Indiscreet

The Horsemen Trilogy

By: Mary Balogh

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Mary Balogh comes the first novel in the Horsemen trilogy, a scandalous romance of yearning passion and dangerous desires....

In the country visiting his twin brother, Viscount Rawleigh longs for a little diversion, and beautiful young widow Catherine Winters seems like easy prey. But Rex's target is a lady of virtue, and when she roundly rejects his improper proposal to become his mistress, Rex finds himself faced with a delectable challenge.

Catherine knows she must fight the indecent feelings the viscount arouses within her - feelings that bring to life a past she had sought to escape - even as the handsome lord refuses to relent in his amorous attentions. But even though she knows one kiss could bring her to ruin, temptation proves an insurmountable foe - and Catherine cannot ignore the beating of her treacherous heart....

©1997 Mary Balogh (P)2016 Recorded Books

Begins with mistaken identity and a smile

Any additional comments?

Catherine smiles at a man she thinks is the lord of the manor, but turns out to be his twin brother, Rex, the Viscount of Rowley. The smile sets into motion a chain of events that makes up the plot of this book. Catherine is one of the best female characters in romance fiction. She is beautiful, graceful, and strong. She is a virtuous woman - and Rex wants her to be his mistress. Wrong move. She is not mistress material. But Catherine does have a secret past and she does not want it revealed. She just wants to live in contentment and obscurity in her cottage on the river with her sweet little dog, Toby. Toby is my favorite character in the book!!

Of course Catherine is not allowed to live in peace and is caught up in a whirlwind not of her making. It is a great story and I highly recommend it as one of Balogh's best novels. I was enthralled from the beginning to the end and hated to have to stop to do things such as eat or sleep.

EXCELLENT!

This was probably one of my favorites to date. The story was intriguingly different than most. The heroine has a tragic past and the hero starts out as a jerk but redeems himself because of his love for her.

Good story

The narrator does a great job Itelling a story of a young lady who didn't feel like she could be loved again and in the end finding someone to love her. the author is so good at weaving mysteries and capturing your attention.

Good story made better by Rosalyn

Rosalyn Landor was excellent as usual. I don't know of a better narrator. Well done.

Excellent narration. Good story. Average romance.

Balogh always has interesting prose and it is good here. And the book works well as a dissection of rape culture and slut shaming while exposing issues with the romantic alphahole protagonist. The hero learns through the course of the novel that no means no. And has his eyes opened (to a degree) about the male privilege he's swimming within. So, on that front the book is interesting. It's good in dealing with issues of sexism and rape culture. On the romantic front, it is somewhat ho-hum on the romance front. I'm not sure it could be otherwise since clearly one of the aims of the novel was to highlight the issues of a man swimming in a sexist culture that thinks women are 'teases' or 'prudes' and that flirtation must always meet his ends. He learns (a bit) over the novel so there's progression but it makes a bit of a tough slog to root for him through much of the novel. The poor heroine in the other hand more than deserves a happy ending, so there's that.

Not for the #metoo generation

I found this book to be more about seduction than romance. Lust rather than love. And I thought the storyline was irresponsible. I did not like this "hero". He was selfish. And she was just stupidly letting him bully her into submission.

And, I always fine it hard to believe that a promiscuous person will change their ways if they find the right person. There needs to be a change of heart.

Good beginning to a series

This was a nice beginning to the series and I liked getting to know the other horsemen and the introduction to the next book. The main romance is nice although I feel like the whole drama of the story was due to lack of communication. The narration was excellent as expected of Ms. Rosalyn Landor.

Very good.

I had some issues with Rex. I know this is an historical novel and a different culture...but it was hard to read the hero as such an ass. Fortunately he had an epiphany and realized the depth of his selfishness. Loved Catherine. I do recommend.

Rosalyn Landor is the best.

it turned slow and boring.

it turned slow and boring. I just wanted it to be over so I could find a better book. I didn't like the hero.

pretty good read

i loved it, but spoiler alert: i did want it to be longer because it was left as if we would asume she would continue to have healthy children.

Mary Baloch and Rosalyn Landor- unbeatable

Combine an excellent narrator and author with a good story and you gat this book. Thoroughly enjoyable read.

It is a poignant story.

In a society were women were always the temptress, men could rape with impunity. Men were never banished totally from society, while women either married their rapist or became "lepers".
The hero totally misconstrued the heroine intent, believing he has been given the "come on". He refuses to accept she is saying NO in earnestness, but just playing hard to get.
He doesn't see her as a person, just a body to bed, till he has satisfied his lust. Compromised, left with no other choices, she is forced to marry.
He likes to throw his weight around, explains that as they desire each other they must make this marriage work.
The heroine comes across as "tumble weed" being blown across a landscape in which she has no control.

Absolutely wonderful

I loved this book as it portrays many of the obstacles and adversities of the result of the abuse of women. The problems are no different than what happens in the 21st century. It is not a portrayal through rose coloured glasses but still tastefully intertwined with a love story.