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The Secret to Seduction

by Julie Anne Long

reviewed by Cybil Solyn

May 2007, 432 pages, Publisher: Warner, ISBN: 0446616885

The final installment in Long's "Three Sisters" trilogy is the best book she has ever written. And when I say "written" I mean the choice of words on the page and the skill used to craft the story and master series arc. It's rare anymore to review a romance novel where I can talk about the writing. Often I discuss the characters, plot, and even dialogue. The Secret to Seduction has character, plot, and dialogue in spades, but what will stand out for discerning readers will be the beauty of the language Long uses.

It is fitting that this novel houses a myriad of artists from poets to sopranos because this book itself is a work of art. The pace has a musical rhythm to it and the words flow like a poem. It starts out slow with mellow notes as Rhys and Sabrina seduce one another with words. Rhys, a master poet whose words alone can bring women to climax, seduces Sabrina out of her shell. He makes her realize that she isn't the mild mannered vicar's daughter who wants only to live a life of helping others. She is a wickedly wanton woman with passion, pride, music, and temper roiling inside her wishing to be set free.

Sabrina's seduction of Rhys is more straight forward. With honesty and frankness she slowly seduces Rhys into telling her his secrets and opening up to her. But like any good opera the pace quickens and races to crescendo as the two lovers are separated by Rhys' dark secret – a secret that leads Sabrina to discovering her true identity, and reunites her with her long lost sisters, while threatening to tear Rhys and Sabrina apart.

I cannot say enough good about Long's writing. With each highly charged event in the book, a sentence or two would wring the desired emotion from me, making me feel that I was living and breathing what the characters felt. This style of writing is far more noticeable in the first act where Rhys and Sabrina are getting to know one another and falling in love, but can still be found in the second act whenever Rhys and Sabrina are together.

Once our lovers are separated and Sabrina is with her true family, the second act moves from our primary love story to the mystery/murder master series arc that is the through line of the "Three Sisters" trilogy. The story still stays connected and we still follow our hero and heroine, but now the hunt for the sisters' mother, and bringing the accused to justice are the means to progress the story and bring our lovers back together. Long's first and second act are seamlessly woven together so that the series finale and the book finale are equally satisfying.

I haven't read the previous two novels in the series, but I was impressed by how much information about the other novels Long was able to reveal without tiring exposition. She used character actions to tell me the what, where, how, and why of the other books. I was also astounded that this book stood alone so well. In the previous two books an enormous master series arc had progressed that I needed to catch up on, and yet I was never confused or overwhelmed by any character or plot details in this novel. Instead, I was intrigued and wished I had read the other books so that I knew more about the supporting cast. But I never felt I had to read them to enjoy this story.

Bottom Line: Don't miss out on one of the finest written books of the year.