Lord of Temptation (Lost Lords of Pembrook, #2)

by Lorraine Heath

[Rowena]

Lorraine Heath is fast becoming one of my go to authors for historical romance. She’s always writing stories that I fall head over heels in love with and introducing me to characters that I come to love and this book was no different. I adored the first book in this series and while I enjoyed this book as well, I think I enjoyed Seb and Mary’s book more.

This book follows Sebastian’s twin Tristan as he finds his happy ending. His happy ending is wrapped up in Lady Anne Hayworth. Tristan’s story is pretty similar to Sebastian’s story where he was shipped away from his home because his uncle was trying to kill them to take over Sebastian’s title and lands, etc. Sebastian went to the military, Rafe went to the work house and Tristan went to the sea. While he was at sea, he became Crimson Jack and more than ten years later, he finds that being back in London and a part of the ton isn’t for him so after he and his brothers get the title back to Sebastian, Tristan goes back to the sea.

When Captain Jack touches down in London again after years at sea, he’s approached by Lady Anne Hayworth to take her to Sucrati so that she could see her fiancé once more before she finally moves on for good. Her fiancé’ was shipped over to Sucrati four years ago and their relationship is over. Her family wants her to move on and find another husband but she needs to do this first. She feels a sort of responsibility for what happened to their relationship and she needs to say her goodbyes before she can move on to the next guy. She wants to hurry up and get it over with so regular passage on a ship traveling to Sucrati is out of the question so her plan B is to hire a captain of a private ship to take her.

Enter Captain Crimson Jack.

Of course Tristan takes her on her trip and of course things got interesting on the way over there and of course they got closer and closer together. This is a romance! It is on this trip and what happens when they got back from their trip that I just ate right up. I really enjoyed getting to know both Tristan and Anna. They were such different characters, from different backgrounds and yet, they couldn’t stay away from each other. The passion they had for each other, the desire that wouldn’t go away (no matter how much they wanted it too) was too much to walk away from and really, I thought it was quite lovely.

Tristan never came to grips with what happened to them when they were younger and he had all of these walls thrown up to protect himself and the anger that he had for his uncle was hidden deep down inside of him that he was unwilling to let anyone close enough to hurt him again (even his brothers) and I really enjoyed seeing him come to depend on Anna. I loved his character and really enjoyed his story.

Anna was one of those heroines that kind of gets swept up in the danger and romance that Tristan brings with him and I thought she was such a strong heroine. She was perfect for Tristan, she was exactly what he needed in his life for him to move on and completely let go of the past. She kind of did what she wanted to do and to hell with what her father and brothers had to say. She knew her own mind and she always did what she thought was right. She didn’t always make the best of decisions but hell, neither did Tristan but I was okay with their bumbling ways because I was interested in their characters and I came to love them the way that I love my friends and family.

At the end, everything comes together and the journey was enjoyable. I was a fan of this book and am very much looking forward to Rafe’s book. There’s a lot of shadows surrounding the youngest brother of Pembroke and I’m mighty curious to see what his issues are. Does he hold his brothers responsible for what happened to them as kids? Who is his heroine? I’m really, really curious to see how his story comes together.

Overall, this book had everything that I enjoy in a romance and when I finished it, I was a happy camper. I’m glad that I read it and I thought it was a great addition to an enjoyable series and I’m thirsty for more. Kudos Lorraine Heath, kudos.