The Second Seduction of a Lady by Miranda Neville

Eleanor Hardwick lives her life the way she wants and thanks to an inheritance from her late mother, she can.  If she wants to spend money of fancy bonnets, she will.  If she wants to travel, she can.  Yet, being the only child of a recluse father is very lonely so her travels often involve visiting her relatives and trying to help in any way she can, welcome or not.  Eleanor takes one of her young cousins, Caro, under her wing since her mother is dastardly but her life is thrown into upheaval upon a walk when Eleanor and Caro stumble upon a young man and his guardian.  The guardian is Max Quinton, the man who broke her heart five years ago with a cruel bet.  Max is delighted to see the only woman who has laid claim to his heart and he is determined to make rights with Eleanor once and for all so he sets about a slow seduction to win her back.  Unfortunately, he causes more problems as he uses his charge's interest in Caro to gain information and when this comes to light, the damage is done all over for Eleanor.  Will a chase to Gretna Green together be enough to prove that Eleanor is the only one for him?

This novella (which was about sixty percent of my file, the rest were excerpts) is the kickoff to Miranda Neville's upcoming new series and was an enjoyable tale.  When Max broke her heart, it cemented her belief that marriage is not for her, especially after witnessing her joyful mother wilt under her fathers boring lifestyle.  Now, at the tender age of 30 (I loved that she was a bit older than the norm!), she is determined to live a quiet life by herself and she plans to shove Max away.  Max is charming and quiet in his seduction of Eleanor and she finally allows him to explain his side of the bet and together they make great stride to happiness only for it to seem to fall away again.  I really enjoyed the secondary romance that also bloomed between Caro and Robert and as Caro is the heroine for the next book (The Importance of Being Wicked) it has made me very anxious as to what is next for her!  However, since this novella was about Eleanor and Max, I did sort of feel Caro's problems overtook the storyline a bit and I would have liked a little more courtship between Eleanor and Max with just a bit more of their history.  Even in this short novella it has what I expect from Miranda Neville, sharp dialogue, wit, charm, heat and a dash of action.  A great kickoff to what is sure to be an amazing series!  3 1/2 stars

eARC provided by Avon via edelweiss

New series (I don't see a series title yet)
Nov 27th  plus three more