Rating: 
Summary: Skillfully written; I couldn't put it down
Review: Here's a Regency novel with a twist. Its real flesh-and-blood characters grow and change and engage our sympathies and interest. Beautiful and well-researched detail on every page,
evoking the period with great charm. A wonderful, satisfying read. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't quite work for me
Review: I give the author credit for creating an unusual heroine -- I wish more authors would take risks like this. But the book's execution didn't live up to my expectations. If I read her next book, it'll come from a library.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read. Great Story
Review: I'm not much for romance novels. But Jo Manning's Seducing Mr. Heywood was funny and fast paced. The execution was cool and the details (relating to the period in which she sets her book) are amazingly on point. Sophia is great heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Live Up to Reputation . . . .
Review: I've been amazed at how many high reviews this novel has received but then that only goes to show the very real difference between a reviewer and a reader. I did not find the writing style stellar enough to outweigh the many plot flaws. The primary characters -- especially the heroine -- are almost entirely unsympathetic. Lady Sophia is exactly what you receive when someone doesn't triumph over adversity but allows themself to use it as a defining excuse for every flaw. Realistic? Sure but is "whiny" and "manipulative" really how you want your romance heroine defined? Charles is no match for her on any level and I respected him less and less the more he fell for Sophia.This is an expensive book and as such has a lot to live up to. I don't feel it does that at all and would say -- give it a miss.
Rating: 
Summary: Could she really love a country vicar after life in London?
Review: Lady Sophia Rowley is back from her home in London for the funeral of her third elderly husband. Hers was a marriage of convenience and arrangements. It was agreed that if she gave her husband his much wanted heirs she would be set up with nothing to worry about in London. With the unexpected death of Rowley, Sophia has returned from her frivolous existence among the Ton to resume her position of mother to her 2 sons. It is at the reading of the will when she learns that her husband has named the local vicar, Charles Heywood, guardian of the boys. And it is during his first visit when Sophia learns that Charles is NOT the usual dull, pios, and elderly gentleman- but handsome, young, and very caring man who serves as vicar. He is unlike any other man she has met- someone that is not after her sexually but seems to enjoy her as a person, for who she really is. It is from this visit that instead of the wicked and scandalous woman he has heard gossip about, Charles sees for himself Sophia's beauty, intelligence, and sincere feelings for her children. Charles finds himself falling in love with Sophia at first sight. But how would she be interested in someone with as dull a life and as little to offer as Charles has compared to what she is use to. The story is a sweet one but it was dull in parts and didn't keep my attention. I found myself thumbing through pages. It wasn't a keeper for me. I recommend you read it for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun!
Review: Lady Sophia Rowley is not your typical Regency herione; she is older, widowed, and hardly virginal. She returns to the country after her husband's death to see to his estate and her step-sons. Against all her expectations, the country is not dull and boring. Her first encounters with the local parson are hardly promising, but he finds her fascinating. It is also time for her to get to know her step-sons, and provide them with the happy family life she did not have. A good introduction to the Regency period for those who don't normally read Regency romances... unlike some of the genre, this is hardly insipid, but rather a lively romp. I look forward to seeing more heriones along the lines of Lady Sophia Rowley.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun!
Review: Lady Sophia Rowley is not your typical Regency herione; she is older, widowed, and hardly virginal. She returns to the country after her husband's death to see to his estate and her step-sons. Against all her expectations, the country is not dull and boring. Her first encounters with the local parson are hardly promising, but he finds her fascinating. It is also time for her to get to know her step-sons, and provide them with the happy family life she did not have. A good introduction to the Regency period for those who don't normally read Regency romances... unlike some of the genre, this is hardly insipid, but rather a lively romp. I look forward to seeing more heriones along the lines of Lady Sophia Rowley.
Rating:
Summary: Promising but falls short
Review: Lady Sophia Rowley was the talk of the ton, highlight of any social gathering in Regency London, and notorious as a woman who had married three times and taken countless lovers. Now, she has returned to her late husband's ancestral home with the intention of taking on her responsibilities as a mother. After being abandoned by her last lover, she feels the need for calm, but she wonders whether she can fit into the countryside. Mr. Charles Heywood is the priest for Sophia's town, and appointed by her late husband as co-ward for Sophia's two sons. The attraction between the two is nearly immediate (once Charles recovers from an initial stumble), but Charles cannot bear the thought of a purely sexual relationship while Sophia has put all ideas of marriage behind her. The arrival of Sophia's father puts the slow development of their relationship on a more intense pace. Her father has thrice sold Sophia on the marriage market and intends to regain control of his daughter, her figure, and the fortune her children stand to inherit from her late husband. The Earl of Dunhaven has even brought a handsome young man along with him. Charles is an obstacle, but the Earl doesn't let obstacles stop him. Author Jo Manning has done her regency homework--the scandals, meals, wardrobes, and focus on reputation all ring true. I would have preferred for her to dig deeper into the emotional development of her two characters. Instead, Charles goes from being a good guy, essentially nowhere. Sophia is understood to have been largely misunderstood and quickly learns the value of motherhood and the worth of being the squire of a rural village compared to the superficial nature of London society. Even Earl Dunhaven's nasty plots come undone too quickly.
