Customer Reviews

Tempted By His Kiss

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lord Cade Byron is a recluse. His days fighting in the Peninsula are over due to the injuries he sustained while being tortured by the French spy Le Renard. His days are filled with pain and regret. Regret because during his torture by Le Renard and his henchmen, his fiancé's family was brutally murdered and she was tortured, raped and killed right before his eyes.

Three years later, he languishes in his state - in a drunken stupor or dispensing heavy doses of laudanum - trying to keep the pain of his shattered leg at bay and the demons of his nightmares away.

In the middle of a blizzard, Meg Amberley arrives at Cade's estate seeking shelter from the snowstorm. Cade adamantly refuses to give her asylum as all he wants is solitude. Meg convinces him to give her and her maid shelter. Unfortunately for Cade, the blizzard lasts for days with the roads quite impassable and Meg is forced to remain for two weeks at his home, unable to travel on to her aunt's in Scotland.

Meg cajoles the taciturn Cade to come down and dine with her; after many rebukes and growling on his part he concedes. After a few dinners, chess games and walks, Cade is taken with the intelligent, outspoken and beautiful Meg. During a walk after being cooped up in the house, Cade kisses Meg. He is horrified and flees into the house because he still feels tremendous guilt over the death and torture of his fiancé.

TEMPTED BY HIS KISS is a marvelous Regency - with a touch of mystery and plenty of romance. Reminiscent of Jo Goodman, Eloisa James and Mary Balogh, Tracy Anne Warren creates a magnificent story, while building the relationship between Meg and Cade - who are supposedly "engaged". Cade insists she's in London during the season to catch a husband, after she cries off their engagement. All he wants to do is return to his life of solitary confinement, as he is still caught up in terrible self-recriminations and guilt over his fiancé's death. However, once in London with his family Cade begins to realize how much he has missed them and how much he enjoys Meg's company. His attraction for Meg is quickly mounting, as he can't keep his hands off his "fiancé".

With a touch of espionage, as Cade immediately recognizes Le Renard as the man who tortured him and not the revered war hero, Lord Everrett returning for the Ton's accolades.

With a fabulous cast of carachters, (Cade's brother's are all sexy and intriguing), great dialogue and witty repartee, beautiful balls and plenty of sensual romance (Cade succumbs to Meg's allure as the two have clandestine, midnight, steamy rendezvous in Meg's bedchamber!), and including a cleverly disguised villainous spy - this is a not to be missed Regency romance!!! I loved this book and will be eagerly awaiting to read about Cade's libertine brother, Jack who has his own story coming out in September 2009 - SEDUCED BY IS TOUCH.

I actually read Seduced By His Touch first not knowing it was part of a trilogy (the third book is due out January 1, 2010) and really liked that book -- it was unusual for a romance novel to have a readable plot along with the romance.

So I was very curious to read the first book. Though it is a solid effort, it was not as good as the first and had I actually read it first, I might not have continued on with the series. The premise of their "fake engagement" is so weak, in my opinion that it virtually spoiled the rest of the story. I found myself thinking "THAT is how little it takes to 'compromise' a womans' virtue? Amazing everyone wasn't married by the age of 10 if that was all it took"

The second novel starts out with the marriage of Cade and Meg but they are given very little "face time" in the second novel so you don't know what they are like at all or the turmoil they went through to get to that point. In fact, in the second novel, Meg almost seems like your normal mousy Regency-era wife.

However, since this book is completely about Meg and Cade's romance it was interesting to have the "gaps" from the first book filled in. However, while the author stayed away from some of the repetitive patterns in Meg and Cade's relationship, there also just didn't seem to be quite the "spark" or "conflict" that provided some suspense about the end. Everything was a bit of a forgone conclusion -- even if the characters themselves pretended not to know.

It was still a decent read and once again, Meg's character is not the "norm" for what you would expect females of that era to be... though Cade tends to be your typical "brooding" type who begrudgingly falls in love.

All in all, while enjoyable, it just didn't have the same quality of the second book. I would still recommend reading it as an introduction to the series. However, it isn't quite as special as a stand-alone story as the second book is.

I was so excited to get several HR new releases at once only to be really disappointed when I began reading them. I couldn't even get through them..I will eventually but I was craving a good book. I was so happy when I picked up this book and discovered I was unable to put it down. The hero and heroine truly needed one another and watching them love one another was so enjoyable. Fate brings the injured and physically and emotionally battered hero together with the lonely heroine. The hero believes he is incapable of loving another because of his history and the heroine realizes his heart is unavailable. And yet, the two cannot stay away from one another. The story is strong from the beginning on. The end was a little bit typical in it's climax, but still very enjoyable overall, and a recommended read. I can't wait to read the rest in this series!!!!

Wow, maybe it's me. I look at all those high ratings and wonder if we read the same book.

The problem for me isn't the story, it's the writing. This is my first book by Ms. Warren, and probably the last. It's difficult to discuss this book reasonably, because all of the problems I have with the writing made it impossible to enjoy. The author is heavy-handed in her dialogue, melodramatic to the point where in the hero's flashbacks, I could actually picture the bad French guys twirling their moustaches while they tied Little Nell to the railroad tracks.

Just not my cup of tea. When the writing is so poor it keeps me from being able to enjoy the book, then it's time to put it down. I read about half, then skipped to the end just to see if I'd missed anything; that was a big NO. So many secondary characters were just caricatures, and not very interesting ones.

I only gave it 2 stars because it actually got published. Oh, well. On to the next in the pile.

It's another one of those stories where the heroine thinks she knows everything, but really is an idiot and the hero has to come to the rescue. It's one thing when the heroine is put in situations she can't help or is experienced and knows what she's doing, but when she puts herself in them regardless of how dangerous and ignorant she is...it's just annoying. The hero was great, but it was hard to like the heroine once she started to make the dumbest decisions. I found myself frustrated with her for causing all the problems in the end.

