"Lord of Temptation" is the second book of the series and follows the twin Tristan two years after the ending of the first. Thankfully, the theme of vengeance is not present due to the absence of Lord David, and the conflict of the described relationship is entirely internal.Crimson Jack is still haunted by his stolen childhood, but unlike Sebastian, he deals with it by locking away happier memories and internalizing his emotions. He drinks, gambles, and flirts with a self-possessed confidence which acts as a facade to keeps things shallow and safe. No woman is able to keep his interest for long - until he meets Anne. She constantly plagues his thoughts, but because the sea is his mistress, he cannot offer her the proper stable life that she craves. Thus, the conflict is born.Anne is still not recovered from the death of her fiance two years ago, and the guilt of having argued with him before his departure to the war weighs heavily on her conscience. Following her voyage with the dashing sea captain, she finally lays her betrothed to rest, but ends up being seduced by the physical attraction between her and Jack. Once his identity is revealed, she struggles with being a proper miss or returning to his bed where she can forget the world, where everything simply feels... right.I'm a little conflicted on my feelings for this story. Tristan held a lot of allure for the ladies in the first novel, so I was not surprised to find him so experienced with women. However, I felt that his character should have avoided ruining a proper miss without the expectation of marrying her. It was a black mark on his character that I could not overcome, no matter how willing Anne may have been. Also, I was expecting to learn more about his life following the escape from his uncle, but the little information provided was very underwhelming and did nothing to dispel the mystery.The writing within this story was slightly disjointed due to the first half being their journey at sea and the latter containing garden parties and balls among the Society of London. Towards the end, the obstacles in their way seemed to be very easily dissolved and everything wrapped up a little too nicely. I had a similar complaint in "She Tempts the Duke", in that the hero's epiphany was sudden and, in this case, a little non-sensical. Finally, I disliked how everyone else fell into place so easily, with Chetwyn and Hermione being so amicable as they were, during the bait-and-switch at the altar.Fans of the author's "The Scoundrels of St. James" series will be glad to see a few familiar names tossed around - though no cameos were included! ------ I recieved this book from Edelweiss and the publisher for my honest review------This was a great book. Lady Anne is a great character, she tries to be the proper lady that she should be as the daughter of the Earl of Blackwood. With a father and older brothers Anne is pretty much sheltered and she tries to be a proper young lady. But she is also a widow who's not really a widow since her beloved is dead and they weren't married. So she goes out on a limb and hires a ship to take her to her his resting place. Its basically lust at first sight for Anne and 'Jack', but Jack is a gentleman and he treats Anne and her maid with respect, though all he wants to do is to ravish her. Anne slowly lets go of her preconceived notions of what is proper behavior. I like the fact that Jack respects Anne and that Anne is willing to take a chance on Jack. Once at home she learns that Jack is really Tristan and in fact a Lord. But not accepted in society. Together they enjoy one another and fall in love with out even really realizing it. Both Tristan and Anne are great characters and this is a fun story to read. I look forward to reading Tristans' younger brother Rafes' story when it comes our, and getting my hand on the older brother Sebastians story. Lorraine Heaths' book are always a great read.
