Tempted by the Viscount by Sofie Darling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Series: Tempted by the Viscount (Shadows and Silk #2)
Publication Date: 6/27/18
This is the second book in this series and also the second book I’ve read by this author. I’ve been looking forward to it because the last book was exciting and interesting and I hoped this one would be the same. However, this one wasn’t exciting. It was a bit dull and repetitive. He had to have a proper, scandal-free step-mother for his daughter and she couldn’t give up her freedom for any man. There were numerous scenes, but the same theme.
I really liked our hero, Jakob Radclyffe, Fifth Viscount St. Alban. He had no expectation of being a Viscount and certainly had no desire to be one. The title belonged to another branch of his family tree and he had hardly seen any of them in his lifetime. His father had married a Dutch shipping heiress and become part of that family. Jake was raised in that environment and had no clue about how the English lived – nor did he wish to know. However, after many, many pleas from his English family, he headed to London with his daughter, Mina, to accept the title. One thing Jake knew for sure is that he’d also have to acquire a proper, scandal-free English wife along with the title because Mina is half Japanese and she’ll need help fitting in and being accepted.
It was a long slog to try to get to like our heroine, Lady Olivia Montfort, and I never quite got there. I didn’t dislike her, I just never understood her. Twelve years ago, when she was seventeen and he was about twenty, she married a man she loved desperately – at least she thought she did. Then, because she rushed head-long into that marriage without getting to know the groom and without listening to any of the adults in the room – she was done with the marriage after six months! What! No, he wasn’t a good husband – but he was the normal husband of that period. He didn’t hurt her or mistreat her – he just wanted a society type marriage where he could float along on the surface of it – and she wanted more. Should that short six-months turn her against men and marriage forever? I think that whole reaction was way over the top. I mean – she was willing to have her daughter declared a bastard in order to have her marriage dissolved. I didn’t care for what I saw of her in the last book, and that didn’t improve with this book.
Jakob first saw Olivia at a ball at her former father-in-law’s home. He was immediately attracted to her. From what he’d learned of her, she was a scandal. Because of Mina’s heritage, he couldn’t afford to marry anyone whose reputation wasn’t pristine. Yet, he was drawn to Olivia more and more. When they find that each can help the other with a need, they strike a bargain – then they’ll go their separate ways. He’ll help her buy a house in her own name and she’ll get Mina into the school he wants her to attend. However – parting doesn’t come as easily as they thought.
I’m interested to see what happens next with the series. We’ve had one book I’ve loved and one I was just okay with, so now we’ll have to see what the next book brings. I’m not sure who will be featured in the next book, but I hope there is some excitement in it. This story hinted at a possible story at a later date between Mina and Hugh – right now Mina is fifteen and Hugh is probably seventeen or so. So, maybe the next book will feature Percy, Olivia’s dead/resurrected husband AND maybe we’ll see Olivia’s wicked uncle (from the first book) finally get some punishment.
Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview
“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”
Flippin' Pages Book Reviews 