**********Content: Sex (fairly explicit), violence, depravity, poetry, a few Bible passages, a sermon.**********(No major spoilers, but a long review, sorry)3.75 stars for this Regency Romance, sequel to The Reluctant Guardian, and originally published in 2001 (I got the kindle version for just under $3). Seducing Mr. Heywood is set in Yorkshire in 1811. The writing is descriptive but I wasn't expecting something so sad, dark, and serious, albeit with nearly profound themes of redemption, forgiveness and acceptance (gotta be in the mood for this one). However, it's not all heavy; I chuckled a few times -- especially the opening scene, when the vicar takes a tumble in the drawing room, and the scenes when Sophia gets the butler's name wrong. I also welled up during a few heartwarming scenes, and enjoyed the lighter moments with the two boys, especially the celebrated mental calculator."Her intent had been to seduce him, but he had seduced her, instead, just by being himself."The worldly, widowed, and seductive Lady Sophia Rowley flees to Yorkshire to escape rampant mockery after losing her lover to an untried country miss, despite her elegant blond beauty (prequel). This man-hunter is a mess, and no wonder, with the devil for a daddy and a past best left buried. Desperately lonely at 30, with two young sons she hasn't visited for eight years, Sophia is finally running scared. Her life is utter crap, and she's frequently overcome by brief outbursts of fear-fueled rage. (Yup, I can relate to that.)This self-same little charmer caresses, cajoles, and even commands, attempting to seduce the vicar of St. Mortrud's. Celibate by choice but not a virgin, Charles Heywood wants his sex to derive from relationship, and even though he loved her almost before he met her (the portrait) he senses that she is cold, and removed from feeling. (Insta-love trope, but they spend enough time together to make it credible)."He must not fantasize on the lady's unique beauty, including the delightful callipygian charms she'd indicated with that careless wave of her hand towards her lower extremeties. That way lay madness." Ha! -- callipygian charms ツ The plot is okay, but more stellar ★ is the character development of Lady Sophia. The author had me despising the selfish and ill-tempered slut, but by the end of the game, I was giving her extra handicaps. Her life is not what it seems, and the world, it turns out, has been very unkind: "The strong black tea was bitter in her mouth" as she recalled the death of her mother in childhood, the loss of her loving governess Miss Bane, the defection of her only love, Sir Isaac Rebow, and the horrors of her first brutal marriage, at age 15. After burying three husbands yet never knowing love, she set her sights on superficial sex, but never quite lost her way, despite the rumors she hoped to outdistance.Gradually, through the love of her sons and the kindness of the vicar, Sophia begins to remember what life used to be like -- what she used to be like -- before the monsters moved in, and shields of protective ice grew in layers around her heart (it was rather lovely to watch the ice melt, and it felt kinda realistic, but I had a hard time understanding her treatment of John and William, and felt Manning glossed this over too easily.) And why did Manning make the strong Sophia faint? Twice! This felt out of character. (The first faint was credible.)Manning also developed the character of Robert Winton, Lord Brent (but I didn't buy the surprise event).Poorly developed characters: Some characters remained static. Charles Heywood, the beautiful blond vicar, is thoroughly noble, and nothing ever changes about that. Likewise, Sophia's father, Thomas Elliot, the Earl of Dunhaven, is unremittently evil, bad to the bone, "chuckling gleefully from behind the draperies" as his murderous plans hatch. (Lol. Mine eyes went rolling more than once at this type of thing). Favorite bits: Excellent scene at George Rowley's tomb, with the inscription to his first wife, Lucy. I liked the boys, William and John. The scene where Sophia first sees them again was nicely done (if rather hard to swallow). Bromley was a wonderful secondary character. Heartwarming scenes battling the sickness in the village (but the villagers were too quick to forgive. They tend to have long memories, and Sophia had burned a lot of bridges). I liked the poetry, and found myself carefully reading it.Weaker Bits: Too much mental musing slows the pace (my pet peeve, but it portrays the heart, the suffering in this case, so it wasn't too unwelcome). The assumption Charles made was not really justified, and it led to a separation period. I have mixed feelings about the long search from town to town, looking for someone. It felt like a digression and not worthy of so many pages. Charles' sermon towards the end was okay, but Charles Spurgeon he's not. Also, the sex scene at the end was problematic for me on several levels (not because it is fairly explicit).Ps. This book is sequel to The Reluctant Guardian.
