A Trap So Tender - Jennifer Lewis (HD #2220 - Mar 2013)

Series: The Drummond Vow (Book 3)

A Wager Most Wild

With businesses to conquer in Singapore and a centuries-old family heirloom to find in Scotland, investor James Drummond is no stranger to a challenge. But making the mysterious Fiona Lam his represents his riskiest power play yet. When he offers her the moon and stars, Fiona counters with a proposal of her own-a bet, to be exact.

Winning a high-stakes horse race against James is Fiona's best chance at reclaiming her family's factory...and her father's honor. Seducing James is just a means to that end...until they end up in bed together! Then all bets are off....

Very good book with lots of things going on behind the scenes or under the surface.  I liked both Fiona and James and watching them both succumb to emotion over business was pretty interesting.  Fiona's parents had divorced when she was young and she was raised by her mom and stepfather, but always felt a lack of connection to her dad.  Just when she had made a success of her business she found out that he had lost his and decided to try to get it back.  Her plans to get close to James took off a lot faster than she expected thanks to an intense attraction that they both felt.  When she accompanied him to Scotland to search for the missing family artifact she didn't expect to grow close to him so fast.  When he proposed marriage to her she said yes, knowing that she didn't intend to go through with it, and feeling dreadfully guilty.  I really loved seeing her inner conflict as she tried to reconcile her growing feelings for James and her need to get her father's land back.

James was incredibly attracted to Fiona and impressed by how much they had in common.  He saw her as the perfect match that he needed to make his life complete and his business even more successful.  He had found that the established business owners of Singapore were reluctant to deal with an unsettled bachelor.  He saw their compatibility as just what he needed and their attraction as a bonus.  He didn't plan on allowing out of control emotion into the picture at all, but found that control was hard to come by whenever he was with her.  I loved seeing the way that his love for her grew even before he would admit to his feelings even to himself.

I loved the way that both of them had to let go of their pride before they could reach their hearts' desire.  I also really enjoyed the search for the final piece of the chalice and how James discovered it.  The epilogue was a nice wrap up for the trilogy.  

Tender is the Knight - Jackie Ivie (Zebra - Dec 2005)

A LADY OF ICE
Beautiful and elegant, Elise, the Duchess of Wynd, has survived among the nobility by carefully cultivating a facade of cutting wit and heartlessness. Nothing ruffles her. And no man can break through her defenses...

A MAN OF FIRE
A fierce Scottish warrior, Colin is the new Duke of MacGowan and--in polite circles--looked upon as no better than a barbarian. Nevertheless, he is a lord who brooks no defiance...and holds no rein on his pleasures...

A PROMISE OF PASSION
Colin's very presence ties Elise's sharp-edged tongue: She is all too aware that he could be the answer to her prayers--or her worst nightmare. For Elise harbors secrets that could change the course of both their lives. But before she can reveal them, she must make the wild knight her own...

This book was okay.  I liked the idea of the book but I had a hard time connecting with the main characters.  Elise was married and widowed at a very young age.  Since then she has protected herself by playing the part of a heartless flirt.  Then her sister ends up falling for a Scotsman who leaves her pregnant, then she dies in childbirth.  Elise is left with trying to find a way to tell his family about the baby.  This worries her a lot because her sister had nothing good to say about the family.  When she meets Colin, the baby's uncle, she is not impressed by him at all.  She finds him crude and rude, but is also drawn to him.  She spends most of the book trying to tell him about the baby, but only telling bits at a time which get she into trouble with him.  I know she is young, but I really wanted to smack her at times.  Colin was definitely living up to his reputation as a barbarian.  He kept giving her orders, not listening when she tried to tell him things, and generally being a butthead.  There were occasional glimpses of a nice guy, but then he'd turn around and be an ass again.  Perhaps if the author had included his point of view and thoughts his actions might have been understandable, but most of the time he just seemed mean.  The last few chapters were the best, but even the resolution wasn't completely satisfying with Colin going from ass to lover in just a few pages.  I preferred the maid, Daisy, and Colin's servant, Miles, as characters.