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!