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Hot-Blooded Husbands #3

Ethan's Temptress Bride

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Tempted to make her his bride?

Millionaire Ethan Hayes considered Eve to be a spoilt little rich girl hell-bent on bringing men to their knees. But when she was senselessly attacked, Ethan offered to pose as her fiance to calm her elderly Greek grandfather's fears.

Suddenly Ethan was with Eve 24/7, and it was all he could do to prevent himself from giving in to temptation. Because, at the end of the coming fortnight, their mock engagement would be over. Then, surely, Ethan would be forgotten as Eve continued on her wicked, teasing way...?

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

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About the author

Michelle Reid

389 books640 followers
Hi, my name is Michelle Reid and I’ve been writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon for the last twenty years, and the crazy part about it is that I only realised it had been twenty years while updating this page!

So, hang on for a minute while I take this huge milestone in....

Twenty years with almost forty books published or in the pipeline ... I know it isn’t a great average when compared with some authors but it sounds pretty good to me!

So what was I doing twenty years ago before I wrote books? Well, I did the all of the usual things, like growing up and attending school, finishing at secretarial college, which I hated, then spent the next several years wandering aimlessly from job to job. Eventually I met my husband, we married and produced two daughters who then grew up and between them presented us with two gorgeous grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Somewhere in between my girls growing up and the grandchildren arriving on the scene, I started writing. To this day I don’t know why, unless it was a natural progression from my never being without a book close by—often several—because books have always been an important part of my life for as far back as I can recall.

So, I started to write, by hand at first, scribbling short stories in notebooks which never saw the light of day. At some point I discovered Mills & Boon Romance books and that was pretty much it for me. I’d found my new love, as in reading romantic fiction and inevitably writing it too.

So twenty years on and almost forty books on, here I am still writing and still loving it!

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5 stars
73 (16%)
4 stars
111 (25%)
3 stars
155 (35%)
2 stars
67 (15%)
1 star
26 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for StMargarets.
3,241 reviews641 followers
March 2, 2018
This was as terrible as that cover. And as inexplicable. This isn't a trainwreck since it's boring. The characters are unlikable. Heroine is the wealthy, spoiled cousin of the hero from A Passionate Marriage. Hero is rumored to be in love with the heroine from The Sheikh's Chosen Wife, but all of his thoughts are about how hot the heroine is and how annoying.

I don't know how hot the heroine is, but I can vouch for annoying. She lies and cries and plays people off of each other. She missed her calling as an OW.

Her almost date rape is used as a plot device to get the H/h together for a fake engagement to soothe her traditional grandfather's sensibilities. Not only is something as serious as date rape used as a gimmick - it is never reported. The culprit goes scott-free and the heroine blames herself. *sigh*

Hero is supposed to be a protective alpha, full of honor who helps out damsels in distress at the expense of his reputation. Instead, he just looks like a beta who is played over and over. Good thing he's a secret billionaire.

A rare miss for Michelle Reid.
Profile Image for KC.
527 reviews21 followers
August 22, 2018
The title of the book should have been called Ethan's Big Mistake. Ethan deserved a better woman, but instead ended up with a spoiled and selfish brat! The book started out so promising. However, as the author revealed Eve's character I had a difficult time understanding why Ethan fell in love. In lust with her "natural seductress" skills, sure. But, love?



Sorry, heroines with a princess syndrome (selfish, bratty, and insecure) just don't do it for me.
Profile Image for Jacqueline J.
3,567 reviews368 followers
March 16, 2012
Not a perfect novel but I really enjoyed it. First off, what a strange cover for a Harlequin Presents, no? I liked this book. One of the major reasons is that the heroine had the hero wrapped around her little finger. He was crazy about her and enjoyed her antics and enjoyed letting her get her way. I didn't get the feeling that he was p***y whipped or would roll over on anything important though. We just read so many HPs where the hero can make the heroine do anything because of her tingling lady bits that it was nice to see the other side of the coin.

She was calling him. Like the witch she was, she was casting a spell somewhere, he was sure of it. He could feel her tugging him back to her like a dog on a lead. And he wanted to go back. He didn't even mind the lead he could feel tightening around his neck. He wanted his woman. He needed his woman.


