Proof by Seduction

A very well written and passionate historical romance. Garreth is a proud, lonely marquis who only believes in science and numbers, and sets out to prove his cousin's psychic is a fraud. Madame Esmeralda, a.k.a. Jenny, makes her living as a fortune teller. She has learned some hard lessons because of the circumstances of her birth. But she is still hopeful and resilient. She's also very perceptive and kind of heart. When Garreth and Jenny meet, they start a teasing, cat and mouse game that eventually leads them to a passionate romance. These two made a great pair, the subtle wit and humor, and their fiery arguments definitely made this story interesting. By the end, both characters have grown. Even the secondary storylines of Garreth's sister, Laura, and Garreth's cousin, Ned, are very well done. I highly recommend this book and will definitely read more by this author.

That was my first book for Courtney Milan. She is. Talented writer ! Artistic in her writing . I liked it ! Sensual and funny . Loved the story and characters. The narrator was good but not as splendid as others like Rosalyn Landor . She needs to work more on animation to add life to the characters .
The book is highly recommended

Courtney Milan delves more into complexities of characters than most romance novels. Ending is predictable, but the journey to the end is an enjoyable blend of sophisticated dialogue, introspection, and sensual interaction.

Great story and great narration. Full of exchanges between characters with much emotional impact (not just romantic, but also of friendship, compassion, etc). The allusion to one of the main secondary character's depression was also moving - and unusual for an historical romance. The narrator struck the right note throughout the production.

Well worth a credit, as well as the time spent listening to it. Recommend it highly, and now look forward to reading the "sequel", Trial by Desire.

I re-read (re-listened to) this book recently and found that it had all the things I love as well as all the things I kind of hate about Courtney Milan books. First, the hate: it dragged. The ratio of action--which I would define as anything at all happening, if only a conversation--to interior monologue and exposition of the characters' thoughts and motivations was just too low. The story ground to a halt all too often. And this from me, a person who loves Mary Balogh's books, a writer who spends a lot of her time describing the same events from everyone's perspective and then rehashing reactions and motivations, so I actually have a very high tolerance for slow paced, cerebral romances.

I have also come to the conclusion that the novella is Courtney Milan's best format. She writes such beautifully crafted shorter works that it always feels to me that her novels are bloated by comparison. That is definitely the case in this, her first novel.

My other major problem was how isolated Jenny was. For all we're told of what a warm person she is, we don't see any evidence that she had any friends in London. The Madam Esmeralda persona might have made it difficult to allow anyone too close, but it's hard to believe there was no one besides Ned she'd really consider a friend, particularly since she schools Gareth in the art of friendship.

As for the good, well, she writes beautifully and does an almost too-good job of conveying lower class poverty and desperation. She also does a particularly nice job of depicting a socially awkward hero, not someone whom we diagnose in hindsight with our 21st century knowledge (as opposed to Ned, who is clearly bipolar), but someone who is simply ill at ease with small talk and never has known how to relate to people. I also loved how she shows that as a fortune teller, far from being a fraud, Jenny actually provides a valuable service to her customers in acting almost as a therapist, decades before such an idea would even emerge. I'm glad I revisited this one.

Excellent character development! The narration added so much to the story - elegant, yet passionate, varied character voices, excelllent job! Ned's story continues with a novel I have already heard ...I'm not sure of the title and i don't think Audible listed the books as a series. Why? I would have preferred to hear the stories in order. Anyway...a great use of my credit. Loved it!

Not sure of the title. See review above.

Nuances between characters' voices. Articulate yet emotional at the right times. Excellent!

YES!...but I don't have that kind of time!

More by this author and narrator, PLEASE!!

I have not read the book but I very much liked it beeing read to me by Priscilla Carson

Both the Hero and Heroin and the Heros cusin

I liked very much Priscilla's reading

I very much enjoyed this story and the reading of the book!

This book was incredibly well written, very compelling story and likable characters. The narrator was great, and I am usually very picky about narrators. Loved it!

I agree with the prior review hole heartly. 2 Completly different people brought together by a desire to prove each other wrong but finding that they admire each others qualitites and realizing that by proving that one or the other is wrong will break a union they have formed. From completly different worlds, he can be rather blunt and she goes out of her way to be meek and loving and holds not an unkind word, but still can be visous if needed. Both realize that they want to move out of the rut they indivually have been in for years yet by doing so it would seperate the two from one another forever