Publisher: Avon
Publish Date: Out Now!
How I got this book: NetGalley
Three young heirs, imprisoned by an unscrupulous uncle, escaped—to the sea, to the streets, to faraway battle—awaiting the day when they would return to reclaim their birthright.
Sebastian Easton always vowed he would avenge his stolen youth and title. Now back in London, the rightful Duke of Keswick—returning from battle a wounded, hardened, changed man—cannot forget the brave girl who once rescued him and his brothers from certain death.
Lady Mary Wynne-Jones paid dearly for helping the imprisoned young Lords of Pembrook, and she remembers well the promise she made to Sebastian all those years ago: to meet him once more in the abbey ruins where they shared a bold, forbidden kiss. While Mary is betrothed now to another, a friendship forged with dark secrets cannot be ignored. Unexpected passion soon burns dangerously between them, tempting Sebastian to abandon his quest for retribution to fight for a love that could once again set him free.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
I’m a big fan of Heath, and when her newest book in her newest series was announced, I couldn’t wait to read it. I’ve always loved Heath’s voice and am glad to announce that she has another winner with this release.
Sebastian is the true heir to the Dukedom of Keswick, but he and his younger brothers ran away as children to escape the greedy uncle that wanted them dead. Now that Sebastian and his brothers are older, they are back to claim what is truly theirs, whatever the cost. But they never realized that one of their biggest obstacles would be dealing with the people of the ton. Lucky for them, their childhood friend Mary is still willing to do everything to protect them.
Mary helped Sebastian and his brothers escape from their uncle as children. Now that they are back, she wants to be able to catch up on their friendship and protect them from the rumors around the ton, but Mary’s fiance doesn’t want her to help because of the intense attraction between her and Sebastian. With an attempt on Sebastian’s life, Mary nurses him back to health, regardless of the fact that it leaves her at the center of a scandal, one that includes the one man she always knew she could love.
One of the things I love the most about historical romances is that sometimes the couples get married before they love (or even like) each other. They have time to get to know one another while forced to spend day in and day out together. While Mary and Sebastian had a chance to form a friendship, I loved the moments they spent together after they were married, learning to live with each other, support each other, and fall in love.
I adored Mary and Sebastian right away, and watching them dance around each other provided for such an sweet and endearing read. The tension between those two was off the charts, and each time Mary went back to her fiance I wanted to bop her up-side the head and scream at her for making such a stupid decision. It was obvious from the moment Sebastian walked in the door as an adult that these two would be explosive together.
I am also so excited for the other books in this series because of the wonderful way that Heath portrayed the relationship between Sebastian and his brothers. I loved how different their lives were, the struggles they had to endure to survive. I can’t wait to see how Heath gives them each their HEA, especially since their back stories are still a little bit of a mystery. I just hope that we will get to see them develop more of a friendship with one another, that we will get to see them become even better friends then they’ve already become.
For regency historical romance fans Heath is a wonderful author to pick up. Her books continue to be wonderful. They have a little bit of mystery, a lot of fun wonderful moments as the main characters fall in love, and even quite a few sexy times between the hero and heroine. I can’t recommend her books fast enough to fans of the genre!
All in all I really enjoyed this book. While the mystery subplot was easy to unravel, it was still very enjoyable to read. The romance between Mary and Sebastian was the perfect mixture of sexy and innocent, fun and frustrating and an all around pleasure to read. I’m anxiously awaiting the next in the series.
I give She Tempts the Duke a B+
I’m a huge fan of Lorraine Heath’s westerns but she lost me a few years back when she switched gears and started adding in mystery subplots. Her earlier books were so filled with grueling emotion that I imagine it must have been emotionally draining for her to write them. I should give her a try again. Thanks for the review.