Paris, September 1824 Lord Nicholas Asquith needs his wife. Too bad he broke her heart ten years ago. Can he resist a second chance at the love he lost? When Mariana catches the eye of the man at the center of an assassination plot, Nick puts aside their painful past and enlists her to obtain information by any means necessary, even if it means seducing the enemy agent. Even if the thought makes … agent.
Even if the thought makes his blood boil.
Only by keeping his distance from Mariana these last ten years was he able to pretend indifference to her. With every moment spent with her, he feels his tightly held control slipping . . .
Can she trust the spy who broke her heart?
Mariana spent the last decade forgetting Nick. Now she has the chance to best him at his own game, an opportunity she can’t resist, even as her view of him begins to shift. Increasingly, she wants nothing more than to seduce her own husband . . .
It’s only a matter of time before mad passion ignites, a passion never convincingly extinguished. A passion that insists on surrendering to the yearning of the flesh and, quite possibly, of the heart.
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Mariana and Nick have been separated for ten years. She thought he had been unfaithful to her. He spent most of his time in France doing spy work for the government. Mariana travels to France to visit with an aunt but becomes caught up with her husband again when he asks her to help him in the plot to catch an assassin. The story becomes more complicated at this point. She doesn’t want to open her heart and risk getting hurt again, and Nick wants to keep secret that he only left because he wanted to keep his family safe from harm.
This was an emotional read. And a very steamy read. I became so wrapped up in the characters’ story, and the intrigue going on, and whether they would gain reconciliation or not, that I did not want to put the book down until it was finished. It is my understanding this was Sofie Darling’s first work. Kudos to you Ms. Darling. As an author, you’ve gained my interest from now on.
This book kept me entertained and engaged the whole time. I love the idea of a marriage growing stronger as well and this book really gave that to me.
This was a entertaining story with interesting characters. It was easy to read and enjoyable for readers who like a little historical influence in their stories
I had to read this one twice to catch all the nuances; flashbacks are utilized, and there is dialog with entendres that you won’t want to overlook. The story is partially a sexed up Casablanca where two people find their way back to love and each other. Some disliked all the sex scenes; however I felt the author did a good job of establishing the wife as wanting to explore her sensuality in ways that Paris allows and London could not, plus the basis of their marriage was a compelling physical attraction.
Not your typical historic romance. The heroine, older and wiser, and the hero, full of regrets, are reunited finding the heat they once knew hasn’t gone anywhere.
Excellent read! Love reborn! 10 year reunion of a love reborn!
Very well-written with engaging characters. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Very enjoyable
I highly recommend this book. I would give it more stars if I could. I loved it!
Husband, who is really a spy, thinks by ignoring his wife that he can keep his family safe. Wife thinks that she just wasn’t good enough for her husband. Ten years of neglect is a long time for a wife to live with, but slowly she learns that things aren’t exactly as they appear.
I liked this book.
Three Lessons In Seduction by Sofie Darling is a second chance historical romance. Ms. Darling has provided us with a book that is entertaining and packed with fantastic characters. Nick has been in France for years, as a spy for England. Mariana received a note that her husband was missing, presumed dead, so off she went to France to search for him, or his body. Mariana and Nick’s story is packed with drama, humor, sizzle, suspense and action. This is a fun read and I enjoyed reading Three Lessons In Seduction. I look forward to reading more from Sofie Darling in the future. Three Lessons In Seduction is part of the Shadows and Silk Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
Great reading!
This book includes slang from the time period.
WOW! I can hardly believe this is the author’s first novel. I’ve seen many novels by very experienced writers who haven’t done nearly as well as Ms. Darling has with her first. It is excellently written and the characters are fully developed, likable, and they make you want to get to know them better. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.
The book is set in 1824 Paris, so what is not to love. The wars are over, but there is still a chance that civil war could happen because France’s king is at death’s door. Should the monarch expire and his successor is assassinated, chaos could reign supreme in France and then spread to the rest of the continent and even destabilize England. While the main story is set in 1824 Paris, there are flashbacks to England and the initial meeting, marriage and separation of Nick and Mariana. While I’m not a big fan of flashbacks, these were well done and didn’t bother me.
Lady Mariana Montfort Asquith has lived separately from her husband for over ten years. He lives in Paris and only comes home to see his children three or four times a year and Mariana has little, if any, contact with him in all that time. She’s spent those ten years hardening her heart and trying not to love him because he betrayed her and ripped her heart from her chest. Now, she has a letter saying that he is either missing or deceased in Paris as part of his service to the Crown. Service to the Crown? He haphazardly worked for some minor government agency there didn’t he? Whatever it is, she has to know, so she’ll go to Paris and either find him alive or bring his body home to be buried in England.
