The Rules of Seduction (Rothwell Brothers Book 1) Kindle Edition

I almost stopped reading this novel after the first page, because I had never read prose with such choppy phrasing, awkward syntax, and maudlin sentimentality outside of high school essays. "A human heart knows grief is coming as surely as a horse senses an approaching storm." Indeed... But I decided to keep on reading despite this supremely inauspicious start, and I have to say that the plot and the characters really drew me in. Even though there were many instances where the prose felt clunky, and metaphors felt labored, the writing overall conveyed the characters' thoughts and emotions clearly and convincingly.The premise is not terribly original, with a woman in trouble and a man with a tortured past, and the requisite bit of intrigue that comes between them. But the writer creates characters that are so nuanced and multi-dimensional, that the story feels fresh and genuinely engaging. In the romance novels I've read, even the ones that have believable characterization tend to be populated by a bunch of porcelain dolls, abstract representations of types of personalities. Ms. Hunter has a gift for letting the reader fully inhabit each character's perspective, and understanding their inner workings. The character interactions all flow naturally out of their personalities and situations, driving the plot forward smoothly and organically. At nearly every point, you stand with the characters and understand and sympathize with the choices they are making, even as you wish things could be different so that they could be happy. I did feel that there was one major plot point that felt a little bit forced, but as it would spoil the story, I won't describe it.The plot is fairly well-constructed, with one major dramatic arc that spans the whole book, focusing on Alexia and Hayden, who were brought together by the banking fraud perpetrated at Alexia's counsin's bank. The pacing was good, with the development of the banking fraud plot starting out slow and ramping up to a tidy and satisfying denouement. There was one major plot twist late-ish in the book, which was sufficiently foreshadowed that it didn't feel like deus ex machina, but wasn't completely predictable. In the early part of the narrative, when the action is a bit slower, the focus is on the emotional development between Hayden and Alexia. By the time their relationship has mostly matured, the action picks up with further revelations about the banking fraud, and the resolution of the banking fraud plot also provides the background to the final step in the growth of Alexia and Hayden's romantic relationship.The author has a bit of a different approach to sex scenes. Whereas most romance novels give you a detailed play-by-play "he kissed her here, she touched him there, they were positioned like this" kind of description, the sex scenes in this book were written from a more abstract viewpoint, with a minimum of physical description, and more focused on a character's sensations and emotions. I think whether that is a good or bad approach will depend on the personal preference of the reader, but I at least found it interesting.Overall, I enjoyed this novel quite a bit, which was surprising given that I was not a huge fan of the writing style. I was so drawn in by the personalities of the other Rothwell brothers that I decided to buy the other books in the series. Those novels are also a bit of a mixed bag, with clunky, uneven prose, but interesting characters. I've also sampled some of her other novels, and it seems that this series just might be one of the less-well-written ones by her, as the bits I've read from her other works do not exhibit the same shortcomings. I've rated this novel at 4 stars, because it has great plot and characterization, which would have made it 5 stars, but it was hampered by the poor prose, which averages at best a 3.

This is the first novel I have read by Madeline Hunter and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I am now looking forward to reading more of her works.Miss Alexia Welbourne and Hayden Rothwell are two characters who have been presented to the reader by an author who obviously wanted us to have a thorough understanding of what their personalities and histories were like. Alexia retained her personality and ideals throughout the entire novel. I appreciate that. Too often I find that romance novelists start a heroine out with the appearance of ideals and then have her immediately throw them out the window in order to jump into bed with the hero. Alexia was a complex person and her life underwent a fantastic amount of change and yet she handled all the new challenges with the calm, logical thinking which life had made her develop. She did not want to be attracted to Hayden yet her innate honesty would not allow her to deny that attraction nor did she blame anyone or any situation with causing it. She simply dealt with it by trying to understand him better.Hayden was a love. He was kind, generous, honorable and a man after my own heart. He had his demons to confront and Ms Hunter allowed him to do that in a slow, sure process that made him grow and become that man I wish to read more about, a man who was not afraid to tell Alexia that he loved her. It was a very moving experience to read about the coming together of these two characters.The next book in this series will be about Hayden's younger brother Elliot and Alexia's friend Phaedra. I'm actually sorry about that. Phaedra figured quite prominently in this book and I did not like her character and cetainly not her name. It was very hard for me to get a pronounciation formulated in my mind and I had to stop each time to figure out how to say it. Elliot yes, Phaedra no. Now Christian, wow, I can't wait to read about him. Wonder what happened to cause his behavior? Alexia said it best, he seemed to be just waiting for something. What? Or should we say who? (Should that be whom?)Maybe in the next book we can find out more about the ship that sailed. I find I am exceedingly bloodthirsty. I don't want innocent people to die but I wouldn't mind seeing something happen to that boat.

