All About Seduction by Katy Madison
Avon
Historical
ISBN: 978-0062017352
Reviewed by Vanessa




Caroline Broadhurst has been the best wife she knew how to be for the past 15 years.  Now her husband is demanding that she participate in an adulterous affair to beget him an heir or she will be left penniless when he passes on!  For Caroline, adultery goes against everything she believes, and she can’t even stand the actual act of copulation!  How in the world will she be able to fulfill her end of the bargain with her husband?  Then she is brought into closer proximity with the millworker she has been eyeing recently.  Jack Applegate stirs things in her that have never been awakened before.  Can she cross that line and will Jack agree to what she needs from him?

Jack Applegate has been drawn to Caroline Broadhurst since the day he first spotted her in her husband’s coach.  Yet, Jack knows he is not even close to being in her league as he is a simple millworker while she is the boss’ wife!  Jack devises some plans to better his lot in life and perhaps then he can approach the lady, but all of this changes as fate intervenes in his plans.  Forced into closer contact with Caroline and tempted by her proposition, how can Jack refuse to help her out?  Soon they are embroiled in a mystery that begs to be solved before one of them loses more than they bargained.

All About Seduction is a riveting read that had morsels of clues sprinkled throughout the story!  I found Caroline’s attempts to seduce the other men to be extremely funny and quite entertaining.  I also thought Jack was a true hero with his desire to rise above his station in life, and I liked that he did not do so on the coattails of another.  I truly enjoyed reading about these two characters that were from different backgrounds.  I found that both Jack and Caroline shared some of the same deeper qualities even though the surface aspects were so different.

All About Seduction portrayed Caroline’s family as cold and selfish, but they came through in the end, and I was rallying for them as well!  I was truly glad that the villain got his just desserts and that the culprit who dished it up got to be the one to do it.

All About Seduction had Caroline and Jack as characters that were forced to persevere and overcome the hindrances placed in their paths.  Of course they both did, and I was glad that for the most part that they held on to their integrity to get there.  Both Caroline and Jack were good, decent people at the depth of their souls and they truly cared about other people around them.  All About Seduction had a nice set-up that showed she truly had no choice in the matter when it came to her husband’s threats, and I was glad that Jack was the one that would be there to fulfill Caroline’s husband’s ultimatum.  I felt that he truly deserved to have his HEA in All About Seduction, and I felt that Caroline had gone through enough with her 15 year marriage to a man 40 years her senior!  I also have to admit that in the beginning, I didn’t think her hubby was too mean, but as the story opened and delved deeper into his personality, I came to realize that he was not a very likeable man and I wanted to see justice served!

All About Seduction was a truly fast paced read with engaging characters finding that marriages in that time didn’t always have to be of convenience, and if they were, there was still the possibility of finding happiness later in life!

All About Seduction was a change-up for me from the normal angst-filled stories I have been reading recently, and I joyfully recommend it!  However, if Ms. Madison would like to write an angst-filled cheater story involving one of Caroline’s sisters finding love with her cheater spouse…I would read it!