Review: The Temptation of Your Touch

by Teresa Medeiros
Rating: 3/5

Maximillian Burke prides himself on being the man every mother wants her daughter to marry, but after his scoundrel brother steals his bride, Max decides there’s more satisfaction in being a rogue than a gentleman. He flees London for lonely Cadgwyck Manor, and though the tumbledown estate comes complete with a ghost, it’s Max’s no-nonsense housekeeper who haunts his dreams. Prim and proper Anne Spencer could do without a new master, especially one as gorgeous and temperamental as the Earl of Dravenwood. Even as she schemes to be rid of him, she is irresistibly drawn into his muscular embrace. But when Max vows to solve the mystery of the White Lady of Cadgwyck, he risks both their hearts and tempts them to surrender to a pleasure as delicious as it is dangerous

This is book two of the Burke Brothers series by Teresa Medeiros. I rather enjoyed the Kane Vampire books, which manage to both mock vampires and be vampire books. In Regency England. I didn’t really want to read book one of this series, The Pleasure of Your Kiss until I saw the blurb of this book. He’s the stuffy boring guy that all the interesting Regency girls are not interested in marrying, because look it’s a rake who wants to reform! You know the other guy, the patient sweet guy who in the other Regencies are running to Gretna Green to avoid.

Except, he’s not. The blurb LIES, it made it seem like Max is the same guy he is at the end of The Pleasure of Your Kiss, except he’s not. It’s been at least 2 years and 9 months as Clarinda and Ashton have a girl who is speaking. Max has spent the intervening time drinking and whoring it up. Which on one hand good for him, he did wait nine years for Clarinda, but on the other…. He’s not the guy from book one or the blurb anymore. However Max arrives at Cadgwyck as he’s basically burnt out and looking for solace away from people. So he kinda is the same, just ignore me.

Anne Spencer is the housekeeper of Cadgwyck Manor. Such that it is, she and her family of are convincing the owners of the manor and the people in the countryside that Angelica Cadgwyck, “The White Lady” is haunting the manor. And at the same time employing the method of Sophia MacFarlane from To Catch a Highlander to make the it unhospitable. Serving up horrid meals, placing cobwebs and generally dirtying up the place. And let’s be honest anything that reminds me of Karen Hawkins is a good thing.

Except Max doesn’t scare and he isn’t distracted enough. Anne and Max’s love story is really sweet even if the surprise twist of Anne’s real identity wasn’t very good. Either it wasn’t meant to be a secret in which case why try to hide it or it was in which case why not hide it better?

But really, the story is way less cliche than The Pleasure of Your Kiss and while I didn’t quite get the hero I wanted to see it was still something different and enjoyable.

Currently Listening: Crash – You Me At Six