Rating: 
Summary: Even Better than Slightly Married
Review: Slightly Married and Slightly Wicked are the first two books I have read from this author - ande I must say that I will have to go back and read her others. I could not put this book down. I ended up reading Slightly Wicked in 1 day - staying up until the wee hours of the morning reading instead of getting sleep. It was well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Beware of reviews!
Review: Slightly Married was my first Balogh book and I enjoyed it (4*) and eagerly awaited this 2nd book. However the reviews were coming in disappointing so I skipped "Rannulf" and went on to the 3rd story of Freyja (Sl. Scandalous)Having given that book 4*, I decided to go back and read Rannoulf.......and thus far this story is the best of the triology. I would give it an 8 if possible.I read it in one way-into-the morning night. It caught me at page 4-5 and held me to the end. Balogh has a wonderful way with dialogue. I'm looking forward to the next 3 of this 6 book series...........esp the Duke himself. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Relaxing her storyline but not the heartstrings
Review: Slightly Wicked - how aptly titled when our Regency mistress abandons her restraint characters in Slightly Married and paints a melting, Cinderella-schmaltzy romance between Judith Law the dreamer and Lord Rannulf Bedwyn the rakish charmer.It is rare that Ms. Balogh throws the couple for a wild reckless interlude in the beginning of the story. Judith is the impoverished daughter of a clergyman who journeys to Harewood Grange upon her mercenary Aunt Effingham's summon to chaperon her grandmother. Her stagecoach topples and the valiant knight turns out to be Rannulf. Instant attraction strikes and both of them pull their deceptions: she lies to him that she is a theatrical ingenue Claire Campbell while he just states his identity to be Ralph. Judith ends their affair with an abrupt departure, never expecting them to meet at Harewood Grange when he is on his way to woo her cousin in a bid to pacify his ailing Grandmother Lady Beamish. Rannulf finds himself falling hard for Judith - and how can he not when we readers applaud her strength in resisting a marriage of honor from Bedwyn, her magnanimity towards his wastrel of a brother and her unwavering affection for her Grandmother? This vulnerable creature has always believed her glorious auburn mane to be ugly and shameful at the castigation of her father and aunt until she reveals her inner strength with Rannulf's encouragement. And Rannulf earns her heart with his rescues of her from the perifidious cousin Horace while she claims his with wits and characters. Mary Balogh's Slightly Wicked is constantly moving and delicate with memorable characters who sees their relationship tested with trials. The poignancy we witness at Judith's forgiveness with her brother, father and grandmother shows Mary Balogh's relaxing her storyline but not the heartstrings.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Slight About It
Review: This is the onle one of the Slightly series that I will review. And I chose this one because it was my favorite - though the others are excellent as well. I have read Stephanie Laurens who I find tedious and long winded during love scenes. I have read Julia Quinn who I find humorous but just not able to tap the right emotion.
Mary Balogh gets the right amount of all sensuality and wit and emotion. I cry in every book and that is not an easy fit for a jaded romance reader like myself.
Slightly Wicked begins with deception. Judith Law is traveling to live with her aunt and grandmother when her journey is interrupted by an accident. Rannulf Bedwyn is traveling to Grandmaison to meet the young girl his grandmother, Lady Beamish, has chosen for him to court. He stops to help an the passengers of an overturned cart. He can only take one person on his horse while he goes to fetch help. Of course he chooses the stunning redhead.
And so it begins that Claire Campbell, a jaded, experienced actress and Ralph Bedard, a roguish gentleman, are stranded in an inn for several days. The inevitable happens.
After escaping the inn, Judith, alias Claire, goes to live with her Aunt, cousin, and grandmother. And during her cousin's week-long party, who shows up to court the young woman but Lord Rannulf Bedwyn.
This is a moving, witty, emotionally transcending piece of artwork that inspired me to go out and actively collect all of Ms. Balogh's works. And as I said before, though I think this is the best, all of them are far worthy of the time it takes to read them. It is the best regency series available, in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: More than Slightly Worth It.
Review: This is the second book about the Bedwyn family, if you discount Ms. Balogh's "A Summer to Remember" in which they first appear. Slightly Wicked does live up to its name, with the hero and heroine having sex rather quickly... and it is just sex, as they'd only just met and know little of each other, including each other's REAL names! But, all in all, the story is entertaining and has strong characters. Ranulf, a rather arrogant character to be sure, does show a tender side in his relationship with his Grandmother, and a strength in not simply wedding her "first pick" but following his heart. Judith shows her strength much later than I expected, but she redeems herself by "holding out" for a match that's worthy of the vows to be spoken. A good second book in a series that's proving to be MORE than SLIGHTLY Worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: Dull and Lifeless Romance
Review: This second book in the series of the Bedwyn brothers is not as exciting as the review would have you believe. The story is about Rannulf Bedwyn and a poor minister's daughter who meet for a few days of casual sex and then separate. Their first meeting keeps your interest but after the lovers part the story falls flat. I find that Ms. Balogh's characters are clinical and cliche. They have no life to them, particularly the hero. In regards to the heroine, anyone with a modicum of common sense would have acted completely differently. I found the characters unrealistic and formulaic at best. Also their relationship lacks the sexual tension needed in this kind of story. I found myself laughing at the incredulous way the hero spoke. If you want to read a good romance where the characters actually are believable and you can sympathize with, try Eloisa James' pleasures series: Potent Pleasures, Midnight Pleasures, and Enchanting Pleasures. I have read other books of Ms. Balogh's and though I always found them a bit dull, this is by far one of the worst.
