Into Temptation

June 27, 2005
The third in the Lytton family trilogy (Something Dangerous
; No Angel
) takes the patrician English clan—and all its jockeying for power, money and approval—into the second half of the 20th century. Set in London and New York, the novel opens in 1953 with the Lyttons in an uproar, as matriarch Celia drops two bombshells: she's leaving Lytton's, the family publishing house she has run for decades, and marrying sportsman Lord "Bunny" Arden. (Her husband Oliver died only a year earlier.) Baffled, her children contemplate how these changes will affect their careers and inheritances. Meanwhile, the narrative turns to Barty Miller, Celia's adopted daughter, who runs Lytton's New York and controls the majority share of the house thanks to her first husband's wealth, and Barty's headstrong daughter, Jenna. Barty also marries again, to Charlie Patterson, a smooth operator of relatively modest means who turns out not to be all that he appears to be. As this page-turner nears its conclusion, the Lytton family fortunes come under threat from the resentful Charlie. Will Barty and Jenna manage to preserve the Lytton legacy? Period color, deliciously shocking revelations and showy characterizations heighten this romance, which should be one of the summer's guilty pleasures.

August 15, 2005
While not as engaging as "No Angel", which introduced us to the Lytton publishing family, nor as interesting as the World War II background used in "Something Dangerous", this satisfying conclusion to Vincenzi's trilogy does a good job of wrapping up this patrician British family's story. It is now 1953, and Celia's now-adult grandchildren are mixed up in their own trials and tribulations. Celia has announced her retirement from the publishing house while adopted daughter Barty Miller, who runs the New York branch of the company, marries a man who may threaten the family business. Vincenzi does not lose the reader by focusing on too many characters, which can sometimes happen in a family saga. She concentrates instead on only a few of the grandchildren: Lucas, Noni, Jenna, and Izzy. And of course, Celia, the matriarch, has her hand in everything as always. Filled with family secrets, adultery, lies, and love, this third book will definitely not disappoint fans of the Lytton clan. For popular fiction collections. -Marianne Fitzgerald, Annapolis, MD

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2005
Third in a dense, all-consuming trilogy, the latest in the Lytton family saga continues the legacy of social arrogance and single-minded ambition of publishing scion Celia Lytton (" No Angel," 2003). In this episode, third-generation Lyttons compete with their forebears in an effort to wrest control of both the New York and London branches of the publishing business while falling inconveniently in love and attempting to hide their own ugly schemes. This is rich people behaving badly--and Barbara Taylor Bradford fans, along with those who enjoy the bootstraps-to-riches stories of Belva Plain--will be entranced. Jump into the trilogy anywhere and be transported into a high society of bygone times, peopled with the dysfunctional, self--serving players of an addictive soap opera. Aside from the occasional moment of confusion when sorting out the bewildering transcontinental appearances of the large cast of characters, readers will find themselves unable to resist being led " Into Temptation. " Come September, expect to see this hefty tome wherever they go, sneaking a read and hoping they haven't seen the last of the Lyttons. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)