Slightly Dangerous (Bedwyn Family Series) Book

BEST OF THE SERIES and of Mary Balogh; a perfect ending for all of us Bedwyn family fans

Slightly Dangerous is the sixth and final book in Mary Balogh's Bedwyn family series and takes place two to two and a half years (it spreads out over several months) after Rachel and Alleyne's wedding in Slightly Sinful. It is absolute perfection and reading it will make you giddy - and in several locations laugh out loud. I think it's the **best** of the series, which is saying something since IMO often the final books in series aren't as good as the first ones and with a character like Wulfric ... I mean, after encountering him in six of Balogh's previous books, it almost seems impossible that he could possibly be a hero in his own romance! One is compelled to read the book if only to discover how Balogh could possibly pull off such a thing and what heroine on earth could make it all believable.

MAIN CHARACTERS, Christine and Wulfric:
Mrs. Christine Derrick is 29 years old and has been a widow for two years. She was married at the age of 20 to Oscar Derrick, the younger brother of Basil, Viscount Elrick. She is absolutely enchanting (as Wulfric himself calls her), a heroine full of vitality and genuine kindness who has a passion for life and living and lacks any pretension or artifice. She is sometimes self-conscious, since she has a tendency to get in embarrassing public scraps, but she easily engages and wins over everyone she meets (best of all, she's able to laugh at herself whenever she does blunder).

Wulfric Bedwyn, Duke of Bewcastle is 35 years old and has never been married. When Slightly Dangerous begins his mistress of 10 years has just died and with all of his siblings happily married off (and reproducing at a rate you wouldn't believe!!) he feels uncharacteristically lonely; that's what propels him to impulsively accept the invitation to the house party, something he would normally never do. He is austere, cold, hard, **extremely** haughty and arrogant - every inch the powerful duke that he is - and just the last man on earth whom you could possibly imagine falling in love or feeling passion. Ah, but read this book and you will realize how wrong you are. :-)

They are opposites in so many ways: Christine is lightness and laughter and joy and Wulfric is austerity and haughtiness and oppressive duty. Yet Balogh does such an *incredible* job at writing them and their relationship that the chemistry between Christine and Wulfric is unbelievably magnetic. I mean you have to hand it to her: Slightly Dangerous has a hero who does not - I repeat, DOES NOT - smile or laugh until page 347 (out of 365 pages) and yet the love story between them will sweep you off your feet and you will absolutely adore and believe every single encounter and every single progression of their relationship. Now THAT, in my opinion, is talent.

READ AFTER OTHER BEDWYN BOOKS:
If anyone is considering reading Slightly Dangerous having not read any of the previous Bedwyn books, I would discourage it for one simple reason: to truly appreciate and understand Wulfric's character and heighten your enjoyment of the romance, it helps to be lead up to this point after having read the five sibling romances (and A Summer to Remember if you like, a prequel where the Bedwyn family is first introduced). This book can stand alone I suppose, though one could easily get lost with all of the various Bedwyn siblings, spouses, and children that appear (joy!). But to feel what I described at the beginning - a sense of complete incredulity that Wulfric could possibly be involved in a romance and a burning curiosity as to who such a romance would be with and how it would progress - you would have to already know him from Balogh's previous Bedwyn books. (They're great reads!)

There are many different types of heroes that we encounter in this genre, but no serious-never-smiles hero that you have EVER read could possibly live up to the Duke of Bewcastle. So many times when we read about those types of heroes, they melt surprisingly fast in the presence of the heroine, they begin to change and start laughing relatively easily. To fully be able to comprehend how ice-cold this man is, it helps to know him from the other books; literally, if someone hugged him you feel like they would immediately catch hypothermia. However, we have also been teased with one or two moments in each previous book with a glimpse of not a top-lofty unbelievably arrogant duke, but of a mere man who feels not only duty and responsibility, but who is very alone in all his power and feels a deep love for each of his siblings.

SIGH-FILLED HEART-MELTING SCENE (one of many):
"I would be consumed by you," she said, and blinked her eyes furiously when she felt them fill with tears. "You would sap all the energy and all the joy from me. You would put out all the fire of my vitality."
"Give me a chance to fan the flames of that fire," he said, "and to nurture your joy."

BOTTOM LINE:
**READ IT** (after having read the other five books in the Bedwyn series)!!! Buy the book (definite keeper and re-read) and prepare yourself for a read-in-one-sitting romance filled with Bedwyn siblings and spouses, a hint of Pride and Prejudice, laugh-out-loud scenes, unbelievable chemistry, dialogue and thoughts by the hero that will have you sighing constantly, and a delightful heroine.

P.S.
1) WHY does Balogh always write "head over ears" in love instead of "head over heels"???
2) Stop complaining about his quizzing glasses everyone - they're horrid, yes, but Christine thinks so too and the two scenes where she lets her annoyance and humor about them show are priceless!
3) And sorry but I have to write the following: This is to all historical romance writers out there, including Balogh - curls are NEVER EVER EVER brushed! As a young woman who has had ridiculously curly hair all her life, I can tell you with utmost certainty that *no one* with curly hair would EVER dream of brushing their curls! Show me someone who does and I'll show you someone who looks like they just put their finger in an electrical socket. Sorry, but just had to get that off my chest.