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Time of the Temptress
Trapped in the middle of the African jungle while a war raged round her, Eve Tarrant knew that all that stood between her and a singularly unpleasant fate at the hands of African revolutionaries was the tough mercenary Major Wade O'Mara.Thrown together as they were, it was inevitable that she should fall in love with him. But would he succumb to the temptation? For even if they ever managed to get out of this desperate situation alive, Wade was a married man with a son.Shouldn't Eve put the whole episode in the past, and forget it and everything connected with it?
Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Violet Winspear
176 books142 followersViolet Winspear was a British author renowned for her prolific output of romance novels, publishing seventy titles with Mills & Boon between 1961 and 1987. In 1973, she became a launch author for the Mills & Boon-Harlequin Presents line, known for its more sexually explicit content, alongside Anne Mather and Anne Hampson, two of the most popular and prolific British romance writers of the time. Winspear began writing while working in a factory and became a full-time novelist in 1963, producing her works from her home in South East England, researching exotic settings at her local library. She famously described her heroes as lean, strong, and captivating, “in need of love but capable of breathtaking passion and potency,” a characterization that provoked controversy in 1970 when she stated that her male protagonists were “capable of rape,” leading to considerable public backlash. Her novels are celebrated for their vivid, globe-spanning settings and dramatic tension, often employing sexual antagonism to heighten conflict between the alpha male hero and the heroine, who is frequently portrayed as naïve or overwhelmed by his dominance. Winspear never married or had children, and she passed away in January 1989 after a long battle with cancer, leaving a lasting influence on the romance genre.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 25, 2021
"Time of the Temptress" is the story of Eve and Wade.
A thoroughly engaging read, in which the heroine working for a missionary is forced to trek the deep forests of Africa as a rebellion breaks out. Her companion is the much older soldier, travelling along with whom she learns the trials of survival, falls in love and learns to admire and respect the nature. There's an ode to old school Hollywood movies and heroes, a lot of tropey dialogues, and a VERY cheesy but enjoyable ending in which all loose ends are tied up. This felt more like a movie than a book, and for its novelty, I loved it.
Safe
4/5
A thoroughly engaging read, in which the heroine working for a missionary is forced to trek the deep forests of Africa as a rebellion breaks out. Her companion is the much older soldier, travelling along with whom she learns the trials of survival, falls in love and learns to admire and respect the nature. There's an ode to old school Hollywood movies and heroes, a lot of tropey dialogues, and a VERY cheesy but enjoyable ending in which all loose ends are tied up. This felt more like a movie than a book, and for its novelty, I loved it.
Safe
4/5
May 25, 2024
Heavens, how the tropics had browned his skin, burned his gentler feelings to a tinder, crinkled his eyes! Had he never danced to the last nostalgic waltz? Had wine never left its tears on the rim of a stemmed glass, while the petals drooped on flowers he had given a girl, and the candlelight died on the table?
Time of the Temptress is Violet Winspear's hommage to the film The African Queen, obviously her favorite movie, with Humphrey Bogart being her favorite actor.
The hero and heroine are both stellar. They both have honor, integrity and courage, and despite the extreme disparity in their age and social strata, they are absolutely, wonderfully complementary to each other. This makes the impossibility of their love for each other, and the rest of the very threatening obstacles to their survival, all the more poignant. The book was wonderful until, very disappointingly, it ended on a cheesy note with the heroine randomly getting amnesia.
The hero comes back for the amnesiac heroine 18 months later, after he hired a private detective to prove that his tarty, estranged wife died years ago, and in the meantime, the heroine unknowingly befriended the hero's Seekret Son. How convenient :~}
Time of the Temptress is Violet Winspear's hommage to the film The African Queen, obviously her favorite movie, with Humphrey Bogart being her favorite actor.
The hero and heroine are both stellar. They both have honor, integrity and courage, and despite the extreme disparity in their age and social strata, they are absolutely, wonderfully complementary to each other. This makes the impossibility of their love for each other, and the rest of the very threatening obstacles to their survival, all the more poignant. The book was wonderful until, very disappointingly, it ended on a cheesy note with the heroine randomly getting amnesia.
