Zoe is an Englishwoman from a titled family. When she was very young she was kidnapped in Egypt and became a member of a harem. But, she remained virginal. When she is returned to her family in London, she must be trained to become an Englishwoman again.Lucien owes Zoe’s father a great deal. When Lucien was a boy, his family died and Zoe’s father took care of him and helped him recover from the terrible loss.The premise for this story is interesting and when I started the book, I had great expectations.Not too far into the book, I realized I really did not like Zoe very much. For someone who is supposed to be intelligent and who cares for her family, she has little regard for anyone except herself. Over and over, she does things that will hurt and embarrass her mother and father. I got the impression these escapades were supposed to be amusing. But, to me it simply showed that Zoe is spoiled, selfish and immature. It is almost as though her emotional development stopped when she was kidnapped.Lucien is a really generous man. He has walled himself off from feelings of any sort. Because of his supposed debt to Zoe’s father, he intends to help introduce Zoe to society. And at every turn she acts like a spoiled brat.Toward the end of the book, we find that Zoe is indeed intelligent and she helps Lucien straighten out his household. For years he has been the victim of thieves and Zoe helps him to recover from his losses.I like Ms Chase’s writing. Her plotting and character development are terrific. She is a very talented writer, and I look forward to reading other books by her. This one is simply not a book which appealed to me. But, I know in the future I will find her books to be ones that draw me in to a wonderful world. And make me fall in love with her plots and characters. I would give this 3 and a half but rounded up because I saw a lot of reviewers gave it a low ranking and I wanted the average to go up. hee heeThis was a different kind of romance. The heroine wasn't the typical english rose. Well she might of looked the part but Zoe was kidnapped at age 12 and kept as wife to a younger prince in a harem. Her hubby was ill and couldn't perform but he adored those English looks. Zoe never forgot her home or family but learned to speak Arabic, survive and how to please a man. When she escaped and returned to London she was welcomed back into her loving family. But in one day her sisters were appalled at Zoe's free speaking ways, comfort touching her body and of course the headlines that proclaimed "Harem Girl"The duke of Marchmont - Lucien- knew Zoe growing up. She was always accepting dares, challenging authority and running away. Lucien (and his now deceased brother) were kind of adopted by Zoe's father when their parents died. He would do anything for her family and the man that helped raise him. As a leader of the ton he offers to make London Society accept Zoe. His first act is to open the curtains and allow the throng of people to see Zoe. Zoe is wordly yet naive. Some funny scenes occur when she discusses topics not typically mentioned in polite society- like how she wants her corsets to put her breast at a certain place by holding them there. Marchmont has closed himself off to all emotion after all the losses he has dealt with but Zoe makes him laugh- a funny scene with hoop dress, she makes him feel again also- anger, jealousy and of course passion. I liked her character. For someone who had 2 survive and live with 2 extremely different up-bringings she does an amazing job. The last part of the book has a strange plot with servant which is why I would only give this 3 and a half stars . I liked the different cultural references and a woman who is comfortable with her sexuality and direct about her feelings.
Do You like book Don't Tempt Me (2009)?
Great story premise and good writing. A very enjoyable book for me.
—Bennetto87
Attempted murder and romance are not chocolate and peanut butter.
—Ann
Not tempting enough to finish--haha, get it? No?
—Deb
