Review of Temptation in Tartan by Suz DeMello

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Temptation in Tartan by Suz deMello
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is for Temptation in Tartan by Suz DeMello

I ended up being completely absorbed with this book. I read about a third of it two nights ago and had to force myself to put it down. I picked it up again today – and “wasted” a few hours, finishing the book and enjoying some much-needed downtime!

Plot: Maybe I just don't find vampires scary or evil. Even crazy vengeful ones. So for me, while I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and it had the right amount of twists and turns and revelations… I feel (only slightly) disappointed that I never felt dread or impending doom. Maybe I've just read enough books by now, that the plots have become fairly transparent to me. Either way, no fault to the story itself. It had me captivated, the entire time.

Characters: After a bloody battle leaves Lydia, a widow at 18, she (and her sizable dowry) are used as a peace treaty between the English and Scottish clan of Kilborn. Her new husband is the newly-made Laird, after his father and older brother died in that same battle. The premise introduces (him) as ferocious as his mysterious relations, but I never once saw him as anything other than a passionate – sexy Scot! Oh, to have lived in mid-18th-century Scotland!

The Writing: Ms. DeMello's writing was fluid and read effortlessly, in the third person POV, mostly from what Lydia saw, but sometimes (as is part of 3rd POV) from the POV of a few other characters. There were no mistakes – typos, grammar, etc... And some of her descriptions were perfectly poetic; like the description, she gives of Lydia's first view of her new home: “… backlit by a muted sun struggling to glow through fog before slipping behind the waves.”

In Case You Wanted to Know: Oh. My. Gosh – there is SO MUCH(HOT) sex! Now, I'm all for new awakenings and steamy scenes, but for me, pages long encounters, frequently sprinkled throughout every (other) chapter, is a bit too much for me; regardless of how well described, or how graphic (and yes – they're pretty graphic – but hot – did I mention, Hot?)they are… Even with a well-written plot. I have been known to skip pages, thinking to myself, “my gosh, they're doing it again?” (I didn't do that here, BTW)... There is spanking, some BDSM(mild-IMO), nothing I found offensive, but I'm also pretty damn far from a prude... Ok, moving on... Um, Violence? Yes, but, vampire associated violence that is to be expected from the mid-18th century, post-Reformation. In other words, the “vampires” are personalized and not the bad guys… So any violence towards them, or that they do, is just part of being a vampire – I guess…

Overall: So overall, I think I pretty much enjoyed the book. I was surprised it took longer than anticipated to get through it, but that's only because the books I've read lately have been much smaller than I tend to read (the fiction ones, at least). But – I also didn't want it to end. Luckily, there is a Book #1 for me to get, and after reading the excerpt from upcoming Book #3 – yeah – Ms. DeMello will keep me entertained with her sexy Scottish vampires for quite some time!

*I received a FREE copy of this story, in exchange for my honest review.

*This book review format is copied and used by permission, from awesome Amazon user: DeeArr1

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