The hero comes back for the amnesiac heroine 18 months later, after he hired a private detective to prove that his tarty, estranged wife died years ago, and in the meantime, the heroine unknowingly befriended the hero's Seekret Son. How convenient :~}
October 26, 2023
I need to spend some time adding updated cover artist info. I've already talked about the HP cover but the M&B cover is wonderful too. I love it when these books get great covers from both sides of the pond. The M&B cover is by Jim Tate and again it really conveys my understanding of what Winspear was going for with this couple. It's especially good because this wouldn't have been a case where M&B hired Tate for this particular story or cover. It would have illustrated a story in a British Woman's magazine, possibly from years earlier, it looks to me like what Tate may have doing in early 70s. It's even slightly possible that it was illustrating a serialized version of Time of the Temptress.
2021—Beautiful Gerry Sevier cover. Hero is exactly as I picture him—more classically featured then Bogart—but tough. The tiny monkey in the tree is a nice touch too. The French version shows a bit more of the image with more saturated colors.
Other than the purple flower moniker, Iris the HP reader and Violet Winspear the authoress aren't especially compatible. She writes evocatively but I must be too prosaic for her fantasies and her characters will keep uttering "just so" stories about the nature of men and women which are more trite than thought-provoking.
Still TOTT is a young woman/aging tough guy jungle story with more charm than most. Mainly because Wade is a splendid hero, honorable and hardened, but not nearly as disillusioned by life as he thinks he is. He and Eve have great chemistry and VW does a decent job of convincing me their connection is based on more than forced proximity. I'd have liked it better were there fewer heroine making dangerously stupid decisions in an environment she knows nothing about incidences, sure they're a staple of the trope but gah! At least this time VW balanced things somewhat by having the hero do something careless as well.
2021—Beautiful Gerry Sevier cover. Hero is exactly as I picture him—more classically featured then Bogart—but tough. The tiny monkey in the tree is a nice touch too. The French version shows a bit more of the image with more saturated colors.
Other than the purple flower moniker, Iris the HP reader and Violet Winspear the authoress aren't especially compatible. She writes evocatively but I must be too prosaic for her fantasies and her characters will keep uttering "just so" stories about the nature of men and women which are more trite than thought-provoking.
Still TOTT is a young woman/aging tough guy jungle story with more charm than most. Mainly because Wade is a splendid hero, honorable and hardened, but not nearly as disillusioned by life as he thinks he is. He and Eve have great chemistry and VW does a decent job of convincing me their connection is based on more than forced proximity. I'd have liked it better were there fewer heroine making dangerously stupid decisions in an environment she knows nothing about incidences, sure they're a staple of the trope but gah! At least this time VW balanced things somewhat by having the hero do something careless as well.
October 11, 2025
Weeeell, a few things.
I loved, loved, loved the book and both the protagonists. The dialogs between the two were golden. I even loved the cheesy ending, though it could have been better. Since I feel that I won't do the book justice I'll just point you to Naksed's great review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
But before I go: I really enjoyed that the heroine pursued the hero. It's rare in old style romance and I enjoy it almost every time. Go get your man, girl! And she's generally a reasonably independent kinda girl. I liked here and I was rooting for her on all fronts.
And I did like that the hero -even though he was the rough alpha soldier type- kept away from the heroine till he was sure he was free to offer her more than a roll in the hay.
The story and the dialogs have an old movie feel. Its just delightful. It's the first book of the author I read and I enjoyed it very much.
I loved, loved, loved the book and both the protagonists. The dialogs between the two were golden. I even loved the cheesy ending, though it could have been better. Since I feel that I won't do the book justice I'll just point you to Naksed's great review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
But before I go: I really enjoyed that the heroine pursued the hero. It's rare in old style romance and I enjoy it almost every time. Go get your man, girl! And she's generally a reasonably independent kinda girl. I liked here and I was rooting for her on all fronts.
And I did like that the hero -even though he was the rough alpha soldier type- kept away from the heroine till he was sure he was free to offer her more than a roll in the hay.
The story and the dialogs have an old movie feel. Its just delightful. It's the first book of the author I read and I enjoyed it very much.
July 15, 2022
Blah..Meh..that about sums it up.