Rating:
Summary: a fantastic read
Review: Lady Sophia Rowley, Sir Isaac Reblow's jaded and sophisticated mistress from "The Reluctant Guardian" is the heroine in this tale of redemption and love, "Seducing Mr. Heywood." Though you might be forgiven in thinking that this romance novel about a young woman who has been more sinned against than sinning, and who finds her way back from the brink of self destruction, should actually have been entitled "The Reforming of Lady Sophia." Thrice married, and now thrice widowed Lady Sophia Rowley has returned to Rowley Hall, in a high temper. Her ex-lover, Sir Isaac Reblow, whom she had hoped to marry upon her aged husband's death has married another, and she (Lady Sophia) is now the laughingstock of London. Unable to face the gossipmongers there, Lady Sophia has returned to Yorkshire for the duration of her period of mourning, but she is not happy at all. She finds the country side boring, her neighbours boorish, and she is not looking forward to reacquainting herself with the two young sons, John and William, she abandoned in favour of a good time in London. Furthermore, she has to contend with the village vicar, Mr. Charles Heywood, whom her husband had named as guardian of John and William. No, all in all Lady Sophia is not in a good humour at all. And when she finally meets Heywood, she finds to her surprise that he is rather young and extremely good looking. Feeling rather bored, Lady Sophia sets out to seduce him into having a discreet affair with her. But to her surprise, anger and mortification, she finds that while Heywood is very susceptible to her charms, he refuses to fall in with her desires. And yet, something about the morally upright and deeply smitten young man (as well as the easy affection and acceptance of both her sons) inspires in Lady Sophia the wish to change from being the hard and brittle London socialite into something else -- to become the young lady she should have been before her father had started selling her off in marriage to rich dissolute older men. But can the once notorious Lady Sophia, whose affairs were a byword of polite Society, change? And then Lady Sophia's despicable father, the Earl of Dunhaven, arrives at Rowley Hall, with a plan to marry her off to his latest protege. Will the earl succeed in his evil plan? And will the introduction of a gentleman from Lady Sophia's milieu spell the end of all of Heywood's hopes where the lady is concerned? The plot is a rather sophisticated one in the sense that it deals with a heroine who has led a far from exemplary life. Rich, beautiful and somewhat rakish, Lady Sophia had (hitherto her husband's death) led a rather jaded and carefree existence -- having affairs with whomsoever she pleased, going from one social gathering to another with little thought of her ailing husband or the sons she left behind. The death of her almost too-saintly-for-words husband, her reconciliation with her sons, and her friendship with Charles Heywood, allows for Lady Sophia to see that there is another path open to her -- one would allows her to some self-respect and feelings of self-worth, as well as the promise of a deep and abiding love. However, as with all good stories, the path to redemption is not so easy. Lady Sophia has to contend with her uncertain temper, her father's evil machinations and the fact that her relationship with Heywood may actually harm his reputation and prospects. This plot is not a very original one, and is one that has been used over and over again. What I liked most about it was that it was the heroine who was a bit of a rake, and the hero who stuck to his guns about propriety. Far too often, in plots such as this one, the hero would have given in to the heroine's lures before the denouncement is reached and everything ends as it should. For the hero to remain firm and strong no matter the temptations Lady Sophia threw at him, was a refreshing change. And one that I welcomed. The novel unfolded smoothly, if a bit slowly. But this allowed for the change in Lady Sophia's character to be believable and credible. As I noted before there is really nothing terribly new or different about this particular story. The difference lies in the manner in which Jo Manning tells her tale, and the clever way in which she manages to make one care about the characters and the manner in which the novel developed. A very engaging and elegant read.
Rating:
Summary: Skillfully written; I couldn't put it down
Review: Lady Sophia Rowley, so wonderfully wicked in Ms. Mannings previous book, The Reluctant Guardian, is a more complex character than we imagined. When she sets out to seduce the local vicar in this novel, she is as surprised as he is by the results. Ms. Manning's characters are all very human. The worst criminals still have some goodness within, and the very good vicar is not without sin. An entertaining and engaging novel.
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