"A good read and hot enough to melt your lipstick"

Sam Lennox, Viscount Ranelagh, was soured by a disastrous marriage to an aristocratic lady who cuckolded him with a gardener within a month of the wedding. Now he is a notorious rakehell with a reputation as an expert lover and a list of conquests as long as his famed cock. When he spies a painting of a gorgeous lady -- the same lady featured in a painting he purchased in Paris -- at an exhibition at the Royal Academy, he goes to Sire Frederick Leighton to gain help in tracking her down -- only to find the object of his desires dressing behind a screen after completing a session of posing.

Alexandra Ionides, Dowager Countess St. Albans and Mrs. Coutts, is not the sort of woman Sam is used to. Twice widowed, a well-known artist in her own right, fiercely independent and with an income that permits her to enjoy that independence, Alex has no intention of becoming Sam's latest fling, no matter how strong the attraction between them. Her resolve lasts all of one day, and then she and Sam embark on an erotic odyssey that shocks both of them. Sam learns that once is not enough with Alexandra, and Alex realizes that she is drawn to him by more than just the lure of sex.

While the plot is slight, almost non-existent, this is still vintage Johnson. Her characters are appealing and intelligent with believable reasons for their lack of interest in a more conventional relationship. Their verbal sparring reminds one of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, the exchanges crisp and witty as they struggle with their own vulnerability to each other. As always, Johnson uses historical details brilliantly to catch the flavor of the time period and create characters evocative of their era (I loved the fact that Alex prefers "aesthetic dress" over bustles). And the sex is volcanically hot and irresistibly sensual. My only quibble is a brief section where Alex develops baby lust and the hero seems to like the idea. I'm not much for the Dreaded Baby Book myself, so this was negative point for me. But other than that, this is a good read and hot enough to melt your lipstick.

Note: In honor of the Meese Commission (Reagan's panel of "experts" convened to desperately search for a link between porn and crime and who failed miserably in the attempt), who watched Deep Throat three times to spare us the degradation and who provided someone to verbally describe the action on screen for the member who was sight- impaired, I decided to provide some amusing statistics from this book. Their first encounter spans about 12 hours. It begins on page 77 and ends on page 156. The hero comes 6 times that we know of for certain, though it's implied that there are several occasions she doesn't detail. I don't know if that's worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records, but it's certainly noteworthy.

Sensuality Rating: Erotic historical with lots of steamy but monogamous heterosexual sex.

Reviewed by Gillian Fitzgerald
Posted February 8, 2002

Summary

SEDUCTION IN MIND Samuel Lennox, Viscount Ranelagh, was renowned for his prowess at seduction. So when the lovely Miss Alexandra Ionides seemed unimpressed with his amorous advances, Samuel saw her as merely another challenge -- until her beauty and her independent nature begin to stir new feelings in his heart. Could this famed rake be falling in love? (Courtesy of INGRAM BOOK CO.)