Customer Reviews

Don't Tempt Me (Georgian, Book 4)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Born into poverty, Simon Quinn has made his way in this world with his fists and his considerable charm. Those talents made him the perfect undercover agent for England, hence his recruitment into the covert organization.

But Simon tires of living the life of a spy, and finds he is ready to retire. He has just one last mission before he is free of his commitments - trade his captive, the French spy Lysette Rousseau, to their French adversaries in exchange for the lives of his men.

But his superiors want to know why the French are agreeable to such an uneven trade, and they assign him one more mission - to watch the mysterious Lysette and ferret out her secrets.

But something is different about Lysette... Simon has never been attracted to her - until now. Instead of cold and dangerous, this woman is sweet and beguiling. It is almost as if they were two completely different women...

From the moment Sylvia Day first introduced the character of Simon Quinn in Passion for the Game, I have wanted to know more about this wickedly intriguing man! Bless Sylvia Day's historical loving little heart (that's a good `bless your heart', not the bad kind - lol), she did not keep us waiting too very long for Simon's story, and when she finally delivered the goods, the resulting tale was well worth the wait.

Indeed, I completely understand now why this book was delayed until after A Passion For Him. Simon and Lysette play such an integral part in that story, and it really sets both the stage and the mood very effectively for Don't Tempt Me. Even so, readers new to these books should have no trouble at all jumping right in with Don't Tempt Me without reading the previous books in Sylvia Day's Georgian Series.

Simon is everything I expected and more. His devil-may-care attitude is a carefully crafted façade that masks the deeper, caring man underneath - something a man in his profession dare not let surface lest it and those he cares for be used against him. But Simon does indeed care, and when he loves someone, it is deeply and with complete loyalty. He evidences this again and again by way he works tirelessly to save his men and of course, by the way he protects the woman he loves and her family.

Notice I said `woman' and not `Lysette'? *grin* You see, Lysette has a sister no one in her current life knows about. It is her identical twin Lynette that so effortlessly bewitches Simon, leaving him completely perplexed at his previous lack of feeling for this woman - until he discovers that they are two separate women. No spoiler here, this tidbit is present in the blurb for the book. The way this little truth unfolds in the book, however, is absolutely delicious, making for some very intense scenes between Simon and Lynette.

Ms. Day carefully balances several sub-plots with the major storyline of Simon and Lynette's romance. Not only do we enjoy their love story, but we are afforded glimpses of the twins' parents past courtship as well as their current romance. In addition, we meet the man who is destined to sweep the reserved Lysette off her feet, breaking through the hard shell that has protected her for so long.

Through all of that, the author keeps us guessing with several suspenses, a few betrayals, and more intrigue than I would have thought possible in one story. In the hands of a less talented author, such a busy plot may have become difficult to follow, but Sylvia Day handles it with aplomb, delivering a story that grips the reader at page one and refuses to let them go until the very end.

What about the love scenes, you might ask? Sylvia Day can usually be relied on for extremely passionate erotic love scenes, and Don't Tempt Me certainly doesn't disappoint in this department! Keep a cold glass of ice water handy when you read this - you may need to use it to splash yourself with when things heat up!

Connected Stories:
Ask For It
Passion for the Game
A Passion for Him
Don't Tempt Me

DON'T TEMPT ME is the story of Simon and Lynette, two young lovers whose passion knows no bounds. They both realize that because of differences in their backgrounds and social status they cannot plan for a future together, but even more important at present is simply staying alive.

Simon Quinn is not a man to be ignored. Lynette Rousseau can attest to this as the two exchange heated glances across a crowded ballroom floor. Lynette knows Simon's reputation of being a relentlessly seductive rake, but there is some confusion between the two when, during their first conversation, Simon calls Lynette by the name of her identical twin sister, Lysette. As the relationship between the two escalates from that of mere acquaintances to lovers, not only does their passion increase to an incendiary level, but Lynette's curiosity about her twin makes her determined to learn her whereabouts. What Lynette doesn't realize is that the search to learn her sister's secrets has put her in grave danger as well.

Simon understands the danger and while his intention is to keep Lynette safe while discovering the strange truths behind her sister's situation, he knows that the evil putting Lynette and her family in peril won't risk discovery before eliminating the beautiful young sisters.

The heat between Simon and Lynette smolders on the pages. Their attraction, seemingly doomed from the beginning, is made of the strongest, sweetest emotions mixed with the steamiest passions. The history of and relationships between secondary characters are brilliantly told at the beginning, shedding light on the back story and giving readers the bonus of an additional story.

I remember the first review I did for then-new author Sylvia Day several years ago; I compared her style to that of veteran historical author Nicole Jordan. No comparisons are necessary these days. Ms. Day has come into her own as a masterful storyteller whose historicals are repeatedly guaranteed to become reader favorites. I highly recommend DON'T TEMPT ME for all historical fans.

