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Sep 01, 2009

Rane rated it:

Zoe Lexham, after twelve years has return to England from being a captive of a harem. A walking scandal with adept knowledge of the sensual arts, her family is at odds at what to do in order for her be welcome back into the ton.
Her knight in not shining armor and childhood friend, Lucien de Grey, The Duke of Marchmont finds it his duty to his old guardian and friend Lord Lexham to find a way to have the ton accept Zoe, what he didn’t expect was the attraction between him and Zoe that m More...

23 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2009

Kathrynn rated it:

Not enough of a plot to hold my attention, so I gave this one up more than half-way through. Too much emphasis on London's society rules, social norms, proper dress appearance, getting accepted in society by snobs and gossip. Ugh.

Hoped the story would move out of this, but it did not. With a few extremely minor exceptions, nothing happened other than Lucien (Duke of Marchmount also called Marchmount throughout most of the book) trying to help Zoe become excepted by society after s More...

8 comments like (8 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2011

Lady Jaye rated it:

Reading this book made me angry. Mostly because of the heroine. All the other characters were bland/stupid/inconsequential/did not signify, even the hero, so the only person worth talking about is the heroine.

I would be hard-pressed to find a stupider, selfisher, more idiotic, more obnoxious, more slap/smack-worthy female in any book I've read all year. Or ever. In fact, the only other character I can think of who comes close to her is the heroine in A Little Bit Wild.

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7 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 21, 2011

April rated it:

A fun and fluffy romance. So far my least favorite of Chase's novels. I think mostly because the heroine got on my nerves. She was smart and clever and caring but quite often she made the most ridiculous choices it annoyed me. It was almost as if she wanted the world to revolve around her - and this could quite be the case considering she was the youngest of a large family and had spent 12 years as a captive. But I think my issue was that she was so clearheaded about everything else; this s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Bronwyn rated it:

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Apr 04, 2011

Nicole rated it:

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Apr 30, 2010

Jilian rated it:

Originally posted at RomanceReaderAtHeart.com

For years I had heard about how great Loretta Chase’s books were, but at the time, I wasn’t reading historicals so I had never tried one. Then, once I started reading historicals, I read MISS WONDERFUL—and it was wonderful!! I knew I had to read more of Ms. Chase’s work, so I jumped at the chance to review her latest. I’m happy to report that DON'T TEMPT ME didn’t disappoint.

I really enjoyed that Zoe and Lucien had essentially More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 22, 2010

Talulah rated it:

So, although I am a Romance novel fan, I don’t exactly keep abreast (heh) of what everyone’s writing–except maybe Eloisa James, because I’m apparently contractually obligated to buy her latest book, a 3 Musketeer’s Bar, and a diet coke and consume all three in an orgy of stereotypical American femaleness. Sometimes I even dye my hair red while I’m doing it.

I WISH I WERE KIDDING.

Anyway, I’m a fan, but I’m not a good fan, so I didn’t know anything about Don’t Tempt Me unti More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2010

Wicked Incognito Now rated it:

I purchased this as soon as it came out, because Loretta Chase is an auto-buy for me. The funny thing is, though, that I'm not quite as enamoured of Chase as most of the romland seems to be. Most romance authors list LC as their fave romance author. I saw Your Scandalous Ways on many Best of 2008 lists, and my reaction to it was: "meh." However, I DO list Lord of Scoundrels among my all-time favorite historical romances, and I DO think LC is a stand-out among historical romance au More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 18, 2009

Angelc rated it:

This was my first Loretta Chase book, and I really became a fan of hers! In "Don't Tempt Me", Zoe Lexham has found her way home to London after 12 years of exile in the East. She was kidnapped and sold into slavery on a family trip there when she was only 12 years old. Lucien de Grey, Duke of Marchmont, is determined to prove that the woman claiming to be Zoe is lying, but one look proves she is the spirited childhood friend that he'd given up on ever seeing again. Lucien decides that More...

16 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2009

Castiron rated it:

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Jul 13, 2009

Jocelyn rated it:

Good novel by a great author - I enjoyed it but wouldn't re-read it, hence the 3-star rating.

