social event of the season. But on this dazzling afternoon, only one woman would capture his attention – and she was the only female in the room who wasn’t even trying. Christine Derrick is intrigued by the handsome duke…all the more so when he invites her to become his mistress. What red blooded woman wouldn’t enjoy a tumble in the bedsheets with a consummate lover – with no questions asked. An independent beauty, Christine confounds Wulfric at every turn. Yet even as he vows to seduce her, something strange and wonderful is happening. Now for a man who thought he’d never lose his heart,nothing less than love will do…

Comments on book:

The last of the Slightly/ Bedwyn's series - many have commented on the similarity of this book’s story line to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice but I must confess that although I have read the latter a few times (for I was supposed to summarise it for my English class a long time ago), I did not really remember any similarities until somebody pointed it out to me. However, I did notice that somehow Mrs Balogh’s style was a little different in the book – she usually expresses the emotions of her characters clearly and well , but in this book, the emotions were subtled and hidden in between lines – very similar to Jo Beverley’s style, I feel. I must also admit, that the books in this series was the first few books of hers that I discovered and read quickly and like a child who ate too much chocolate, I got a little sick.

And so, although many people rave about this book and this series, I thought they are good, but not as good as they say and I blame it to too much Balogh in too short a time. I will never spoil my enjoyment of reading a good author doing that again. I might revisit the series in future when I can to acquire my own unbiased opinion of the books – when I’m not ready to barf at the mention fo Bedwyns.

Rating: 7.5/10 - Wulfric's story - a must read to followers of the series.

A Masked Deception

Title: A Masked Deception
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 1985
Purchase Date: 13th March 2006
Purchase price: £4.27
Retail price: $3.50
Purchased from:



On book cover:

The handsome, dashing, wealthy Richard Adair, the seventh Earl of Brampton, was caught in a most devilishly difficult tug of war.

Claiming his hand was shy and demure Margaret Wells, who became his bride in an icily arranged marriage designed to produce an heir in a boringly proper alliance. Claiming his heart was a nameless charmer who concealed her face behind a mask and displayed her body in a daring gown as she made the Earl give himself over to a scandalously improper passion.
Both of them desperately wanted Richard Adair – and both dreaded to think what would happen should he discover that they were one and the same two faced young lady.

Comments on book:

This is the author’s first Signet Regency Romance and it is also the first Signet book of hers that I read. Incidentally, it is also her first published book. It is thin, only 224 pages and may be finished in one sitting if you’re a fast reader.

I thought the storyline was ok but perhaps the story could have been elaborated longer and explained further – especially on the side of Richard Adair. But it was her first book, so exceptions must be allowed and the limit in the number of pages have also limited the creativity of the author in writing the book. In a thicker book perhaps, the earl would have a history and a well explained reason for his unpleasant behaviour but sadly, in a thin signet book like this one, the readers must simply accept changes in behaviour with short and simple explanations.

Rating: 6/10 - Ok read

The Plumed Bonnet

Title: The Plumed Bonnet
Author: Mary Balogh
First Printing: 1996
Purchase Date: 13th March 2006
Purchase price: £5.52
Retail price: $4.99
Purchased from:



On book cover:

There was no reason for a lord as handsome and high and mighty as the Duke of Bridgewater even to glance at a humble vicar’s daughter like Miss Stephanie Gray. No reason except that the Duke was in need of amorous amusement, and that he was mistakenly convinced that Stephanie was precisely the kind of woman that she most decidedly was not.

It was one thing for Stephanie to be grateful to the Duke for rescuing her from a horrific highway mishap. It was quite another, however, to repay him by accepting what she long had been told was a fate worse than death. So when the Duke stooped to conquer, Stephanie rose to defend her virtue – only to find that even the most proper young lady on the brink of the deepest of dangers could nonetheless fall in love…

Comments on book:

I enjoyed this book from the beginning and I thought the emotional part of the story unravelled very well. I thought that it was really funny and equally believeable that the Duke could mistake Miss Gray as a less than respectable lady because of her outrageous dressing. As usual, Mrs Balogh’s understanding of the human emotions as portrayed in this book is completely awe-inspiring. This is the last of the series of 4 books which started with ‘Dark Angel’ also published by Signet.

Rating: 6.5/10 - A good read.