How to Seduce a Bride

While this is not my favorite Layton novel, it is still a very good read, primarily because of the delicious male protagonist. He manages to be both manly and sensitive and behaves just as a hero ought. Granted, the heroine is a little single-minded in her pursuit of a "safe" older man, but the reader should remember that this is an abused woman who has been fighting for survival for many years. If it takes her a while to realize that she has developed beyond what she originally thought she wanted, that is to be expected.

Definitely recommended.

Layton's Botany Bay series has finally ended with this title - thank goodness. Layton's a talented writer, but should have stopped this series after the first book. Instead, she kept going and has almost lost me as a reader. Hopefully she can regroup now and start writing stories like her earlier ones. The heroine of "How to Seduce a Bride" is extremely annoying. I disliked her on the first few pages but kept going in hopes of finding more about her to appreciate. No such luck. She remains childish, annoying, and unlikeable throughout the book. I really do hope Layton can return to form as an excellent Regency romance writer. As it stands now, she's become just average.

Edith Layton's latest series focusing on four men who returned to England from Botany Bay is completed with "How to Seduce a Bride," and while the book is rather well written (even if there was a misuse of terms here and there), and had a rather interesting premise, I was, and still am, of two minds about this book. I loved the hero of the book: the tall, slender, witty hero, Leland Grant, Viscount Haye; on the other hand, I found rather hard to take to the beautiful, courageous heroine of this book, Daisy Tanner.

Having survived life in the brutal penal colony at Botany Bay, Daisy Tanner is keen to leave Australia as soon as possible and return to England now that her loutish prison guard husband is dead. Especially since her husband's death has made her a wealthy widow. Daisy's plan is to marry a nice, elderly gentleman who is rich in his own right, and so obtain the safety and security she's craved all her life. And her hopes are centered on the wealthy Earl of Egremont, Geoffrey Sauvage, who had been transported to Botany Bay for a crime he hadn't committed. Geoffrey has been cleared on the charges since and now lives in London (all this is explained more fully and competently in the first installment in this quartet, "The Return of the Earl.") Geoffrey had always treated Daisy with respect and affection while he was serving his sentence at Botany Bay, and Daisy, who is exquisitely beautiful and intelligent, is sure that she can tempt Geoffrey into marrying her. What Daisy hadn't quite counted on, however, was Leland Grant, Viscount Haye. A friend of Geoffrey's, Leland is not about to allow Daisy to manipulate Geoffrey into marriage, and so begins a campaign to undermine our determined heroine. The first step: to seduce her away from Geoffrey Sauvage...

The plot is a somewhat oft-used one, with few variations (well one, anyway -- there is a heavy handed subplot involving an accusation of murder against Daisy about three quarters way through the book, that throws Daisy and Leland together irrevocably), but that really wasn't my problem with this novel -- even if this plot turn induced a bout of heavy sighing from me! No, my problem lay with Daisy's single-minded pursuit of Geoffrey. In spite of the author's deft portrayal of Daisy's courage, resilience and kindness, I found myself being slightly repelled by the fact that it never crosses Daisy's mind once to consider Geoffrey's feelings and needs. Even after Leland tries to make her think about this, and to consider that hard though her life had been, and that being stuck in a bad, brutish marriage was hardly a condition unique to her, Daisy stubbornly sticks to her guns until Leland's kisses and the threat to her freedom makes her rethink her campaign. And then there was a her frequent bouts of temper. My goodness the woman could loose her temper at the drop of a hat! And I found it quite baffling that everyone else would just stand by and applaud her for behaving quite childishly sometimes -- as if it was a right she had earned for having led so hard a life. I just wanted to throw a jug of cold water over her and tell her to grow up. My last reservation with this book was that there just wasn't enough interaction between Leland and Daisy for much of the book. I actually think that Daisy interacted more with her companion than she did with Leland until about chapter sixteen. Which was a shame because Leland really was the saving grace of this novel, and his flirtations with Daisy were quite delicious.

On the whole. "How to Seduce a Bride" was a nice, interesting read. Edith Layton ties things up neatly and satisfactorily. And in spite of my seemingly harsh assessment of Daisy, she's not as bad as my complaints make her out to be. Edith Layton did a good job of saving her for me in the last few chapters of the book, where Daisy really shows her mettle. And that, plus the wonderful flirtation bits between Daisy and Leland and Layton's wonderfully delightful portrayal of Leland, made "How to Seduce a Bride" a satisfying 3 star read.

Six years have passed since Daisy Tanner was sent to Botany Bay where based on a tip she married a prison guard so that at least she could be a prisoner that ate better. Now a widow with a pardon and wealth, Daisy plans to leave New South Wales for London where she intends to wed much older gentleman and a former convict, Earl Geoffrey Sauvage so that she can attain peace and protection under the auspices of the odious Marriage Act.

In London, Geoffrey introduces Daisy to his friend Viscount Leland Grant. They find an attraction as he admires her intelligence and with while she likes his caring and kind demeanor. When Daisy is threatened with a return to Botany Bay, Geoffrey and Lee gallantly offer marriage to protect her. She loves the womanizing Lee, but feels safer with Geoffrey so she is undecided even as murder charges hang over her head.

The final Botany Bay historical romance will elate the fans of Edith Layton as heroine Daisy's tale is finally completed. Readers will agree with Lee that she is a brilliant woman, but also feel the two men in her lives are intelligent caring souls. The appreciative audience will read the amusing story line in one sitting to learn who she chooses if anyone and ultimately what happens to Daisy.

Harriet Klausner