Rating: 
Summary: More like tumultous and unfortunate
Review: Bryght has as much depth as a puddle, everyone hates the Mallorens so much there are enemies popping out all over the place, the fascinating Rothgar we first met in My Lady Notorious is about as excting as a wooden Indian, and theere is no sensuality in this book. All Portia does is whine, complain, mistrust Bryght, and God only knows why he puts up with her. The part in the brothel is totally gratuitous and there is nothing romantic about this book because they never realy fall in love. Bryght himself tells her several hundred pages into the book that they never talk. How true-they are hardly ever in the same room together, both tearing off in different directions, him trying to save her and her getting involved in worse and worse disasters. Trying to seduce his enemy and her old childhood friend are among the dumbest and most offensive things she does even after he has told her he loves her and that she should try to trust him. All the people who hate him and her are the ones she does trust. She is supposed to be named after the woman in Merchant of Venice who is able to discern truth from lies, and dispense justice. She is totally feeble at both, and as blind as a bat to herself and others. A frantic book with little humor and even less love. I will take Bryght any day, but he deserves a lot better than Portia. No one would ever want to identify with such a priggish fool. The endless warnings against gambling and descriptions of the games of chance and canals, and her afterword, show that the author really let her research show for all to see, and got way to carried away in her message to make us care about any of the characters. A feeble volume in this increasingly lacklustre series. Where is the sizzle?
Rating: 
Summary: Enter the world of the gambler
Review: Enter the world of the gambler - where stakes are high and all could be lost or gained at the turn of a card. Portia St. Claire's brother, Oliver is an addicted gambler who loses their estate. In order to try to pay off the debt, Portia and her brother travel to London to ask for help from a family friend.
Bryght Malloren, 2nd in line to the Malloren Fortune is on family business to attempt to retrieve a damning letter in the home of the Earl of Walgrove. He finds instead the short, fiery Portia St. Claire instead who holds a pistol on him and demands he leaves. Sparks fly immediately between these two. This good is interesting on several levels. First it very accurately portrays the addiction to gambling, the inability to control it, and the dangers of bidding beyond your means. Secondly, and completely unassociated the characters and secondary characters each hold their own weight, are interestingly created and weaved into the story. Unlike the 1st Malloren book (MY LADY NOTORIOUS), Rothgar, the head of the family does not overshadow Bryght who in his own right is sensual, intelligent and handsome. Portia, though not a traditionally beautiful woman has such a fiery nature, though perhaps a bit prudish and still, is a nontraditional heroine. Though Portia is actually auctioned in a Brothel at one point, for her virginal qualities this book is much lighter on explicit sex then it's predecessor and indeed the story seems much richer. However, perhaps it is that you truly began to care about this family. And this being book 2, you get to know and like them a lot more!
Rating: 
Summary: tempting fortune? more like tempting annoyance!
Review: For the life of me, I cannot understand why Bryght is with Portia. She's has a nasty habbit of running away (three times in the book!), she's rude to him, and she's extremely hot-headed! The herorine in this book really annoyed me. It took me two weeks to finish off this novel because I was too frustrated with her. Don't get me wrong, the storyline was interesting enough, but there were times when I just wanted to chuck the book at the wall. Maybe the next book in this series is better...
Rating:
Summary: Book with a strong hero, and an anti-marriage heroine
Review: I have to admit I read this book mainly because of Bright (Lord Arcenbryght Malloren). If you don't know anything about these names, that is fine. Until I started collecting and reading the Malloren series, I didn't know much either. TEMPTING FORTUNE is the second book in the Malloren saga, which appears to have ended in DEVILISH (Rothgar's story). The Mallorens are the children of the late Marquess of Rothgar by his two wives; Rothgar, the present Marquess (Bey to his family and friends), is the surviving child of the first marriage; the others are his half-brothers and half-sisters. Fortunately for me, MY LADY NOTORIOUS (the first book in the series, and the most expensive) is being re-printed after many many years. [Did you know that romances were collectible? I didn't, until I started to try and get backlists]. Down to the basics. Barbiesa has provided a excellent synopsis of the story. I will confine my remarks to the wonderful title (one of her best) and to my impressions of the book. This is a story about gaming (gambling) and risky investments/ speculation (another type of gambling more familiar to us today). TEMPTING FORTUNE is thus a wonderful send-up of the fears and motivations that drive the hero and heroine, and several of the minor characters. [The author explains all this very well in her long afterword]. Historical context - This story is set relatively early in the reign of George III and his new queen, Charlotte. At this time, gambling is rife in society, and fortunes (and estates) change hands easily. Of course, all gambling is done by men; women do not control money or estates, especially if they are married. Among the more interesting developments taking place in the background, we hear murmurs of what will become the Industrial Revolution, driven by coal and new ways of transporting goods. The Duke of Bridgewater is trying to build his famous canals, and Lord Arcenbryght (Bright) has invested virtually everything in it - and become a stakeholder. If Bridgewater cannot get his canal bills through Parliament, or if his canals are technologically unsound, Bright loses everything. This is the fascinating background to a remarkable story. I have to admit I read the story more to read about all of this, and also to get Bright's point of view. The