The Seduction of His Wife by Tiffany Clare

This was yet another interesting read following Tiffany Clares debut novel, The Surrender of a Lady. (Seduction can be read as a stand alone as there is just a mention of the couple from the previous book). Reading the back of this book you would expect to read a story about a couple that had to marry at a very young age due to parent pressure but you find out quickly that our heroine, Lady Emma, had a crush on her husband Richard Mansfield, Earl of Asbury forever. They marry when she is just fifteen, he does he duty to consummate the marriage and takes off for twelve years with not one word to Emma. Then Emma just 'happens' into a brothel where Richard is and he recognizes her and is immediately in lust with her and decides to return home and be a husband, esp in the bedroom.
This is where the packaging of this book is a bit off for this book, to me anyways. This is very close to an erotic historical, which is fine, but it is not marketed that way and will probably upset people not expecting such descriptive/vulgar terms that are not normally present. I found it a bit hard to swallow that Emma just let Richard right back into her bed and then they are constantly there, which is fine, but I just wanted a bit more story. I wanted more of their back story, some flashbacks to them as children to help develop their storyline. Richard is patient with Emma and her shyness, but as Emma paints nudes (which she discovers is her passion a few years after Richard leaves, not before as the cover blurb seems to suggest) this is also a bit off for me.
All that being said, I shoved aside what I thought should have happened and enjoyed what I read. It really is well written, very steamy, with a few doses of humor. I am looking forward to Emmas sister, Abbys, story in The Secret Desires of a Governess as her departure was a bit odd, again to me anyways, but should be explained more in her story. There is a nice, steamy side story with Emmas other sister Grace and Richards friend. Even though I did not love this book, it was enjoyable and I am going to keep reading more from Ms Clare. I do love the covers, they are beautiful! And, even though this one did not quite live up to the back cover blurb, it is still a good, if erotic, historical romance. 4 stars