Don't Tempt Me by Loretta Chase
This was a very enjoyable book from one of the best writers of romance writing today.
Kidnapped and sold into slavery as a 12-year-old, when she was visiting the Middle East with her family, Zoe Lexham was been missing for 12 long years. After a daring escape from a harem, Zoe is returned to England hoping to live the life she was meant to live, that of a privileged English lady. However her notoriety makes it nearly impossible that she will be accepted in society. She needs help, and finds it in the person of family friend, Lucien de Grey, the Duke of Marchmount.
The loss of Zoe on top of the losses of his parents and his brother, lead Lucien to avoid feeling anything. He has turned into a care-for-nothing cynic. But Zoe's return and his determination to make the "Harem Girl" respectable force Lucien to experience emotion again.
This is a very well crafted story with a well matched hero and heroine. As Zoe and Lucien were friends as children, their romance was very believable. Lucien especially is very sympathetic. Lucien slowly begins to feel emotion again when Zoe makes him laugh then makes him mad, then makes him love. My heart ached for him at the end when he finally heals from years' worth of bottled up grief.
My only reservation is that, for some reason, I didn't fully connect to the story. I'm not sure why and I suspect it was not the fault of the book.
My grade: B+
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