The Seduction of Lady X

The Secrets of Hadley Green, Book 3

By: Julia London

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

The surprising news that dashing steward Harrison Tolly, illegitimate son of the Earl of Ashwood, is the rightful heir to his father’s estate comes at a most inopportune time. With a wedding on the horizon and a baby on the way, a new life of privilege and prestige would be a blessing but for one problem: His heart belongs to another woman.

Harrison keeps his desires for his employer’s wife, Lady Olivia Carey, so hidden that even she does not know of his devotion. Her callous husband, Marquis Carey, went into a rampage after Olivia’s troublesome younger sister returned from her tour of Spain pregnant, and Harrison impulsively stepped in to save the entire family from scandal. Now, like Olivia, he is trapped in a loveless arrangement.

When a tragic accident claims the marquis’ life soon thereafter, can Harrison seize his chance and cast aside one sister for another? Or will doing so expose the Carey family’s darkest secret - and ruin his only chance to win Olivia’s heart?

©2012 Julia London (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

story of love that could move a statue

Would you consider the audio edition of The Seduction of Lady X to be better than the print version?

never read the pring version but audio books are always due to the acting put into the reading.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lady X

What about Justine Eyre’s performance did you like?

She is great through out the book she has the right tones for each character she is a true actress amazing

I like a little more heat

This was a good story but the ending was very predictable. There was no other way to achieve a HEA. Wish she could have thought of a more imaginative way to work around the lovers dilemma to be together. There were 2 sex scenes that were OK. Not very heated in my opinion. Kind of short. However, some of the other books I've listened to by Ms London have had great love scenes, so this isn't indicative of her style every time. I've gotten used to the narrator and now really enjoy her voices and narration.

My favorite in the series

This was a beautiful book. The characters were painted in delicate brushes and I absolutely fell in love with both the h/he. The dialogue was terrific. I really couldn’t stop listening. And the narration was SUPERB!

COULDN'T STOP LISTENING

This is one of the top 5 books that I have listened to. I happened to get the 3rd book from this series and I wanted to know what happened next and I loved what I heard!
From beginning to end, this book keeps you interested, you think you know what will happen when something totally different happens and that is the kind of book I like.
The narration is on point, pulls you in, makes you sad, angry, happy and satisfied at different points of story. The length was good, it didn't feel like it was that long and makes you want to have more story, more time.
You cannot not go wrong with this book: love, hate, struggle, temptation, betrayal, all the makings of a great story!

Great listen!

A moving and engaging story that works every bit as well as a stand alone as it does as part of a series. It wasn't until near the end that I recognized the connection to previous books and while this added context it was a bonus rather than a defining element. The story of Olivia and Harrison is so powerful that I have listened to this book multiple times and find something new each time. Well worth the credit.

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS LISTEN

It's not often that I desperately want to skim to the ending to make sure there's a happy one, but this book brought the Devil out in me (I know I know it's taboo). However, I did resist knowing that the journey of true love is what we romantics love so much so I persevered through the hours of torturous listening disbelieving events that unfold but still holding a firm belief that Julia London will make it all right in the end.

This is one of the best love stories I've listened to with very likeable H/H, a despicable husband, a selfish younger sister and other secondary characters both likeable and dislikable. As Olivia endures a physically and mentally abusive marriage the Estate Steward Harrison's pain and frustration grows at the events because he has been silently in love with her forever... but one day he snaps and nothing will ever be the same again. This is a tragic passionate tale of love, duty, sacrifice, honor, romance and of course scandal but, as all the twists and turns unfold, you become engrossed in this emotional, but very touching, tender and enjoyable story.

I've listened to these out of order but I don't think it matters however I am about to listen to book 4 The Last Debutante so maybe this will change.

Worth a credit? It would easily have been a YES but my $10 rule applied so. I just bought it and saved my credit for a more expensive, but maybe not more enjoyable, listen.

Julia London is a Fabulous storyteller

Loved this story❤️❤️❤️ I’m enjoying all the storylines! Can’t wait for the forth book! Excellent!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Would you listen to The Seduction of Lady X again? Why?

Yes, I'll definitely listen to this book again. It has a story line like no other of the ~300 historical romance novels I've read and/or listened to in the past couple of years. It is kind of disturbing though as one bad thing after another happens to you need to be prepared for you begin!

What did you like best about this story?

Again, that the story line was totally different than anything else I've read and the ending. Thank goodness for the ending.

Have you listened to any of Justine Eyre’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Justine Eyre ALWAYS delivers a solid performance. I've listened to a lot of books narrated by Justine Eyre and I always enjoy her performance.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - I don't think I could ever listen to this book in one sitting even though I know the outcome now. It's just too disturbing.

Any additional comments?

I have to give this book 5 stars because its like no other historical romance I've read. The only criticism I really have is that this really doesn't qualify as part of the Hadley Green series because there's nothing about Hadley Green and very little about Ashwood until the end of the book. This book is really a stand alone book with a touch of Hadley Green thrown in at the end.

Love how everything works out!!!

Where does The Seduction of Lady X rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

story ranks high in the sad category but the narrator voice was not that wonderful

What did you like best about this story?

I love the comic relief..Rue! in such a sad story...Rue kept you laughing with her simple mindedness

Which scene was your favorite?

In the begging of the book when Harry and Lady Carey happen to meet up by the creek and the picture she is drawing becomes a jest later in the book!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

OMG.....it was so sad!!! I want to kill Lord Carey and slap Olivia's younger selfish sister!!!

Any additional comments?

The narrator did a good job with the characters voice...but was hard to listen to when she spoke in her voice.

90% sad/10% happy ending

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I probably wouldn't recommend this book, although Ive really enjoyed Julia London's other Hadley Green novels. The reappearance of earlier characters at the end was refreshing, but almost

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have preferred that the earlier parts of the story might have allowed the reader to experience a better balance of enjoyable and

Have you listened to any of Justine Eyre’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Justine Eyre is one of my very favorate narrators, and she does jan admirable job, as usual. .

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I might go see a movie version of this book, in large part, because I liked the earlier Hadley Green books. It would be interesting to see how some scenes would be played.

Any additional comments?

I think I mostly just prefer lighter, wittier historical romances.