Tempted, by Pamela Britton

I first discovered Pamela Britton a few months ago, when I read the wonderful Seduced, and I immediately bought her next release, Tempted.

He is Alexander Drummond
Marquis of Warrick, one of the most feared Revenue Commanders to sail the high seas.

She is Mary Callahan
Smuggler's daughter, sent as a spy to his lordship's household under the guise of a nurse, only...she doesn't like children.

He thinks she's the most outspoken, sharp-tongued shrew he's ever met.

She thinks he's the most uptight, pompous bag of wind she's ever encountered.

However, then, did they ever fall in love?

I had lots of fun with Tempted.. A B.

The book was almost fairy tale-ish , which would be another way of saying that I didn't get much of a "period feel" from it. But then, I'm not much of a stickler for total accuracy. Yes, I do enjoy it when I get it, but I'm very flexible that way, and in a romp like this, I guess accuracy's not the point, and I can enjoy the book anyway.

The basic plot I liked. Mary was a really fun heroine, with zero torturedness (is this even a word??) in her because of her origin. She makes no apologies for her past, tells the truth at an appropriate point, and believes she deserves happiness. Good for her! I'm sick of all those martyrs, so it's very refreshing to get a heroine who refuses to be pushed around, be it by her father, by society or by the hero.

I loved to see her paired with Alex, so stiff-necked and priggish. I loved the way being around Mary made Alex more and more discomfitted by his feelings for her, and how he had to fight so hard to control his impulses. He was a nice hero, basically because his prigishness was tempered by kindness and a sense of humour.

I even had fun with the nanny angle, and the way Mary very definitely wasn't the perfect mommy. She didn't feel all gooey and motherly at the sight of Alex's daughter. In fact, she wasn't particularly fond of kids.

The only problem I had with it was that it may have been too much of a romp for me, too concentrated on being wacky and zany for me to absolutely and totally LOVE it. I did enjoy it and had a good time with it, but it just didn't deliver the kick in the stomach that is, IMO, the mark of a DIK. Still, it was a good way of spending some hours.