Rating: 
Summary: Forbidden passion and concealed identities
Review: This second in the Bedwyn series finds third son Rannulf on his way to his grandmother's estate which he stands to inherit. Looks like yet another plot to marry him off, but he'll indulge his grandmama's wishes only so far. As third-born, he was meant for the church, but Rannulf refused that living and would be his own man - no matter what family head Bewcastle has to say about it! But on his way to Grandmaison, he encounters an overturned stagecoach and one lovely passenger that he just cannot resist. Judith Law is on her way to a fate worse than death - that of an unwanted, impoverished female relative. Her family is in dire financial straits and Judith is to go to her aunt's to serve as companion to her grandmother. But on the stagecoach, she fantasizes about a cheery, mocking highwayman that will take her away from the mundane and depressing life that surely awaits her. When the stagecoach overturns in muddy roads, it is not a highwayman, but a roguish gentleman who comes to her rescue riding off with her to the next town and a secluded inn. Knowing what emptiness lies before her, she adopts the persona of "actress Claire Campbell" and enters into a scandalous affair with "Ralph Bedard", thinking this interlude will be something she can look back on with pleasure when she's a lonely, lowly companion. They spend two lovely days together before she decides she must move on. She arrives at Harewood Grange to assume her duties just as her pretty, vivacious cousin Julianne is set to begin a house party to welcome Lord Rannulf Bedwyn to the neighborhood (his grandmother is supporting a match between her grandson Rannulf and Julianne). Rannulf arrives at Grandmaison to find his grandmama a bit more frail than usual. He is willing to indulge her to the extent that he will consider marrying Julianne to please her. But when he discovers "Claire", or rather Judith, in the same household, he does the expected and offers marriage, which she refuses. As the days pass, he realizes that he cannot marry the pretty but vacuous Julianne - that he wants the lovely but lowly Judith. It was nice to see Rannulf mature, not only in his feelings for Judith, but for his grandmama and in his new-found interest in managing the estate that will one day be his. But when someone has it in for Judith and accuses her of stealing, Rannulf has a good idea who and sets out to prove her innocence. Along the way, his elder brother Wulf, Duke of Bewcastle becomes involved - is there no end to Wulf's patience, indulgence and devotion to assuring his siblings' happiness? And when will he worry about his own happiness the reader will wonder - right around book six, I bet! Another enjoyable, recommended read, though surely not the best of the series. I expect Wulf's story to be the stand-out of the series (I wonder what type of woman will win his seemingly cold heart!), though sister Freyja's story is next and should be quite a page-turner!
Rating:
Summary: 4 & 1/2 would be more accurate, but...
Review: unlike some of the reviewers, I really liked the protagonists, especially the heroine. I thought Judith was fully developed, a woman of depth and passion who had been hamstrung emotionally by well-meaning but dead-wrong parents (her father especially). In the light of her upbringing, her attitudes are understandable. Rannulf has been a do-nothing, but some people take longer to grow up; that's a very big part of his change over the course of the book. He is almost unlikeable in his rakishness at the beginning, but it does not take the careful reader long to see beneath the surface. He's not the somewhat damaged hero that brother Aidan is, and that may account for some of the negative reactions. He's had it pretty easy up until now and that can make a person less than serious about life and responsibility. Judith, and his ailing grandmother, however, change all that, just as Rannulf's support of Judith changes her. Her horrible relatives (aunt and cousin) and her ne'er-do-well brother are intriguing secondary characters who truly move the plot and the romance along. I thought the book was more than slightly spendid.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it!!!
Review: Was very goooooood indeed. Mary Balogh, does not cut and paste her novels. She makes everyone of them original, and has an imagination as huge as space. This is my 3rd of this series and wont be my last. This is a keeper and I will not loan it out. I have enjoyed the Bedwyn stories, Immensely. They just keep getting better and never repeat. Makes you wish you knew the family, or could fall in the books and hang out with them. What a family. Big thumbs up to you Ms. Balogh.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is Scarlet O'Hara when you need her?
Review: Why do so many romance writers think that "virtue" and masochism are the same thing for a heroine? This "heroine" does everything but tie HERSELF to the railroad tracks! Let's see, how many cliches does this book have? The "virtuous heroine" who lives only to serve her family, instead of running off and finding something better. Why? "Because I'm the heroine, dammit! I must suffer! I can't take action to get out of my bad situations!" Her "loving" family, who happily sacrifices a daughter into unpaid servitude, rather than simply tell their bratty son that he has to stop throwing money around. Another? "Oh, I must spend one night of passion to have something to remember while I grow old alone and miserable and spend my nights weeping into my pillow". It never seems to occur to these masochistic heroines that "something to remember" could easily be a squalling human being or a dose of the pox! And then there are the usual Evil Relatives, who for no particular reason, have nothing better to do than to torture a poor relation. What, there aren't enough peasants and servants to throw darts at? And then there is the usual "Oh, I can't, simply CAN'T marry the rich, handsome, kind man who has offered to take me away from my life of misery". Why? "He doesn't love me!" This, after the man has jumped through hoops to save her. I have rarely read a heroine so determined to be miserable. When the heroine finally pulled the "I shall live alone and pine for him for the rest of my life", the book went in the UBS box.
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