This novel was unbelivable in a fun way, like many of Chase's best (Mr. Impossible is a good example). Plucky English girl is abducted at 12 and held in the harem of an eastern pasha with erectile dysfunction, and escapes at the age of 24 and returns to England to find love with her father's ward, the Duke.

Yes, it stretches your credulity, but ironically I had no problem with the More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 12, 2009

Kim rated it:

Loretta Chase is back, and announcing her presence with authority, with Don't Tempt Me, a "Spunky English girl overcomes impossible odds and outsmarts heathen villains" story, and so much more. Chase is one of my all time favorite romance writers, yet I had found her 2008 release: Your Scandalous Ways unfortunately lackluster, so while I was awaiting this release with baited breath, I have to admit to being a tad nervous as well. Thankfully, that concern has proven to be unfounded, a More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 29, 2011

Leah rated it:

This was my first Loretta Chase novel, but it won't be my last. I have to agree with some of the less-than-stellar reviews that the plot is thin, but then aren't most Regency historicals? (I mean, it's pretty amazing how many ways historical authors have come up with to tell the same bored-duke/earl/whatever-needs-to-wed-to-save-family-fortune plot. I applaud them...seriously!) It was Ms. Chase's writing style and characterizations that made this an enjoyable story for me.

But then I More...

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Dec 07, 2010

Eri rated it:

I will read a Loretta Chase novel anywhere, anytime, and Don't Tempt Me is a classic example of why.

This book has everything: likable characters with real depth, witty dialogue, a touching and believable relationship, a fun setting, and a harebrained plot that somehow manages to work. I love the characters for their flaws, and I love them for overcoming them. I love the humor and the relationships between Zoe and her family, Lucien and her family, and even Lucien and his staff, who d More...

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Oct 20, 2010

Kaetrin rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in only a few hours, the pace of the story and the witty repartee between the characters kept me smiling and engaged the whole time.

Lucien de Gray, Duke of Marchmont and Zoe Octavia Lexham knew each other as children. After the death of Lucien's parents, Zoe's father stood in loco parentis to the young boy and his elder brother and the families spent much time together. Lucien and Zoe have a connection even as children. After the death of his broth More...

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Nov 24, 2009

Beanbag rated it:

This isn't the best Loretta Chase book, but it's certainly not near the worst. It's actually very enjoyable. The end peters out a bit strangely, but overall this book was much better than I thought it would be based on other reviews I've seen.

Lucien and Zoe are a really great couple. Chase does her patented and peerless manipulation of the reader to make a hero who is a paradigm of lazy, arrogant, selfishness actually lovable. The specifics fill out the model and you just have to More...

17 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jun 14, 2011

Amanda rated it:

Loretta Chase is quickly becoming a favored author or mine. I’ve read three of her novels, now, and all of them have been witty, romantic, and dead sexay. Lord of Scoundrels remains my favorite so far. Don’t Tempt Me, however, was a pretty close contender.

Zoe Lexham was captured during a holiday to Cairo when she was twelve years old. Many years later she made her escape and found her way back home. Only now, she has some serious adjusting to do. She’s on the verge of scandal, hav More...

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Nov 11, 2009

Danielle rated it:

When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was immediately intrigued. However, I found this book predictable. The Duke of Marchmont, who grew up with the heroine of this story, Zoe, decided that he is the only one who could save her from being shunned by the ton. And regardless of the ridiculous things that Zoe forces him to do, the Duke of Marchmont still arrogantly believed that he would succeed in making the ton accept her, even after the years she spent in a harem. He definitely had arro More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 24, 2010

Gina rated it:

This is the third book I've read in the romance genre and it was nice to have a heroine who wasn't the naive damsel in distress. I thought this book was very enjoyable and I enjoyed Zoe's struggle to fit in with London society. Her outsiders perspective was hilarious to say the least. (Although I found it hard to believe that she remained a virgin throughout her stay at the Harem. I guess it was one of those "just play along with the author" plots.) The romance between Zoe and Lucien f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 03, 2009

Corrine rated it:

Another one that came very close to being five stars, if it wasn't for the unnecessary suspense plot added at the very end. This isn't Lord of Scoundrels or Mr. Impossible but it is a good example of why Loretta Chase is one of the top historical romance writers.

Zoe Lexham has always been the rebel of the eight Lexham children - willful, stubborn, and fiercely independent, given to daring feats and running away. No matter her past behavior, Society, her family, and most of all Lucie More...

5 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jul 13, 2010

Jessi rated it:

This is the second book I read by Chase. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Mr. Impossible, but it was worth a read. The premise is a little far fetched, but interesting enough that I can over look that. Zoe Lexham, the heroine, was abducted as a young girl and sold into white slavery in a harem. She escapes as a woman and returns to England, where here father's adopted son must help her become respectable again - the only problem is that he can't keep his hands off of her. While she is still a More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Melowin rated it:

The hook at the beginning of this book was delightful - who is she? And then it's solved quickly, she is the lost daughter Zoe, who has spent the last 12 years (since she was 12 years old) living in a harem in Cairo as a second wife and prisoner to the pasha's sickly son. Technically a virgin, but "trained int he ways of pleasing men" - she presents a serious temptation to Lucien, Duke of Marchmont and childhood friend of Zoe. Her Arabic-thinking, English-speaking ways are just differe More...

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Jul 16, 2009

Jackie rated it:

An odd and to me offensive book, one that feels as if the talented Chase just mailed it in. Drawing on the white slavery trope, the novel features a girl kidnapped in Egypt at the age of 12 and given as a "wife" to an impotent prince. Escaping at the age of 24, Zoe returns to England but needs to find a powerful husband in order to take her rightful place in ton society. That a girl who was kidnapped at 12, who stayed in another culture for 12 more years, and who was taught about sexua More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 04, 2009

B rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 21, 2010

Pamela rated it:

I love a strong heroine who can take control of situations and not become a victim. Zoe Lexham is a paragon of female strength. She could easily have become a victim of oppresive English Society, her own family and her captors in Egypt, but she chose to take charge of those circumstances and made them suit her or overcame them altogether. She owned her actions and was refreshingly honest with herself. She thought in a logical manner and was not ruled by her emotions as most people assumed she wo More...

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Sep 26, 2009

notyourmonkey rated it:

Enjoyment two-to-three, depending on how much I'm rolling my eyes at any given time, quality a generous two, if that. The writing's snappy and the Hero and Heroine have chemistry - it's Chase, after all - but that does not excuse the incredible, egregiously awful portrayal of The Foreign East. Plucky English Lass is kidnapped as a twelve-year-old by Evil Egyptians, who barely even rate set dressing, unless they're doing something horrible-but-not-too-graphic-because-she-has-to-remain-a-virgin-fo More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Marilyn rated it:

The first half of the book was quite good, but the second half was rushed and not well thought-through. I did not get a sense that there would be a true marriage, that is, a partnership, a shared life, once the initial lust wore off, as it inevitably does. Also, I would like to have had more of the H's POV than we got.

An enjoyable little story. Escapee from a harem certainly isn't the standard heroine, is it, and quite a lot could have been made of this premise. But it wasn't. It's More...

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May 19, 2010

Shell rated it:

This is the first, and most likely the last book, I have read by Loretta Chase. The story itself, would have been ingenious, if it had been executed with anything even resembling... Well it seems I'm even at a loss of words to inspire me... Maybe it was catching?!? I've heard great things about this Author, and she had come highly recommended. So you could imagine my surprise when I found myself reading, page after page of painfully boring droll. It did have a half dozen, extremely funny, laugh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 08, 2012

Irishgirl1247 rated it:

Zoe was kidnapped and a child and sold to a harem! While apparently having a horrible time, she pickings up useful skills like seduction & house management, and gets to ride Arabians in the desert. She comes home to find her childhood friend is now sexy and well... slightly damaged, due to the loss of his family and her. But she's back! and does scandalous things where ever she goes.
Summary: Yes it was cheesy, but I found it refreshingly so. I had never read a historical romance where hare More...

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