There was more POV from the hero than from the heroine. You didn't get quite as good a read on the heroines character. That was okay with me because I prefer to read from the hero's POV if possible. He starts off the book in love with someone else, but falls pretty hard for the heroine pretty quickly.

There was one scene that was slightly problematic for me and I suspect it would be for most people. . I'm not letting that bother me too much this is an HP after all and I enjoyed the hell out of all the rest of this book.
Profile Image for Marajean.
102 reviews9 followers
September 7, 2011
The book may have been okay except...

The heroine is given a date rape drug, and dragged off from a party by the man who gave it to her. She's fighting him off at her place when the hero interrupts. The heroine KNOWS who did it but refuses to cause a scandal about it so says NOTHING and convinces the hero that he should too.

I've read other books where the attempted rapist gets off, but this one just his my last nerve. I kept imagining this guy going off raping other women because she was sure that it was just a one off and he would never do it again so she wasn't going to say anything. He friggen drugged her, and it's never a one time thing. Stuff the scandal. He should have gone down for what he did or tried to do and I've never forgiven the book for basically writing off an attempted rape like it was some kid wearing mirrors on his shoes to see up girls dresses.

Apparently she believes her own hype that she's so irresistible that men lose their minds and do things they would never do ever to get her.
Profile Image for iamGamz.
1,549 reviews53 followers
February 17, 2015
Oh I disliked the female protagonist, Eve. She's spoiled, whiny, irresponsible, immature, wears bright pink all the damn time, and just freaking annoying! I could go on and on about her.

I could not see Ethan falling for her. Yet in this book he did. And it was annoying and painful to watch. If these two got married in real life, it wouldn't last 6 months. He'd be outta there as soon as the honeymoon was over.

About this book ... I read it. I finished it. I will never go there again.
Profile Image for Diya✨.
251 reviews14 followers
March 2, 2018
This was pretty awful. I didn't connect with the heroine and it was an ordeal to finish almost gave up! Only continued because I enjoyed previous work by this author. Plus the h was super annoying!
Profile Image for Chi.
796 reviews44 followers
March 12, 2022
Man... that was dumb and super rushed.

They both fall head over heels in love with one another (over the course of a week!), on the basis of sexual attraction, and fall into the trap of barely having time to communicate with one another. I foresee a lot of sex, arguments, jealousy, etc until their looks and attraction fade. /facepalm
Profile Image for Susan in Perthshire.
2,260 reviews120 followers
February 6, 2022
Oh what a disappointment. I have enjoyed so many of this author’s books but this was disappointing on so many levels.

First and most important - I thoroughly disliked the heroine. A selfish, spoiled little madam who saw everything through the prism of her own ego and someone that I could not believe the hero Ethan could actually fall in love with.

Throughout the book she showed no self awareness or thought about anyone else. (I didn’t believe her protestations about not wanting to hurt her grandfather.). As for the scene where she insists Ethan chose her and not go to help Leona save face - I could not believe how utterly selfish she was. Ethan asked for her trust and she wouldn’t give it. At that point I wanted him to kick her to the curb!

The date rape scene really angered me. The perpetrator got away scot free. She refused to involve the police etc - no thought about the fact he might go and do the same thing to someone else. To see this used as a straightforward plot device without any comeuppance for the would-be-rapist was disgraceful.

Ethan was a nice guy but an utter wimp. Early on, I thought he would be able to deal with her - but no, he seemed to actually like being managed and manipulated. Not my kind of hero.

MR can obviously write well but the plot and the characters in this one made it a total miss for me. It won’t put me off reading other books by her though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Katt Hansen.
3,865 reviews112 followers
May 5, 2012
Every once in a while I get in the mood for a category romance. I've read quite a few of these over the years and though it's been awhile I can say that this book was a bit disappointing for my first foray into contemporary romance after so long.

The maddening POV I could have overlooked if the plot had held together but really, I wasn't overly pleased with the set up (why is it again we're not punishing would-be rapists?) and this whole ridiculous falling in love in moments (really, is the sex just THAT good? *sigh* That's a whole 'nother tirade). Give me solid reason for a couple to be together, and an even more solid reason to stay together. Please. Sex notwithstanding.