This wasn't a bad book, but I wasn't really wowed by it either. My favorite part of the book was in the beginning before they hatched that stupid plot. The friendship and connection felt way more genuine than later in the book. Perhaps that was because there was no focus beyond them interacting together.

I liked Meg in the beginning, although I was taken aback by her out of place mothering over a relative stranger. I just found it odd that she would have the gall to bring up her host's drinking and eating habits when he didn't even invite her to his home. Other than that she felt earnest and helpful and it was easy to like her.

That all changed the further into the book I got. Apparently Meg decided the book needed a village idiot and decided to elect herself. I just cannot believe how many times Meg decided that something couldn't be accomplished without her help and jumped in only to foul it up. It got repetitive and boring and I missed the early Meg.

Cade had a serious past tragedy that I was surprised to see. Usually the author will assign a hero or heroine a tragic past with no real tragedy occurring. It just makes the person seem silly and dramatic instead of tortured and sympathetic. Here the tragedy was actually tragic.

The issues in this book were dealt with using a light hand. No real concern was evinced over the fact that Cade and Meg had a relationship even though they weren't going to be married. Shouldn't that not have been treated as lightly as it was? I don't know, it just seemed like a big deal to me.

Despite my complaints I still found the book pleasant and engaging. It had a very readable style that made the pages turn quickly. I've heard good things about the later books in this series so I still plan to read on. Here's hoping that I'll like those ones a bit better.

In 1809, Lord Cade Byron hides from his family and society due to a leg injury suffered when the French tortured him on the Peninsular. He wants no company even driving away his older brother Edward. His only solace is alcohol although at times the pain is so severe he uses laudanum.

Meg Amberley accompanied by her servant arrives at Cade's isolated home during a blizzard. She asks for shelter for her and her "cousin". Cade tells her to get lost, but she insists the roads are impassable. He acquiesces allowing her to stay one night. Cade feels guilty because he desires the visitor while it is only one year since his beloved fiancée and her family were tortured and killed by the French in an effort to make him tell them military secrets. With her parents dead, she is on her way to stay with an aunt whom she never met.

Several days later she is still at his home though he hides from her until she invites him to dinner; he agrees. Afterward she challenges him to a game of chess. If she wins he must socialize with her; if he wins she will no longer nag him. Meg checkmates him. Cade mentions his leg was hurt when he was caught spying in Portugal; Meg mentions her late parents. The next few days they play cards and chess. They walk outside together; when Cade kisses Meg, he feels guilty and flees. As they fall in love, his guilt mounts.

The relationship between the lead couple is terrific as he rejects his attraction for her having watched one beloved raped and tortured while she slowly brings him out of his despondency and self recrimination. Cade's family is a strong support cast who want to do the best for him, but are frustrated and clueless as to how to help him; while the villain is diabolically clever. Though the final confrontation seems weak Regency romantic suspense fans will relish this character driven tale.

Harriet Klausner

Nothing about this book seems original. The cover artwork is just like thousands of other Avon books (i.e. toe-curlingly cheesy), the blurb on the back overblown, the gushing recommendation from another Avon author, the 'faux engagement' plot, the brooding hero, the rather pushy and independent heroine... the list goes on.

However, despite this - despite the fact that I felt I had read this story before in many different guises - I did enjoy it. The author's writing style is basic and nothing special and yet I didn't find myself bored. The characterisation is as one might imagine - not particularly deep, described rather than shown, and yet it worked well enough for me. As usual, historical accuracy was dodgy at times, mainly with regard to dialogue where people spoke American to each other, and I was very unsure if many of the names would ever have appeared in 19th Century England. But despite that, I liked this book as a light, gentle, non-taxing read. If one can overlook the unlikelihood of some events (as I could) and just go along with the tale, it is one that many readers will enjoy. Apparently the start of a series, it looks like one that should make good holiday reading.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

I love it when the hero and the heroine are thrown together and then slowly get to know and love each other. And I love the tortured hero theme. This book had all of this, but... ***spoiler warning***
The hero had a terrible experience in Portugal. Because of it, he secluded himself to Northumberland. But once Meg arrived there, everything changed in a matter of days. He was sociable, laughing... All Meg did was chat a bit and he felt better. Once they came to London, he behaved as if everything was fine in his life. I would prefer it if it all went along more slowly. And the story often fast forwarded for like two or three weeks. How could nothing happen in so much time if they felt so strongly about each other?
As for the heroine, she too often behaved like his mother, telling him to eat more and not to drink etc. And I didn't like it that she behaved so unreasonably - like following him in the middle of the night despite his warning.
All in all, this was quite a nice book, even though there were some things that really bothered me... But still, I can't wait to read Jack's story :)

I was anxious to read Tempted By His Kiss after reading the reviews here. Basically, it didn't disappoint. I enjoyed it--it was on the light side. Not a lot of tension, though I think it could have benefited from some. There was nothing new here. The tortured hero, the spunky heroine who is going to save him--all here. Meg was a good heroine--Cade an all-right hero.
My reasons for the 4 stars: I am not an expert on English nobility and titles, but I thought it sounded silly and not quite right to call him "Lord Cade". I thought it should have been, Cade, Lord Byron. But, I could be wrong. Also, I would have liked to read more of Adam Gresham. He caught my attention and I was a little sad to see his is not the next story. I'm guessing he is going to end up with Mallory. At least, I hope so. I'd like to see more of him. And, lastly, the book just seemed to be missing a little something. Just needed a little more oomph. I have to admit, the angle with Everett was so predictable, I skimmed the parts with him. Meg did have a couple TSTL moments in her pursuit of him. But, not enough to ruin the book.