Jaclyn Reding

Tempting Fate by Jaclyn Reding
Restoration #1

When I saw this as a book review option and the date it was published, I looked to see what the reviews had to say…all positive. Having read books of that era and before once then again, I thought I would give this one a try to see if it crossed the gap and still provided a good read for my contemporary self and have to say this author’s book from 1995, thirty years ago, beats Georgette Heyer and other authors I have revisited and that I would show more gladly read one of her books again.

This book has:
* Characters that come alive on the page, are people I became invested in, and found compelling
* A well-crafted plot with plenty going on
* Historical tidbits I enjoyed learning about
* A romance that grew over the arc of the story
* A believable reason for Mara’s determination to get revenge and an intriguing well thought out plot to achieve her ends (maybe?)
* Great characters in supporting roles
* Enough bad guys…no matter which side of history you might be on
* And a wonderful happily ever after (fairy tale) ending for Marla and Hadrian

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* How close the images of the impact of war in the past are still so very similar to what is going on now – almost four centuries later

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to Oliver Heber and Booksprout for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

I'm fond of older woman stories so I picked this up. I couldn't get into two of the stories but I did read 'Forevermore' by Lauren Royal and 'The Demon's Mistress' by Jo Beverley. The Demon's Mistress was a really good novella. The characters were well developed and there was a bit of darkness to the hero. Some angst etc. I haven't read anything else by this author but this story was strong enough that I will probably go out and find the stories related to this one and give them a show more try.

Forevermore was fairly good. It was a bit shorter so character development wasn't as full. It was set in the Reformation period and was well done from both an historical aspect and as a sweet short love story. show less

Cuando abrí este libro pensé que iba a ser sólo una historia romántica con ciertas partes empalagosas, pero me encontré con que se centra más en las circunstancias -considerablemente trágicas- de los protagonistas.

Me gustó mucho, los personajes son queribles y el amor entre ellos surge con naturalidad, sin que se deje de lado el transcurso de la historia.

As we all hear about older women dating younger men, this book is four short stories of older women and younger men set in the mid-1600's and the early 1800's. Yes, it was as scandalous then as it is now for such pairings, while it was still OK for the older men and younger women pairings. The settings are fun. The characters delicious. Best of all, there are happy endings. And yes, people will talk about the age difference, but "so what?" when there is true love to get the couples over the show more rough spots! show less