Seven Secrets of Seduction by Anne Mallory

The infuriating, yet captivating stranger returns the next day to pick up his order of books. She drummed her fingers on the freshly printed Gothic. Do kittens pop from its covers when it gets too full?” He looked at the stand as if a full-grown cat might spring from the pages and catch him unawares. “I didn’t realize that burgeoning was something a book did.

“Not bloated.” Her hip bumped the counter, as her body tried to express its agitation without her consent. “‘A burgeoning tome?’ Is that a kind way to say bloated?”

The strange smile he had first sported reappeared, as if he found her odd and vastly entertaining. “It is a lovely, burgeoning tome that when dissected contains a wealth of personal realization and self-enlightenment.” The words, nearly rehearsed at this point from the number of times she had found herself defending them to crotchety men and scandalized matrons, fell from her lips. “You think a book on seduction is lovely ?” He believes the book is silly and about nothing but sex, while she thinks it’s lovely and shows that beauty can be found even in the most ordinary things. The usually steadfast Miranda is immediately thrown off balance as they exchange quips filled with innuendo pertaining to the newest book that is all the rage in London, The Seven Secrets of Seduction by the author Eleutherios. Shopgirl Miranda Chase is absorbed in the latest Gothic novel while covering for a sick coworker when a handsome stranger enters her uncle’s bookstore. This book, which is now my favorite of 2010, is so brilliantly written that I hope I can do it justice in my review. This is the word that kept going through my mind while reading Anne Mallory’s latest masterpiece and also long after I closed the last page. Something that just might threaten the very fabric of his jaded heart. But Miranda's blend of innocence, trust, and love cause a strange thing to happen on the way to this seduction. He freely flaunts his sensual power and seeks nothing more than another conquest - the one that could justify his entire debauched existence. Maximilian, Viscount Downing, has very particular ideas about passion and sees truth only in desire. Intrigued by the layers she sees beneath the book's surface, she writes an editorial about it, never realizing that her passionate words will draw an actual viscount to her uncle's bookshop. Well-educated, but not part of society, Miranda Chase is just as captivated by the erotic pages as everyone else in London. Secret #1: Every good seduction begins with a baited hook. Scandalous and provocative, The Seven Secrets of Seduction is an intoxicating insight into the mind of men and the desires of women - and the book has all the ton talking.

Seven Secrets of Seduction by Anne Mallory