Friday, August 14, 2009

Don't Tempt Me by Loretta Chase

I wanted to love it.

Really I did.

Cindy Blurb: Zoe Lexam had been missing for 12 years when she is delivered to her family's front door. Of course, other woman had tried to pretend to be the missing Zoe and had been shown the door quite quickly. This time however, the gossip hounds were abuzz with the tale of The Harem Girl and how this time, it looked like Lord Lexam had finally found his real daughter.


Lucien de Gray has lost everyone he ever loved including a stubborn little girl he knew as a young boy. Hearing she had gone missing when he was seventeen shut Lucien down and he believed her to be dead. He continued on with his life, or as much of one as he allowed himself. Since Zoe must be dead, Lord Lexam was surely being fleeced and it was his job to go and oust the impostor.


Only the minute he saw her he knew it was Zoe. It just wasn't the Zoe he remembered.


What I loved about this book was Zoe. She is a breath of fresh air but then, she would be. She was kidnapped and sold into white slavery at the age of 12. She became a gift for a powerful man's son and was married to an impotent man. What happens to Zoe for those 12 years is very much glossed over or the story would have been far darker. In fact, I imagine it was far darker, we just don't get to see that. Zoe escaped her captivity and finally made it home where she was going to live a life of freedom and obviously not look back at her past too closely if at all.

The problem is her mere existence is scandalous. Put her in a room with people and she'd be ruined in minutes.

In comes Lucien, the boy she once knew as a child, who is now a duke. Lucien decides he can make her acceptable by presenting her to the Queen and having her acknowledge Zoe.

Lucien and Zoe accomplish all of this with some cute banter and maybe a few longing looks. Although I don't remember that many now.

I can't say I warmed to Lucien. I think he was supposed to be charming when I thought he was just dull. Sure, he'd lost everyone he loved but it didn't seem to grant him very much character. He just seemed to flow with life and as long as he wasn't bothered he was fine. So having Zoe come into his life didn't seem to affect him all that much. Sure, she discovered a bunch of stuff happening in his household and he was forced to become a grown up and handle situations but for the most part - meh.

In the end I wasn't bowled over by their story. I think Zoe may have got the shorter end of the stick while the duke made out like a bandit. I mean, Zoe is fun and while the duke likes fun, he's still kind of flat.

And all the stuff with the servants. Bah.

C+

This one was missing the zip for me. It wasn't the trainwreck that was Miss Wonderful and it certainly wasn't the beauty of Mr. Impossible.

If you are a Loretta Chase fan girl, have fun, if Ms. Chase is more hit or miss for you as she is for me, you've been warned.

9 comments:

Bob & Muffintop said...

I bought mine at my fav UBS & then plunked it in Mt. TBR. So we'll see. I'm already trying to read 2 other books, with little success. My willingness to read is evaporating. Quickly. :(

~Amanda

nath said...

Awww, so sad you didn't enjoy as much as I or Kristie did :( But at least, it wasn't totally bad :)

CindyS said...

Amanda - are you burnt out on all books or just romance right now? I just keep picking books off the pile because a slump is always lurking in my mind. I don't read fast so I'm doing the best I can, I've already read more this year than last bu then last year was dismal ;)

Nath - I went looking for your review - I thought you had read it. And yeah, the book kept my attention till almost then end when I realized nothing truly deep was going to happen. Still, it's better than many other books I've literally suffered through ;)

CindyS

Mary G said...

Excellent review Cindy. It gives me a real feel for the story.

CindyS said...

Thanks Mary! I'm never sure if I say enough or too much. I'm wondering about changing things up a bit but I might lose my Queen Lazy title and damn, the crown fits me perfectly.

Cindys

C2 said...

I liked it more than you did. :o) I could have totally done without the sub-plot with the servants, though. I mean, really, why?

Bob & Muffintop said...

I'm completely off romances, unfortunately. I signed up for both the TBR Challenge and Reread challenge & I've missed them both two months running. :( I'm reading other stuff I've piled up & looking at my romance case & think "Blech. Maybe later." I'm still waiting for later to get here.

Holly said...

I'm having an awful time reviewing this book. I've been sitting on it (the review) for about a month. I just can't seem to form any coherent thoughts about it.

There were certainly parts I enjoyed - Zoe Octavia being the #1. But other parts of it just fell flat.

Huh. Maybe I should just say that?

Holly
Who misses you

CindyS said...

C2 - exactly, the servant issues were not a surprise but maybe it was to show how the hero had 'grown'

Amanda - Been there, wear the T-shirt. It gets better.

Holly - those middle of the road reviews are tough to write - it's bad when you're not really sure what was wrong with the story.

Miss you back! I see you on Facebook and I go to your blog *hint* ;)

Cindy