The Rules of Seduction — Daniel L. Magida

When it comes to seduction, John Newland never makes the first move. Those are his rules. And they've always worked. At least until now: the evening of his twenty-eighth birthday, the night he receives his inheritance, the first night that doesn't end in the usual way. Unexpectedly, Jack finds himself in the hands of a younger, caring friend. Timothy is the first person -- man or woman -- who doesn't seem to want what everyone else wants from Jack, the only one who doesn't seem to want anything at all.

The Rules of Seduction is a precisely rendered portrait of one young man's struggle to reconcile his privileged place in society with his family's tragic past. In beautifully crafted scenes that portray his early years at prep school and in college, we watch as Jack is initiated, both sexually and intellectually, through a series of passionate relationships. Desperate to protect the secrets of his past, he lets other people bear the burden of his desires.

Now caught between two worlds and two women, Jack is forced to confront the part of himself he has always denied. In this deeply sensual novel about loss and love, friendship and family, we discover the secrets that threaten Jack's engagement to one woman and his love for another as he decides whether to follow his rules or to break them.

A first novel. 40,000 first printing.