Smitten by Books

Tempting Fortune
Author: Jo Beverley
Publisher: Everlyn
Pub. Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1849670036
Retail: £6.99
347 pages

The Stakes

Portia St. Claire’s brother has gambled and lost, throwing her into the power of ruthless men. Their price for his life is her virtue, to be auctioned off in London’s most notorious brothel…

The Bidder

To retrieve an incriminating letter, Bryght Malloren once broke into a house where he was where he was greeted at pistol point by a resolute woman… a woman he could swear stands trembling before him on a madam’s auction block…

The Riskiest Game

Unable to leave Portia to such a cruel fate, Bryght turns the private wager into a very public game of seduction, one that confirms his reputation as a shameless rake and keeps all of London society breathless with anticipation. But on a night shimmering with destiny, truth and passion, those who tempt fortune risk losing everything… including their hearts…

~*~*~

It was love at first read – the moment Bryght Malloren appeared on the scene, I was doomed. Well, in fact so was Bryght when he found himself confronted by an intriguing Amazon who aimed a pistol at him. But he managed to escape the danger with a letter he’d come for and with his body unhurt. They part ways, but Fortuna soon throws them back together again.

Portia St. Claire is in despair. While in London, her brother Oliver has become a gamester and lost the family home in a reckless game. Desperate for a way to raise a loan to retain their property, they stay in the city to plead with a childhood friend, the Earl of Walgrave. But while the earl takes his time in returning, Oliver’s luck runs out. His life is in danger, and only Portia can help him survive – by raising the money owed to the bad men through an auction. An auction for her virtue.

Terrified but with a fierce loathing of all gamesters, Portia is wary when Bryght, renowned for his gaming ways, wins the prize – her. As he challenges her with a wager, she is not impressed with her body’s reaction to his seduction. It should be her sensible mind that prevails!

Portia continues to struggle with her feelings, but Bryght is certain he can convince her of his intentions. He continues to tempt her with a series of intriguing wagers she can’t resist. But can Portia ever forget the perils of gaming, and the lives it can destroy?

In Bryght Malloren, Ms Beverley created a hero many a reader will adore. Deep, dark and intelligent, he is a man you wouldn’t deny. Portia St. Claire has a strong, believable personality, and her willingness to sacrifice her virtue to save her hopeless brother make her human. But her fear of gaming runs deep, and her ongoing worry about it began to gnaw a little on my patience towards the end.

Tempting Fortune is an incredibly well-paced historical romance set in Georgian England, with exciting twists and turns. The plot throws constant challenges into the path of hapless Portia and brooding Bryght, which never leaves you wanting. I found it hard to put the book down, even reading into the early hours on a weekday night.

The only issue I had was that the proofreader must have been so caught up in the story that she let slip an array of typos and missing speech marks. While I usually find it disrupting, the plot of Tempting Fortune is strong enough for me to overlook this lack of attention.

Tempting Fortune was first published in the US in 1995.

A must have on the bookshelf of any fan of historical romance!

Rating: 8 (Very Good)

Heat-Level: 3: (Sensual)