Seducing an Angel

After all the female siblings in the Huxtable Family found their husbands and formed marriages that turned out love matches, it is now up to their only brother Stephen, Earl of Merton, to find a spouse, or rather to be seduced to form an alliance..... And the determined lady to start a seduction is Cassandra Belmont, Lady Paget, who is rumoured to have killed her deceased husband with an axe. Officially the death has been declared an accident, but threatened with accusations of murder by her husband's oldest son Lady Paget has renounced all claims to her lawful heritage and is now in dire need of funds. So she joins a ball given by Stephen's sister without invitation but scheming to find a wealthy, wellborn gentleman to make him her protector and to become his mistress. And her lures seem to gain her just that: after the ball Stephen takes her home and remains in her bed the rest of the night ....... until she tries to strike a bargain with Stephen the next morning, which does not quite seem to work out exactly as planned and both protagonists must come to terms with their needs, wishes, and conceptions of life and maybe even change their ways of life in the end. Mary Balogh always succeeds in delivering an entertaining story with strong characters haunted by shadows of the past and a successful struggle to better their situation and find love in the end. So far all the Huxtables started their relationships in more or less strange, even funny ways and Stephen is no exception. And, of course, he, too, will end up with a love match. So it's another easy to read, amiable love story, with a problem to solve and a turn to the better. But it is not really something absolutely new or exceptional, that's why I refrained from rating it with a fifth star. (This comment refers to another edition of the book.)