Lord Nicholas Asquith was raised by parents that were at war with each other. Their battles, at home and in public, were legendary. They had married for love, but Nick’s father was a philanderer. Nick had always felt that he was to blame for all of the governesses who came and quickly left, but later he learned why that was so. That made Nick very distrustful of love because it would blow up on you and cause you no end of pain. No, Nick would have a society marriage where there were no emotions involved. Then, he met Lady Mariana Montfort and he was lost – he loved her more and more each day and then when the twins were born his heart swelled with even more love. Then, panic set in – he knew that it was only a matter of time before the love would blow up and his work for the Home Office put his family in danger. So – what could he do to keep them safe? Yep – I didn’t like his answer either.
When Mariana arrives in Paris, Nick wonders what is going on, but he knows that he MUST keep her at arm’s length because he can’t control himself around her. He’s created a popinjay persona that he always uses around her because he knows she hates it and will stay away from him. Then, he realizes that someone is using Mariana to get to him. He needs to know who that is and to flush them out because they are most likely the person who is plotting an assassination to destabilize France. Nick can’t get Mariana to leave, so he has no choice other than to involve her in foiling the plot and unmasking the master-mind. That way, he can keep an eye on her and keep her safe. As they work together, they each discover that the love isn’t gone – but – they still have to guard themselves because they know they can’t have a life together.
I had a very hard time getting to like Nick – well – maybe that isn’t accurate. I liked him right away – but I didn’t, in the least, like what he did. He chose – very deliberately – to leave the wife and children he loved – and he deliberately hurt her very, very deeply in doing so. We come to know his reasons for that, but like most of those kinds of reasons, they are pretty flimsy and could have been resolved with some good conversations and loving support.
What didn’t I like about the book? Well – I absolutely, completely and totally hated that the villain in the story got absolutely no punishment. None. Nada. Zip. This person hurt his own family deeply – especially his two nieces and their husbands, he plotted an assassination, he used an injured man unmercifully and he was going to destabilize a country and maybe even a continent. Yes – he does all of that and he gets no punishment. No – and that dissatisfaction caused me to reduce the star-ratings for the book.
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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”
This is a fun steamy romantic story! Nick and Marianna are complicated characters in a situation of spies and risk in Paris. Marianna goes to Paris to collect her estranged husband’s body. However she finds he is very alive and for the last 10 years has been a spy for His Majesty’s government. A fun and twisty story with realistic leads and interesting secondary characters. I purchased this a while ago but just completed it. Lots of reading thru a pandemic. I recommend this and will be looking for the other in the series.
This was my first Sofie Darling’s book, and won’t be my last. I think this was her debut novel. Bravo! This Historical Romance is gorgeous! This is a beautiful second chance at love. Nick and Mariana’s story is beautifully written, complex, fun, sexy, and captivating. They are both strong characters. They share a sizzling chemistry. The storyline is intriguing, filled with mystery, secrets, and twists and turns. I loved to follow them on this adventurous and enticing journey. Mary Sarah did a great job with the narration. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listen to more books written by this author. I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
This book had a great premise and the first chapter drew me in although there’s way too much flowery language in this story. The author chose to use so many unusual descriptors that it detracted from the beginning of the book. I almost stopped reading, but decided to keep on and see what happened.
I thought Lord Nicholas Asquith was well developed and I felt his anguish when he couldn’t tell his wife so many things about his life as a spy that had happened in the last 10 years. I thought Marianna’s character was a little far-fetched at times. Some of the things she did was so out of character for a gently-bred lady. However, the plot of trying to foil an assassination of the French heir to the throne was compelling, but I did have a problem with how one of the character’s story line finished up. It seemed too convenient for someone who wields great power to suddenly give it up when he’s found out. The reasons given for him to stop seemed flimsy at best.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Three Lessons in Seduction is a historical that brought to mind classics such as those by Judith Ivory (who is a favorite of mine!) and Lisa Kleypas. Lush, evocative prose, endearing and realistic characters. A tormented hero and a feisty heroine, trying to make their marriage work. An unusual setting (Paris) and some very detailed world-building to bring you into those scenes.
A second-chance romance at it’s best! Steamy, steamy, steamy, which I personally love!
I tried to read, but I just couldn’t get into the plot. I guess taking too much time to get to the point.