After all she had built for herself and the villagers in
Buckleigh-in-the-Moor, Meredith Maddox was not going to
take it any longer! With a quick tongue lashing and a
chilling stare, she soon quieted the louts whose brawling
threatened the clean tablecloths and glasses in
her tavern, the Three Hounds Inn.
Rhys St. Maur, the new Baron Ashworth, could only stare in
wonder at this bewitchingly beautiful, tiny, and dark-haired
barmaid. Then, when she introduced herself, he couldn't
believe she was Merry Lane, the young daughter of his old
stablemaster, George Lane, whose leg was maimed forever as a
result of the events of that awful night fourteen years
earlier. A night so searing on his soul and body that he
vowed never to return to this hell-on-earth again!
Having shadowed and loved Rhys from afar as a child,
Meredith instantly responded to seeing him again. This time
though, she vowed not to let her heart rule her again.
Along with a few friends in the smuggling business, she had
done all she could to keep the little village going-- from
letting Darryl have his imaginative tours of the ruins, to
her thoughtful improvements to welcome her guests at her
inn that brought the much needed revenue to the village.
No, she was not for him staying! She was bound and
determined to make sure he didn't stay around even though he
kept promising and insisting that fate was going to make her
his wife. His promises didn't hold water with her. The
villagers had been burned by the Maurs, much as
their country residence, Nethermoor Hall, which lay in
blackened ruins. Rhys' guilt may have led him back, but the
village would made to make him leave -- alive or dead!
Despite his scars from the many military battles he had
been in, the still handsome and rugged Rhys now fought the
hardest battle of all - to get the villagers to accept him
again and to make Merry marry him! Would fate or hard work
win out for him?
Despite this seemingly straightforward romance, Tessa Dare
has expertly crafted an intriguing and suspenseful novel
with unexpected plot twists. TWICE TEMPTED is the second
book in Dare's Stud Club trilogy, yet it works very well as
a stand alone novel. This is a very entertaining read that
is sure to result in many more fans for this creative and
talented historical romance writer! If you are not fully
convinced, then check out the absolutely brilliant and
ingenious video clip on the Stud Club trilogy at
www.tessadare.com! Enjoy!
The daring members of the Stud Club are reckless gamblers
and no strangers to risk—until love raises the stakes in
Twice Tempted by a Rogue.
Luck is a double-edged sword for brooding war hero Rhys St.
Maur. His death wish went unanswered on the battlefield,
while fate allowed the murder of his good friend in the
elite gentlemen’s society known as the Stud Club. Out of
options, Rhys returns to his ancestral home on the moors of
Devonshire, expecting anything but a chance at redemption in
the arms of a beautiful innkeeper who dares him to take on
the demons of his past—and the sweet temptation of a woman’s
love.
Meredith Maddox believes in hard work, not fate, and romance
isn’t part of her plan. But when Rhys returns,
battle-scarred, world-weary, and more dangerously attractive
than ever, the lovely widow is torn between determination
and desire. As a deep mystery and dangerous smugglers
threaten much more than their passionate reckoning, Meredith
discovers that she must trust everything to a wager her
heart placed long ago.