This book was just ok. I love Anna Campbell's writing and Claiming the courtesan is one of my most favourite books. But Tempt the devil just didn't do it for me. I really liked Olivia but didn't like Erith at all. I thought he was too old to do whatever he did. I mean, this 'being a jerk and then apologizing' thing is cute on immature young brats like Kylemore but not on a 40 yr old man. I wanted to slap Olivia for agreeing to marry him in the end. Re-reading the back cover/teaser here on Goodreads makes me even MORE mad than when I finished this book on the airplane. The back cover/teaser makes it sound as though her deepest secret and scandal is a secret baby, or that she's of foreign origin, or something equally as silly (not silly then, but silly now).Readers, listen up close. Olivia's secret, her private scandal, is that she was sold into sexual slavery at age 14. She was pregnant at 15 and nearly died during the birth. Ever since, she's become a high class courtesan and used cream and great acting skills to make her lovers think she's turned on. In reality, she's dry as a desert and hates the act of sex. And CAN YOU BLAME HER? She was repeatedly raped at 14! ARGH!Clearly this isn't the sort of backstory that's going to make readers buy the book. The difference between the teaser and the actual story made me feel utterly deceived. I thought I was getting a sexier Regency. Something with a little deeper characterization and plot than the usual "Regency Light". Something with a little more sex, bordering on erotica. Nope. Instead I get a weird twist on the Old Skool romance, complete with unawakened heroine and alpha-asshole hero.When Julian meets Olivia he gets it into his crazy head that he HAS to have her as his mistress. (What IS it with romance heroes and their need to obsess and possess??) Of course, on their first interlude he realizes she's turned off by sex, and of course, he's supposed to be the hero because he's the only one who's bothered to notice. O rly? No one's ever noticed before? Let's give men some credit here.So of course, Julian sets out to woo and make wet his mistress. ::headdesk:: He succeeds (because all it takes is some late night conversations and cuddling before suddenly she's as wet as a monsoon *gag*), they fall in love, but no man of standing will marry his mistress, so she leaves him, unwilling to live a half-life as the mistress to the man she loves. He gets her back and they move to France to raise horses, since they clearly can't be together in England (it would ruin his family you see), and the French are much more lenient about things like falling in love with your mistress.OH. MY. EFFING. GOD!Hey authors, here's a clue: rape, past rape and sexual slavery are NOT SEXY. The trauma these acts leave behind is not a solid base for a romance novel.I should have put the book down, but there was part of me that wanted to see where this train wreck would end up. Would the family come out in support of Julian and Olivia? (No.) Can Julian's Mighty Wang of Magical Healing cure years of sexual trauma? (Yes.) This was probably one of the most unrealistic and unbelievable books I've ever read. It's too bad, too, because I've heard good things about author Anna Campbell. But it would take a lot for me to trust her again after so shabbily treating her heroine in this book.