So perhaps that's enough of that for awhile. Which is sad. I really was hoping for an enjoyable light read here. I got the light part of things at any rate....
Profile Image for Megzy.
1,193 reviews71 followers
May 5, 2015
This was my second read of this book within the past 3 years. It is a quick read. The characters didn't leave a strong enough impression behind the first time around for me to remember I have read it previously. It took 3 chapters to recall the plot.
Profile Image for Cecilia.
608 reviews58 followers
August 22, 2011
This was somewhat unusual in the set-up and tone. Eve is this apparently irresistible flirt/temptress rich girl, and Ethan is an apparently non-billionaire disapproving architect. They get into a fake engagement that turns real. It was interesting, but didn't totally grab me. Eve's perspective is not as often present as Ethan's and so the sense of her as a person (as opposed to a temptress/goddess) was not wholly there, and how quickly the characters go from "I hate him/her" to "I love him/her" was abrupt and puzzling.
36 reviews2 followers
March 31, 2017
I did not care for the heroine and it was hard to connect with Ethan. And what is up with the cover is the stupidest cover I've ever seen on a Harlequin book and that is saying a lot. I truly cannot stop laughing at it
Profile Image for Yui.
301 reviews30 followers
August 31, 2013
weak, whiny, unpleasantly arrogant heroine. and yes, the attempted rape was disgustingly handled or not-handled as the case here. the arguments against action were stupid and unrelated.
Profile Image for Kay.
1,955 reviews125 followers
February 15, 2012
4 Stars! ~ Ethan's run into spoiled rich heiress Eve Herakleides at a number of social functions, and each time the young woman managed to irritate and get under his skin. She was pure provocative temptation and trouble with a capital T. Now on vacation in the Bahamas, Eve spied Ethan at the bar, watching her dance with that disapproving look, so she turned up her feminine charms on her dance partner to make Ethan scowl even more. Later that night Ethan saves Eve from an attempted drug induced date rape, and takes her back to his beach house. Eve's in shock but refuses to go to the police. Tucking her in to sleep off the last of the drugs, Eve pleads that he stay with her for awhile. But what was meant to be only until Eve fell asleep turned into all night, and both woke up to find Eve's grandfather demanding to know what was going on. To protect Eve's honour, Ethan agrees to a fake engagement. Eve's already got him so twisted up he's not sure if he's coming or going. But she's jealous of the woman Ethan's rumoured to be in love with, and Ethan believes that Eve is in love with the man who attacked her, or why else is she protecting his identity.

Ms. Reid has a sense of humour with this one. We met Ethan in The Sheik's Chosen Wife as the man rumoured to be in love with Leona. It was after he had been released from the Sheikh's yacht that he had flown to the Caribbean for a break. I love the way Ms. Reid lets us into Ethan's head. He views Eve as the temptress, the ruin of man. Her 24 to his 37. Eve gets all tingly when she remembers walking in on him at her grandfather's house, just coming out of the shower without a stitch on, and on his amazing reaction to her staring. It's not long for their fake engagement to progress to alot more. Eve may have had a pampered life, but she has a conscience and real depth of character. Ethan is not used to feeling out of control and finds he's fighting a losing battle, for Eve has now turned into the seductress. This was a fun read with some very emotional moments
Profile Image for IRE.
122 reviews
April 27, 2017
'Do you mean it?'
she asked him in an unsteady voice that finally finished him.
Ask me to bite the apple, Eve, and I will do it, he mused ruefully, well aware that
man's oldest weakness was still very much alive inside him; after all he had just admitted to himself.
'Yes, I mean it,'
he confirmed and even felt like smiling at his own downfall.
Her fingers released their comforting clutch on her arms. He watched them lower to her sides then turn themselves into two tight, hopeful little fists. He wanted to claim those fists. He wanted to prize those fingers open and feed them inside his shirt so they could roam at their leisure.

