If you like sexy books with large meddlesome families, a la Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons or Johanna Lindsey’s Malorys, The Seduction of Sara should be right up your alley. Funny and full of sexual tension, this was a romp of a book.

Saraphina Lawrence is a widow whose husband died in a compromising position with another woman. She was humiliated, doubly so as she once loved him, and has decided never to love again. She has one problem. Her many brothers want to ensure her future by fixing her up with a pillar of society – someone who will never hurt her or break her heart.

As Sara has spent the past year trying to scandalize society, she has no use for a pillar. To thwart her brothers she decides that she will find her own husband, and he will be someone who has no interest in controlling her and with whom she will never fall in love. Her efforts in finding the exact right man, however, are rather unsuccessful, though her interest does alight more than once on Nicholas Montrose, the Earl of Bridgeton. Nick, as everyone knows, is a rake beyond redemption, and might be perfect for her purposes if only he weren’t so dang gorgeous and fascinating. But he is, so he’s out, or so she thinks.

What did I like about this book? Well, many things. I liked both the heroine and the hero, although I have not read The Abduction of Julia, so I didn’t see Nick’s incarnation as villain. By the start of this book, Nick has definitely moved into Tortured Hero territory. He has an ailment that causes him great physical and emotional distress. The problems he’s had with his ailment do provide explanation for some of his past behavior, and though he’s definitely an unrepentant rake, I found him very sympathetic.

The scenes between Sara and Nick sizzle with sexual tension. Both are extremely aware of and intrigued by the other. I did find, though, that the scenes in which the sexual tension was building between Sara and Nick were actually better than the consummation scenes, which were not terribly detailed. This is why I designated the sensuality rating to be warm, not hot.

I liked that Sara had a close friend, Anna, to confide in. Anna was loyal and sassy, wise and fun. I strongly suspect that Anna and Sara’s brother Anthony will be the main characters in Hawkins’s next book since they were so affected by each other in this one. The other secondary romance in The Seduction of Sara, between Sara’s aunt Delphi and Nick’s friend Henri, was less effective. I didn’t dislike either Delphi or Henri, but I never came to care about them either.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this book was that the conflict between Nick and Sara began degenerating toward the end of the book when both of them stopped communicating and started acting silly. It didn’t exactly reach the proportion of a Big Misunderstanding, but it came close, and my interest began to waver. Also Nick’s big struggle with his health was never fully resolved in a satisfying way, so the ending was a bit of a letdown. Up until the three-quarters mark, I would have graded this book a B+.

Still, the overall reading experience of The Seduction of Sara was very good, and I will be keeping an eye out for Anna and Anthony’s story. If you like light books, books with large interfering families, or books with good sexual tension, this might just be the book for you.