February 9, 2021
Trapped in the middle of the African jungle while a war raged round her, Eve Tarrant knew that all that stood between her and a singularly unpleasant fate at the hands of African revolutionaries was the tough mercenary Major Wade O'Mara.
Thrown together as they were, it was inevitable that she should fall in love with him. But would he succumb to the temptation? For even if they ever managed to get out of this desperate situation alive, Wade was a married man with a son.
Shouldn't Eve put the whole episode in the past, and forget it and everything connected with it?
Thrown together as they were, it was inevitable that she should fall in love with him. But would he succumb to the temptation? For even if they ever managed to get out of this desperate situation alive, Wade was a married man with a son.
Shouldn't Eve put the whole episode in the past, and forget it and everything connected with it?
July 21, 2023
Eve Tarrant lives with her guardian who is trying to get her to marry a man who has money and would be able to keep her in the style of living she has enjoyed.
Eve rebels and goes to Africa to work in a Catholic mission field...she is only there 2 months when there is war and they have to flee....Wade is a mercenary soldier and he gets everyone on a plane except one young lady of 20, Eve.
They plod through the jungle toward the coast to catch a flight to England but along the way, Wade loses his compass so he builds a boat out of a hollow tree and they start their water journey. She gets a thorn wound on her thumb but doesn't tell Wade even though she knows it is infected. He gets her to the port and on a plane where she is very, very ill for several weeks.
She knows she loves Wade who is old enough to be her father....in fact he has a son who is only a bit younger than Eve....she meets the son, Larry and when she goes to meet his parents (cousins of Wade's who adopted the boy) and who turns up at the house but Wade.
I really don't care for these marriages that where the couple have a 20-year span between them.
Eve rebels and goes to Africa to work in a Catholic mission field...she is only there 2 months when there is war and they have to flee....Wade is a mercenary soldier and he gets everyone on a plane except one young lady of 20, Eve.
They plod through the jungle toward the coast to catch a flight to England but along the way, Wade loses his compass so he builds a boat out of a hollow tree and they start their water journey. She gets a thorn wound on her thumb but doesn't tell Wade even though she knows it is infected. He gets her to the port and on a plane where she is very, very ill for several weeks.
She knows she loves Wade who is old enough to be her father....in fact he has a son who is only a bit younger than Eve....she meets the son, Larry and when she goes to meet his parents (cousins of Wade's who adopted the boy) and who turns up at the house but Wade.
I really don't care for these marriages that where the couple have a 20-year span between them.
February 17, 2026
3.5 it was entertaining.
May 5, 2016
Here's what you need to know about Violet Winspear books:
- If you have read one, you've read them all, but will probably come back for more.
- The "hero" epitomizes a misogynistic cave man bordering (and sometimes crossing the line) of being abusive.
- The heroine thinks she is a modern woman with a spine ... she isn't. She is a simpering brainless, confidentless archetype pigeon holed into thinking that being a trophy slave to the "hero" is her only option.
- The dub con and non con elements fulfill rape kinks.
- Everything about the relationships these books depict is toxic and unhealthy and these are the types of books that impressionable young ladies should avoid at all costs.
- When these first came on the market or so in the 1970's they were probably a dirty little guilty pleasure. Today you can much better dirty little guilty pleasures.
- If you are looking for modernized bodice rippers ... these will satisfy.
- If you have read one, you've read them all, but will probably come back for more.
- The "hero" epitomizes a misogynistic cave man bordering (and sometimes crossing the line) of being abusive.
- The heroine thinks she is a modern woman with a spine ... she isn't. She is a simpering brainless, confidentless archetype pigeon holed into thinking that being a trophy slave to the "hero" is her only option.
- The dub con and non con elements fulfill rape kinks.
- Everything about the relationships these books depict is toxic and unhealthy and these are the types of books that impressionable young ladies should avoid at all costs.
- When these first came on the market or so in the 1970's they were probably a dirty little guilty pleasure. Today you can much better dirty little guilty pleasures.
- If you are looking for modernized bodice rippers ... these will satisfy.
June 18, 2014
meh....
April 18, 2016
Read between January & June 1985.
Original notes on book from 1985: Good book. Set mostly in African jungle.
Original notes on book from 1985: Good book. Set mostly in African jungle.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews