The Earl’s Temptation by Emma Leech
The Earl’s Temptation by Emma Leech
This is the second book in a series but can be read alone. The story takes place in [image error]1814 France and Celeste is a beautiful orphan and Countess de Valrey but in name only because of the French Revolution. She works in a brothel and is gathering firewood for her attic room when she discovers a shipwreck. Mimi is a brain-injured veteran who gathers the smuggled goods. Celeste discovers one of the smugglers is alive and takes him to her room to nurse him back to health. Alex is the Earl of Falmouth and wants to repay Celeste for her kindness by taking her away from the brother. She wants to escape because Monsieur Pelletier wants to buy her. They escape early in the morning and pose as husband and wife. They are both in love with each other but Alex thinks at 36 he is too old for 18-year-old Celeste and keeps turning down her advances.
Leech knows how to build the sexual tension and also tug at the heartstrings as she tears the would-be-lovers apart. First when he insist she have a season and enjoy her youth by sending her to his two aunts. Everyone else, including his brother Lawrence and sister-in-law Henri know they are meant to be and plot for them to be united. When the reader thinks they are just about to be together, Leech tears them apart again using a vicious former mistress.
The Regency romance has all the elements of the genre with titled nobles, lost inheritance, a ball, and rescue attempts. Leech has also brought to very dear characters to life that we root for from the beginning to the end. This is a must read for every Regency romance lover.
Leech’s other historical romance novels include The Rogue, Scandal’s Daughter, The Devil May Care, and Nearly Ruining Mr. Russell.