So, what do you think? I think it's time for anyone who hasn't read Sylvia's work to check her out; if you have read her, you won't want to miss this one!

By looking at the cover, I thought it would have been a modern day novel. It's not. The opening says "Paris, France 1780", making this a historical romance. Although I love the cover, I just don't feel it matches with the story.

A major complaint was the names of the twins, Lysette and Lynette. For the life of me, I couldn't keep them straight. Also the story opened with promise, but soon the intensity fizzled out. It lacked the emotional drive that I've come to expect from romance novels.

As I am typing this, I am trying to figure out why I stayed with the book. I think it was the mystery of the twin that kept me going. I wanted to know what happened to her. Who was behind all of it?

All-in-all, it was a pretty good read. I think I expected more than the novel could give; therefore, I was a little disappointed.

I'm not exactly thrilled with Don't Tempt Me, the last book in Day's Georgian series. The previous books, Ask For It, Passion for the Game and A Passion for Him were are far superior IMHO.

This book focuses on the somewhat mysterious rogue and sometime English Spy/Mercenary Simon Quinn (who I believe made his debut in PFG as Lady Winter's paramour). As part of his last mission, he must deliver the beautiful French Spy, Lysette, back to her superiors in Paris. He is to exchange her for his men being held hostage by the French. All goes according to plan and Simon is relived that his *missions* are finally over and he can begin to live life again. That is until his English superior pays him an unexpected visit and blackmails him.

Then things only get worse. He is forced to spy on Lysette, only the woman he sees at a ball may look identical to her, but something is not quite right. He can't put his finger on why a woman whom he's never had an attraction to before has him acting like a rutting beast all of a sudden. And Lysette's innocent actions are downright bizarre for a hardened criminal. And who are these people following him and her? It begs the question -what the hell is going on?

There's plenty of lies, blackmail, murder and tons of mystery in this book. Unfortunately, what its really lacking is a good romance. And Heck! thats what I read romances for! I think the twin angle (lySette & lyNette -don't get me started on those names! My eyes get crossed just thinking about them!) is well done. The only problem is I think the that Day picked the wrong twin to focus on. Imagine my dismay to find out that its the innocent/pure sister of Lysette who is the heroine of this book and not the intriguing French Spy herself.

Lysette with her dark and tragic past, is a FAR more interesting character than her innocent twin is. She is strong, determined and fought her way through some extremely harrowing experiences which have left her forever scarred. Lynette, her mildly insipid twin, is downright boring in contrast IMHO. Unfortunately, Lysette's portion of the books is small. I would have rather read more about her romance with the studious, but surprisingly manly & passionate, Mr. James than reading yet ANOTHER tale of how virgin throws herself at a rake. Thats just a run-of-the-mill historical romance. But I guess I'm spoiled and just used to Day tackling characters that have less polish to them and I expected better. Too bad the story focused on Lynette instead. Just not as thrilling as the previous books. In fact, the only thing that kept me going was the mystery

And as far as the love scenes? Day can write some REALY hot stuff, but again not here. The scenes here are scant and not even mildly erotic, just the typical historical romance love scenes. So I say skip this one and read The Stranger I Married or Bad Boys Ahoy! anthology instead. These romances are much better and WAY HOTTER!

After I read Passion For The Game, I could not wait to read Simon's story. Unfortunately this did not seem like his story at all. This book was basically about the parents of the twins Lynette and Lysette. As A spy, Simon's last mission was to deliver Lysette to her employer while securing his men release, but he was forced to stay in the game A little longer to find out more information.The twins parents were involved in A lot of drama to say the least and it was up to Simon to sort things out for [Lynette], the other twin he found himself attracted to.

There was just too much going on in this book for you to see the relationship between Simon and Lynette grow. The plot overshadowed the romance and didn't give it enough time to develop. This book was also way too short to have so many distractions involved in Simon and Lynette's love affair. They hardly had any interactions with each other. Even the love scences took place in one setting, and they weren't as good as Sylvia Day's other books. I am not A big fan of Syliva Day's style of two romance taking place in one book and in this case it was more like three. But I must say that this book will certainly keep you on your toes with excitement and the budding love between the hero and heroine was very cute.