-Michelle Reid
Ethan's Temptress Bride
Profile Image for Ana.
392 reviews
March 30, 2016
i would give it five stars but i hate people meddling in other people relationships like her grandfather. and at the end we don't know if he apologize for it or what. it ended rather abruptly. i just don't like her grandfather. hate people that meddle and are matchmakers.
Profile Image for Janice.
3,085 reviews
December 31, 2025
Ethan Hayes considered Eve to be a spoilt little rich girl but when she was senselessly attacked, Ethan offered to pose as her fiancé to calm her elderly Greek grandfather's fears.
Profile Image for Agathajross.
167 reviews1 follower
October 4, 2020
Eve is a rich, spoilt, party-loving girl who enjoys a drink or two and loves to flirt. I have no problem with that and it's a nice change to read a M&B with a heroine who is more like a typical OW character. Also I am on a mission to read M&Bs that don't have a pregnancy or secret love child to pull the H & h back together.
I did question the 13-year age gap between H & h, what did they have in common?
It wasn't until I read Reid's The Arabian Love-Child that I discovered Eve enjoys renovating old houses and is very good at it, according to Ethan who is an architect.
"The lovely Eve renovates old property for a living?" Rafiq could not withhold his disbelief. Ethan said he didn't discover his wife's hobby until after they were married.
"Give her a lump hammer and she will have that wall down in half and hour," Ethan explains.
I think Eve's love of renovation should have been shared in Ethan's Temptress Bride.
I also like how Ethan admitted early on that he was blind-sided by Eve, they were attracted to each other from the get-go and he just couldn't let her go.

The main issue I have with this book is that the attempted rape should have been reported to police. This book was written in 2002, not 1960s, and it was a well-discussed issue. I agree it would have caused problems between the families but so what? The young man would have gone on to rape other women. He should have been charged with attempted rape. Unfortunately, the book does reflect the tragic fact that most rapes and attempted rapes still do go unreported.
Profile Image for Raffaella.
1,962 reviews314 followers
March 16, 2023
Not my favourite MR, the author wanted for once a heroine that is feisty and fun, a typical party girl, but she comes out as a tease and an immature spoiled young woman.
The hero helps her when she's been drugged and almost raped after a night of excesses and the day after her greek grandfather catches them in bed together and forces an engagement.
The man is furious since he hates the heroine thinking she's a spoiled tease, while he, the real hypocrite, is in love with a married woman, a heroine of another MR, that now has gone back to her husband.
So in this book, for almost the 80%, we have a hero who's in love with a married woman and he's hoping she leaves and divorce her husband, and until the end he puts this other woman first, while screwing the heroine, and realizing only in the end he's in love with her.
The heroine is a party girl, but I saw so much prejudice to this poor girl, just because she liked partying and having fun, that I was disgusted, because after all the author is a woman and there shouldn't be double standards.
I wouldn't read it twice
79 reviews
January 25, 2022
MR can write so well, and having burned through nearly all her back catalogue , I took a chance on this despite low ratings from reviewers I respect.

Disappointingly, they were right (I should have known!). The H and h seem like bit-players in their own story. There are too many mentions of characters from other books (and not limited to this series) which makes it read like a filler story. I spent more time wondering where I'd come across other names than enjoying what I was reading.

The would-be rapist goes on to attack his sister in law in the Unforgettable Husband. Are we meant to think this could have been stopped if he'd been reported, or was it a device to sow the seeds of his bad character? The lack of any come-back on him is so disappointing. l'd like to think MR would have dealt with this in a completely different way if writing now
918 reviews
September 5, 2018
I didn't read the entire book but the fact that h blames herself for a guy she flirted with spiking her drink and trying to date rape her put me completely off. The h can't even name her assailant and she goes to confront to learn the reason why stating the assailant is a friend! I don't like to read about airheads with no common sense. She is a heiress and someone tries to rape her on her bday and she still thinks he is a friend??!! The H is no better blaming h for the incident and not even learning the name of the assailant and informing the police! What if he goes on to date rape other girls. Absolutely no person in this book has any sense of responsibility or respect for themselves or for the society.
Profile Image for *CJ*.
5,189 reviews640 followers
July 14, 2024
"Ethan's Temptress Bride" is the story of Eve and Ethan.

Be ready to read about a hero slut shaming the heroine throughout the book, she's a vixen, she's a temptress, she almost gets r@ped but her assaulter goes free- she wants to have a chat with him- and the worst thing is the same ahole attacks another heroine in a different book. They fight and have sex and then after drama the book ends/

Terrible

Unsafe
1/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Diana's.
1,053 reviews125 followers
August 28, 2017
I just couldn't connect with Eve.. Ethan was way to understanding and indulgent IMO..
Profile Image for GreenGal.
546 reviews1 follower
February 11, 2020
some of the language and sentiments felt a little old fashion to me but overall a good book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews