The Seduction Of An English Scoundrel by Jillian Hunter

It would have been the wedding of the year --had the groom, Sir Nigel Boscastle, bothered to put in an appearance. To the shock of her distinguished guests, the respectable Lady Jane Welsham is left humiliated at the altar, Yet truth be told, although outwardly ruined she is elated to have escaped marriage to man she does not love.

Enter Grayson Boscastle, the irresistible Marquess of Sedgecroft (and cousin to Nigel). Grayson's duty is clear: salvage the young lady's pride and reestablish the family's good name, while repairing his own tarnished reputation as one of London's most notorious scoundrels. Their whirlwind affair is the talk of the ton. Yet nothing as at it seems between the bewitching Lady Jane, who knows that her wedding was clearly sabotaged, as they are drawn into an amusing game of seduction and secrets.


My very first Jillian Hunter novel--and what a great UBS find it was. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this story--and there weren't very many since I couldn't stop once I started.

As Grayson Boscastle put it:

"There is a time to be wise and a time to be wicked."

And Jane did both exceedingly well--and I loved her for it. She was a smart woman and I don't say that just because she sabotaged her own wedding to Nigel--a non-subtle way for her not to be pushed into an arranged marriage, then and in the future. But my admiration for her didn't end there. I loved her best when she turned the tables on Grayson after she learned that he had found out that she had engineered her own wedding fiasco. Tell you about it in a bit.

Grayson Boscastle was one of London's most notorious rakes until the sudden death of his father made him the head of the Boscastle clan. When his cousin failed to show up at his own wedding, Grayson felt that restoring the good name of his family was his first familial duty as the new Marquess of Sedgecroft. So he put it upon himself to help Jane out of the scandal by agreeing with her that they put a united front--and damn what the ton would say. Especially because the ton was soon speculating about their wedding.

Reformed scoundrels are my kind of heroes. Maybe because it's always fun to watch them fall in love and they not know about it. Although it was family honor that led him to help Jane, it was evident that they were both attracted to each other. And the next thing he knew he was falling madly in love with his cousin's bride. But then he had to find out just where Nigel went and got angry for being played the fool--his sense of honor was never needed in the beginning. He wanted to punish Jane and it was all understandable that he wanted to. But I give him one more tally in his scorecard when he made it clear to his brother that this so-called punishment was also for Jane. If she could hatch a scheme, so could he. He wanted them to be equals--because he loved her.

His punishment: Make her his mistress and let the world know about it.

His scheme: Contracted with Jane's father about their marriage without her knowing--before meting out his punishment.

But Grayson's sister told Jane everything and so came my favorite part. Although elated at the thought that they are practically betrothed, she still didn't cotton well to being his mistress. Nevertheless, she dressed the part when they attended a ball and whew! Did Grayson fell for it.

In the midst of confessions, the loving was most evident. Even when Jane refused to an "arranged" marriage with Grayson and insisted that they have a proper courtship, the Marquess did not even bat an eyelash.

Wicked. Sexy. Fun. I had the best time reading this book, even the little things were fun to read. And I need to read more JH books so that I could officially include her in my favorites list. And since she put enough depth into all the characters, I will definitely keep an eye out on all the books in this series as well as her other works.

Final verdict: 9/10. Must-read, must-have.