"Sylvia Day's DON'T TEMPT ME is her next stunning historical for Kensington Brava (April 2008). In 1780 Paris France, Lynette Baillon is attending her first Parisian ball after being raised in Poland and finally convincing her mother to let her visit the glorious city where her parents were brought up. Lynette's mother, Marguerite Piccard, has always dreaded returning to her hometown after having a scandalous affair years ago with the married Marquis Philippe de Saint-Martin that ended tragically. She left in disgrace, entering a marriage of convenience with the Vicomte de Grenier. At the ball, mercenary Irishman, Simon Quinn flirts shamelessly with Lynette and acts like they are well acquainted. Lynette realizes that Simon has mistaken her for her twin sister, Lysette, who died in a carriage accident two years before. Simon wonders why he is suddenly attracted to the French assassin he knows as Lysette. Lysette is being controlled by master manipulator, Desjardins and her latest assignment is to seduce Benjamin Franklin's personal secretary, Edward James to gather information about him. However, getting Edward to notice her is not easy. Darker forces are at work here and everyone is in danger! Only in the extremely talented writing hands of Sylvia Day, does she manage to untangle this web of lies and deception into three great love stories. DON'T TEMPT ME is the ultimate temptation for hot historical romance fans everywhere!"

This is the first book I have read by author Sylvia Day and I rather liked this novel. It was original and the characters interesting. Ms. Day hatches two romances in this book and one is much more physical and emotional than the other.

In Paris Simon Quinn, British spy, attends a naughty party and who does he see there but a beautiful woman he despises. He rushes over to her and is entranced by her beauty and charm but cannot understand how he could be attracted to such an amoral female.

Lynette is enchanted by Simon and they share a steamy passionate kiss that night. When he calls her by her identical twin sister's name Lysette, she is confused as her sister died in a carriage accident two years ago in Poland, or did she? Lynette wants to question Simon about her sister but she also is attracted to Simon's boldness and character. Together these two delve deeply into a mystery which really began twenty years earlier in Paris.

Simon and Lynette are truly a winning couple. Simon tries to remain honorable with the lovely innocent Lynette but she is determined to love Simon. Her flirtatious, sweet spirit is what draws Simon, even more than the mystery surrounding her family. These two trust each other completely; there is no subterfuge or insincerity between them. This is refreshing for Simon who has lived in the murky espionage world for years. They have a very passionate, bold and hot romance and they are also kind to each other too.

This plot which involves assassinations, blackmail, cover-ups and espionage is good. It is a winding road with many characters. A second romance involving espionage and Lynette's family is also in this novel but it lacks the depth, passion and excitement of Simon and Lynette's story, it's not a poorly written romance nor uninteresting, in fact the characters are appealing, but Simon and Lynette are just so engaging that they outshine everyone else.

This is not actually a badly written book, but it was not what I was anticipating to read, namely romance with a plot evolving around the main characters and their development. Here however, are three sub plots each of which would have made an interesting book in itself. This I consider to be the weakness of the book as the author tries to fit too much in a mere 288 pages and as a result fails to build up all these stories. Consequently, the characters are rather sketchy and not people you can identify with or visualize.

The story begins with Marguerite Picard who has forsaken everything to be with the man she loves The Marquis de Saint-Martins because he is already married. He has given up spying for his country so he can be with her but she is coerced into leaving him on pain of death. End of first part and the first book that could have been written about these two intriguing charactrs.

Many years later:
Simon Quinn is of poor Irish background but his intelligence and charm have helped to make him a top rank spy for the crown. Though he is without title, he has earned enough to retire after bringing a woman spy he has captured back to France in exchange for his men. Lyssette Rousseau is extremely beautiful and the type that would normally appeal to Quinn. Her detatchment and aloofness however, prevent him from feeling anything more than admiration for her coldblooded determination and courage. So you can imagine his surprise when he sees her at a ball in Paris and is drawn to her like a moth to the flame. This is where we find out that there is a twin Lynette, who is unaware of the fact that her sister is alive and residing in Paris. It gets even more messy as you have to distinguish between Lysette and Lynette and of course there are other people who mistake one for the other reminiscent of 'A Comedy of Errors' by Shakespeare. No comparison intended apart from the confusion that ensues when the twins find themselves in the same place, but remain ignorant of each others existence. This is mainly what the book deals with; the sisters trying to get back together amidst plenty of risk and danger with the aid of our hero, naturally. Their mother, Marguerite, has not confessed all to her twin daughters, but now in the face of danger she must reconsider.

There is another sub-plot involving Lysette (the spy) and another mystery man but I don't want to divulge more for those who wish to read it. Story number three.

No wonder then Ms Day had little room for exploiting her writing skills on long romantic interludes between Quin and Lynette. I should have mentioned that Marguerite, the mother of the twins , is thrown together with her old flame the Marquis, thus further complicating matters for her as well as for us. You may need to keep a notebook handy to note who is who but personally I choose lighter reading when I do not wish to burden my mind with intricate plots.

This book read like a crime thriller. There was one steamy scene but the rest of the book was about spies and intrigue. I loved it! Even though it was not heavy on the romantic side as other books by this author are, it was a really great and exciting read.

I love Sylvia Day! Her books always get me out of my reading slumps. Keep up the great work!!!