To Tempt A Rake: Number 3 in series (Circle of Sin Trilogy)

by Cara Elliott

Kate Woodbridge has spent most of her life sailing to exotic ports around the globe, acquiring an expertise in botany, along with a few less ladylike skills. So when a deathbed promise to her parents brings her to London to seek reconciliation with her grandfather, the imperious Duke of Cluyne, she feels like a fish out of water. Her outspoken views and fiery temper tend to set off sparks in Society-especially with the rakish Conte of Como.

A devil-may-care rogue, Marco finds the alluring and mysterious Kate a tempting target for his flirtations. But when murder strikes at the duke's country house party he begins to suspect that she's hiding a dark secret. He has his own clandestine reasons for offering to help her prove her innocence . . . And so begins a journey of dangerous deception that leads from England to the glittering ballrooms of Vienna, where Marco and Kate must duel with a deadly villain . . . and their own explosive attraction

• ISBN10: 0446541303
• ISBN13: 9780446541305
• Publish Date: 3 March 2011 (first published 1 February 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Forever
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Ing Cruz]

Cara Elliott is a new to me author. I have not read the previous two books in this series so I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the book more or not if I had read the previous two books first. With that said I thought this book read well as a stand alone. I was never lost and could easily keep up with the story. It was the main couple that caused me to not enjoy the book. Kate and Marco as a couple was boring to me. I could never really get into their storyline or into them as individuals.

Kate is a scientist and has been brought up in a life away from the London ton. Her mother ran off and married a man not acceptable to her family and was cut off. Kate is back in her grandfathers life and the ton to fulfill her parents wish to make amends with her grandfather. She has traveled all over with her parents and has been taught to think. You would think with all that I would have found her character more interesting but I was never able to enjoy Kate. My main reason for not enjoying her character was the fact that it was repeatedly brought up over and over again throughout the book how she didn't fit into society and how much she didn't enjoy it. I get it but man it seems like every other page kept pointing to this fact. Also she makes comments about her grandfather being awful but I never really got that. I never saw his interactions with Kate as being awful. It felt more like the grandfather just didn't know how to act around the heroine. As for Marco he's a rake. He has a reason for his rakish behavior which I found a little weak as a reasoning for him to act so blase about life. He was a bit more interesting then Kate but not by much. I thought the story had too much happening in it and could never see why these two even liked each other. There wasn't much time spent on the development of their relationship. All I ever got was they were in lust with each other and nothing more.

The secondary love story between the grandfather and a fellow scientist friend of Kate kept this book entertaining for me. The little interaction between these two fulfilled the romance I was looking for. The murder mystery plot of this book kept me reading until the end. I am sad that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have liked. I have heard nothing but great things about it. I didn't work for me but if you like historical romances with murder mystery, smart heroines, and secret spy hero then you'll enjoy this book. These are all elements that would normally guarantee enjoyment for me but somehow in this case fell flat.