Lord Hayden, with his handsome dark looks, and his financier skill, finds his family's bank holdings in jeopardy. If the bank had not belonged to a trusted friend, Benjamin, who is now deceased, Hayden would not have tried to correct the error. Hayden must pick up the financial pieces and make ruthless decisions in order to stabilize the bank and insure the safe return of many aristocrats' monies. In the process, he finds himself intrigued by one young woman in Benjamin's remaining household, Alexia, with her violet eyes. While attracted to the handsome Lord Hayden, Alexia finds him ruthless in shuffling Benjamin's family out of their residence. When Alexia finds herself at the financial mercy of Lord Hayden, she initially works as a companion to his dear Aunt---but her position in the same household as Hayden culminates in erotic pleasures. Hayden offers marriage to Alexia as she is the only woman that has intrigued him with her intelligence, beauty, and form---but he finds himself becoming jealous of a corpse with Alexia's continual sentiment for the deceased Benjamin. That is, until Alexia's deceased love reappears and it is discovered that Benjamin intentionally led her on to love him, since he is now married. And he intentionally defrauded those clients in his bank and ran with the money, betraying Hayden. Hayden allows his old friend to leave, not wanting to see him hanged. But Hayden now believes that Alexia will leave with Ben. However, Alexia is an intelligent woman---and she may have held a nostalgic sentiment for Benjamin---but Hayden holds her passion and her heart.

Really enjoyable, well written and with two likeable main characters and a host of excellent secondary ones. Unlike a lot of stories, this one had a plot that actually hung together and made some sense. The love scenes are passionate and scorching hot - these two have explosive chemistry. And its an interesting match - the straightlaced, always in control governess/companion and the rakish lord. There is the necessary massive misunderstanding that sets them at loggerheads for much of the book and some very surprising twists in the tale towards the end. I really enjoyed it, will be keeping it and reading it again. And crucially now I want to read the others in the series. Recommended.

Madeline Hunter produces yet another good read! I have yet to be disappointed with this author who is consistently masterful in this genre. This story kicks off another series of compellingly romantic novels. Hunter's strength as ever lies in her ability to hold the attention of the reader by creating a complex historical backdrop and plot in which to immerse a beautifully romantic tale. She has an eye for detail both historically but also in the behaviour of her characters. It's the small things, the little details that makes one remember a scene from one of her books and pick said book up to begin again. I find myself keeping all of Hunter's books and revisiting them often.

I just discovered Madeline Hunter this year with the Fairbourne quartet so was looking forward to starting the Rothwell Brothers quartet of which this is the first book. It doesn't disappoint. Good story and good romance built on growing understanding and sexual attraction between the two main characters, Alexia and Hayden, and a tenderness and strength of love achieved that gives insight and understanding of old ghosts of family unhappiness. I can't wait to read the rest of the quartet. I would recommend this book to readers who love Recency romances that are well written with wit and neat observation.

This is the first of M. Hunter's books that I've read and will not be the last. It was a pleasure to read an historical romance with a well-constructed plot and I thought that the over-all style showed flair and something a little unusual. Hayden is a thoroughly nice man with a strong moral centre. He's also extremely sexy. By and large, the bedroom scenes were written with less than the usual sprinkling of body parts but were no less erotic. Well done, Ms Hunter!

another good read by M Hunter