Ames’ review of Tempted By Her Innocent Kiss by Maya Banks.
No Man’s Bargaining Chip
Devon Carter was her first; now newly wed Ashley wants their passion to last. But her dreams of true love are crushed by the discovery that their marriage is another of Daddy’s business deals. Her strategy: act the part of perfect wife and make Devon love her.
But Devon misses the bubbly, no-holdsbarred woman his wife used to be. Who is this Ashley with the steely demeanor of a society wife? And will he find a way to rekindle the fire in her eyes…especially now that she’s pregnant?
Tempted features one of my favorite themes. Remember in Lord of Scoundrels when Jess gives Dain what he thinks he wants and is meek and doesn’t give him her sassy attitude? And he hated it? Well, Tempted was like that and I loved it!
Ashley is the younger daughter of a business tycoon and Devon wants to merge his company with her father’s. Mr. Copeland, Ashley’s dad, says he will merge companies with Devon if Devon marries his daughter. Mr. Copeland just wants to make sure his daughter is taken care of and Devon, despite being attracted to Ashley, hates the fact that the marriage is part of the deal. He imagined he would marry one day, but doesn’t like that someone is forcing him to toe the line. But Ashley is a sweet, impulsive, young woman and it’s no hardship for Devon to court her. He does want to tell her about the details of the merger (and their future marriage) but Mr. Copeland forbids it.
Of course you know this is all for naught because on her wedding night, Ashley finds out the truth. She loves Devon and is heartbroken about the fact that for him it’s all business. He even tells her they can remain married and be comfortable together. Ashley refuses to be married without love, but she figures if she changes the things about her that Devon doesn’t like, that he’ll eventually fall in love with her. So that’s what she does. And she’s miserable and so is Devon, but he doesn’t know why.
I thought Maya Banks did an excellent job making such an angsty story in this shorter format. We see enough of Ashley’s bubbly, outgoing, effervescent attitude before her wedding that we can recognize how different she is afterwards. And she’s only giving Devon what he thinks he wants. And stupid blind man is too arrogant to see what he’s done to her. But others aren’t – but their warnings come to late to prevent Devon from losing the woman he didn’t even realized he loved! So drama-riffic is how I described it to a friend. LOL
Now, I did find a few things problematic. Mr. Copeland’s outdated thoughts on his daughter needing someone to watch over her? Hello, we’re not in the 1800s. I know that speaks to how innocent Ashley is, but come on, she’s a grown woman! The whole marriage for merger thing is a bit ridiculous, but it gave us the story I had so much fun reading I’m not going to complain too much about it. Yes it was contrived, but I don’t care.
4 out of 5
This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Sounds like a good read. Thanks for the review!
Hmmm, I did enjoy that ploy in LoS, as well. I’m not so sure about the merger for marriage plot. I will have to check it out, thoug, and see if one outweighs the other.