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Lady Juliana Chase’s brother is in search of a husband for her. At the ripe old age of 22, she is in danger of being left on the shelf. It is her brother’s fear but not Juliana’s. Scurrying around to find her a suitable husband, he comes across James Trevor, Earl of Stafford. James’ first wife, died during childbirth and his mother has been urging him to remarry. James and Juliana meet at a ball and the spark of attraction appears.
Juliana’s compassionate nature influences her actions. It is a trait that has caused her problems in the past. Her family would call it her “meddling” and it is something that she doesn’t seem to be able to control. This reader didn’t find Juliana to be very likable. Juliana’s need to meddle as well as her matchmaking will backfire on her. Her actions will be the cause of her pain and suffering. James is a second son who ascended to the title when his brother and father passed away. He was an army officer then trained as a physician but now he is an Earl. James is a more sympathetic character as he has suffered some major losses in his life. He is a very intelligent, tender and loving man. This relationship has a serious wrench thrown at it and it can be blame on Juliana but this is a romance so the reader can be assured of the “happily ever after” for our lead couple. This reader didn’t enjoy the lead couple due to the characterization of Juliana. Since the storyline hinges on Juliana’s need to “help” others, she is prominently featured; this reader just couldn’t get into this story as we never warmed up to the heroine.
Tempting Juliana has lots of secondary characters; some of the more important ones are Amanda and Emily who adds some pathos to the story. The author deftly weaves them into the storyline as well as the health issues faced by society during the time period. This is the second book in the trilogy thus some of the characters from the first book appears.
Tempting Juliana was a difficult book to finish as the story moved at a seemingly slow pace and it never grabbed this reader’s attention, although the author has thrown in touches of humor within it. This was a disappointing read compared to the author’s earlier books.
Reviewed by Susan Tam
for The Road to Romance
December 9, 2006
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