Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase

Hey everyone,

One of my good friends gave me Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase for either Christmas or my birthday. Unfortunately it took me a few years to actually read the book, I know books linger on my shelves for far too long. Bur I’ve read it now so keep reading to see what I thought of it...

The book:

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London's rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon's intended bride? Winning the future duchess's patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are . . . not.

The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline's met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses; and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno . . .and a blazing scandal.

And now both their futures hang by an exquisite thread of silk . . .

My thoughts:

Without a doubt my favourite aspect of Silk is fro Seduction was the hero and heroine. I absolutely adored Marcelline, she was independent, strong-minded, loyal and caring. Similarly Clevedon, although originally portrayed as just a typical rake developed wonderfully as a character. Through meeting Marcelline he started to examine the world around him and see it through the eyes of someone else. I think part of the reason I loved Marcelline and her sisters was because they weren’t typical aristocratic heroines. Instead they worked hard for a living, constantly turning any situation into an advantageous one for their business. Yet despite her proud and fierce exterior Marcelline’s past and future dreams showed her softness.

She was a dream and a schemer and one did not dream and scheme without hope.

I also found it refreshing how none of the characters were perfect. Both Marcelline, Clevedon and the majority of the secondary characters had flaws. Rather than making them unloveable this made them believable. Marcelline and her sisters all have questionable morals and are extremely ambitious, making them willing to do almost anything to make their business succeed. Clevedon again isn’t perfect and spend most of the novel paying attention to Marcelline despite being engaged to someone else. I’ve not read many books by Loretta Chase before and therefore wasn’t prepared for the level of character development and detail each character was given. I felt like I knew nearly all the characters and became completely absorbed by the story. 

She'd read in novels of people who couldn't speak because their hearts were too full and she'd always thought, Not my black heart.

But now she couldn’t speak, because it was too much, whatever it was.

Silk is for Scandal was additionally full of small humorous exchanges that lightened the overall tone of the book. Although it had dark moments and scenes that pulled at my heart strings it was the lighter moments between Marcelline and Clevedon that I really enjoyed. I loved that they were a couple who could have fun together, who challenged each other intellectually and who also supported each other unconditionally.

I expected a good deal more from you," Marcelline said, "You bungled it.”
"Yes," he said. "What else could I do? I was asking the wrong woman to marry me.

I couldn’t talk about Silk is for Seduction without mentioning the secondary characters, in particular the female characters. In many ways this is a book that celebrates female friendships and female empowerment. Case in point, rather than Marcelline disliking or being dismissive towards Clevedon’s finance Clara, she instead take the girl under her win. Sure part of her motive is monetary but her and her sister’s imbue Clara with confidence of her own self-worth. They give her the confidence to stay up to her mother and to go against societies expectations. Culminating in perhaps my favourite scene ever in a romance novel.

"I deserve to be loved, truly loved -mind, body and soul. And in case you haven't noticed, there's a line of men ready to give me all that. Why on earth should I settle for a man who can't give me anything but friendship. Why should I settle for you?"

I can’t believe I let this book linger on my to-read-pile for so long. It was one of those rare books that gave me warm fuzzy feelings while I was reading it. I’ll definitely be continuing with the series and may have to dive into Loretta’s Chase backlist as well!

My rating:

Happy reading and see you next time!