Temptress (Onyx Novel) [Paperback]

Lisa Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Onyx Novel | Publication Date: October 4, 2005

A bloodied warrior is brought to the Castle Calon, battered, nearly unrecognizable. And yet Morwenna sees that he resembles Carrick of Wybren, a man who not so long ago broke her heart. Is he friend or foe? Lover or enemy? As the days pass and the unknown soldier revives, Morwenna senses that, together, they will face a new peril. For the Redeemer, a mysterious man who stalks the halls of the castle is moving now-and in his wake he brings with him destiny, desire and death.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Onyx; Regular Print/Single Titl edition (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451411552
• ISBN-13: 978-0451411556
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #713,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( J ) > Jackson, Lisa

More About the Author

#1 NYT and USA TODAY bestselling author Lisa Jackson started writing after her sister read an article in TIME Magazine in 1981 about how young mothers were making money writing romance novels. Both Lisa and her sister, Nancy Bush, began their writing careers right then, and lo, these many years later Lisa has published seventy-five plus novels and has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Was this supposed to be a romance?, October 20, 2005

By 

Carolina Girl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Temptress (Onyx Novel) (Paperback)

Lady Morwenna of Caleron Castle is presented with a wounded man found outside her keep. He has been so badly beaten that no one recognizes him but he wears a ring bearing the family crest of her old lover. A man named Carrick, shown sketchily through a variety of flashbacks, who abandoned their affair and was later thought guilty of the murders of seven of his own family members. Morwenna is conflicted. If this beaten man is not Carrick then she could be sending an innocent man to face his executioner by notifying Carricks remaining kin. If it is Carrick, she is still conflicted because she believes herself to still be in love with him even though he treated her abominably. The author portrays this woman as a strong lead character and yet she allows Morwenna to be conflicted over a man who was, by all accounts according to flashbacks, a dirtbag? Where is the romance? The unconscious man stays pretty much unconscious or uncommunicative through most of the novel only to wake up have sex with Morwenna and then race off to find himself. Meanwhile, Morwenna spends the rest of her time dithering about what to do and chasing around after the mystery killer,called The Redeemer,who lurks around thinking lascivious thoughts and occasionally murdering expendable characters. In addition to these guys, Ms. Jackson then throws in several new characters at various inexplicable times to keep the reader from guessing the killer's identity. The entire book has an identity crisis. The relationship between the hero and heroine is never developed. They have so few actual interactions that you wonder how they can even know each other much less be in love. In fact, most of the characters are underdevelped due to the fact that there are so many of them haphazardly thrown in whenever the author wrote herself into a corner. It has so many plot twists that nothing ever comes together. In the end I was just saying pick a murderer already, any one will do! The real crime here is that in the end, Ms. Jackson leaves the story open for a sequel focused on Morwenna's sister,Bryanna, conveniently turned into a psychic and future heroine of another convoluted mystery/ romance/paranormal or maybe it will be a cookbook.....

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mystery, not romance, is tempting, November 26, 2005

By 

romance enthusiast "calola" (west hills, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Temptress (Onyx Novel) (Paperback)

The title of this romantic suspense medieval novel puzzles me, because the heroine is not the temptress type at all, nor is she particularly tempting to read. The romance is missing in this novel, as other readers noted. I was frustrated to see the hero (whose identity is left mysterious until near the end) and the heroine (who mysteriously falls for a man she doesn't even know) not speak to one another until more than halfway through the story. Their story then gets deflected continually as different plot twists and characters take over the main story. Not even the epilogue is satisfying, since the author is more preoccupied about setting up the sequel about her sister., which smells like a marketing ploy than a proper ending to an already lacking romantic novel.

To be fair, the story, after the overwritten and ploddingly slow first half, is suspenseful on the question of who both the hero and murderer is. That mystery is what kept me reading more than the romance per se. Still, the lack of a proper relationship or even consummation between hero and heroine was deflating, disappointing. I am left wondering how and why two people who barely know one another can "love" so conclusively. The prequel Impostress was better, and I certainly hope Enchantress is too.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book!, December 6, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Temptress (Onyx Novel) (Paperback)

In this historical romance, a man that was so badly beaten he couldn't be identified is found and brought to Castle Calon. The year is 1289.

Morwenna, Lady of the castle, is afraid the man is Carrick of Wybren because he wears the signet ring of the Wybren family. Carrick broke her heart and stole her virtue three years ago. He also has been accused of starting the fire that killed all seven members of his family a year ago.

Unfortunately, Wybren has no memory of who he is or what happened to him. There is also someone lurking in the halls of the castle who calls himself the Redeemer. He is looking for justice and wants Morwenna as his own.

Jackson brings to vivid life a time and place far in the past. She is a master at creating her reality and taking the reader there. I didn't know who the Redeemer was until he was revealed but several clues had me guessing right up until the end. I would recommend giving them all a try.

Armchair Interviews says: This is the third in her medieval romance series.