story itself - Portia St Claire is the daughter of a man who ruined himself by bad and risky investments. Her mother and stepfather crave only stability, so much so that the mother will not let her only son go off to battle. When the son (by the second marriage) inherits the estate, he goes to London - where he gambles away a fortune - and the family estate. Yikes. Portia takes matters calmly, considering all of this. She does have options - for one, she can get a loan from the Ware family (the earl of Walgrave being her half-brother's godfather); for another, the family can always seek refuge with her maternal uncle, a manufacturer. However, her options become sharply limited by the death of the old earl (see MY LADY NOTORIOUS to see what happens), when the new earl stays in the country. There is no way to raise a loan in London. And to make matters worse, Oliver goes and plays again - when he has no money. This part of the book is so well-done. Oliver would have learned his lesson, but he is seduced back into gaming through Lord Bright's well-intentioned actions. We see Portia hiding coins here and there, paying the rent weeks in advance, and trying desperately to preserve what little cash they have against her brother's rush to the gaming tables again and again. Portia now has a grudge against Bright, not just because he appears to be a gamester, but because he has inadvertently persuaded Oliver back into gaming. And then disaster strikes. I will let that be a surprise for the new reader, but all ends with Portia forced to marry Bright, the man whom she desires but whom she distrusts [Bright even promises never to game again, knowing well that his gaming, as witnessed by Portia, was for a reason]. So far, so good. We see Fort, the arch-enemy of the Mallorens, interacting with his childhood friend. Could Fort have saved Portia as Bright did? Perhaps not. Would Fort have married Portia in the face of a major scandal? He says not. And this is the man to whom Portia flees - on her wedding night. She does so for a reason, but considering the enmity between the Wares and the Mallorens, this is not a good move. At that point, I nearly gave up on Portia. The book ends happily of course, but I wonder how long it will take for Portia to learn to trust Bright. I also noted that Portia seemed to trust her half-brother's word more (despite some lapses), although she perhaps had no choice. I was also puzzled by a little subplot involving a society lady, and the reasons why Bright would want her under his thumb. Those were the reasons this book gets four stars, and not five.
Rating: 
Summary: ok
Review: I liked this book. It was an interesting twist and quite passionate. Without the passion,is it really romance? I like 'em sexy, fun and exciting. I don't care who calls it trash. I want to be swept away into a beautiful romantic world, where men are heros and there really is such a thing as true love. This book did that as did my latest favorite "Anything, My Love" by Cynthia Simmons. A Page turning sizzler packed full of fun. Don't miss 'em!
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and interesting!
Review: I liked this book. It was an interesting twist and quite passionate. Without the passion,is it really romance? I like 'em sexy, fun and exciting. I don't care who calls it trash. I want to be swept away into a beautiful romantic world, where men are heros and there really is such a thing as true love. This book did that as did my latest favorite "Anything, My Love" by Cynthia Simmons. A Page turning sizzler packed full of fun. Don't miss 'em!
Rating:
Summary: Good read - much better if read in order!
Review: I read this book several months ago - and relly was quite confused - recently I read My Lady Notorious and realized why - these books need to be read in order. Why authors do not make this more clear is beyond me - one would think they would want us to enjoy them to the fullest. So much of what happens in Tempting Fortune is based on the relationships of the first book. Tempting is a good book - I loved Bright Malloren a lot as the male rouge hero - he had for me great appeal. There were many times though that I found Portia a little hard to take - she seemed attracted but so difficult. If I were Bright by the end of the book I would have told her to perhaps hit the road. I thoroughly do enjoy this series of Beverley books and I did the series of the Rouges. Jo Beverley is one of the best!
Rating:
Summary: Nice story, strong message
Review: In this book you will see how a woman who doesn't like any kind of bets, she bets not once but three times with Bryght Malloren and she lost the three times, so here we can learn that if you don't like to do something just don't do it.
This book will keep you reading the story of super heroine Portia St. Claire who climbs all kind of walls and super hero Bryght Malloren who is always there to save her.
This love story is kind of different from others, if I tell you why I will tell you the main story (the three bets that she lost) and I think that this is a nice book to read.
In the other hand of the love story, you can see how gambling could make rich people poor.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: My advise to anyone looking to read this book, is don't waste your time. The plot of the story has real potential. A head-strong country girl is in the mist of trying to regain her family's home after her brother gambled it away. The down fall however, is not so much the story but the characters,with the main disappointment being the heroine Portia. The opening chapters you see a glimpse of strong a personality, however by the end of the book the few intriguing traits she has have turned the reader sour. This book litearlly had me shooting to Portia "why are you so stupid." Due to the lack of development of the heroin it's hard to follow why the hero fell in love with her or root for a happy ending.
Rating:
Summary: Another intriguing glimpse of the Malloren family!
Review: Portia St. Claire has come to London with her brother to beg for assistance from a family friend. Her brother lost the family estate in a card game and they are desperately trying to get a loan from the Marquess of Walgrave to cover the debt. Unfortunately, the earl is not in town after all, and Portia must deal with her bored half-brother's determination to resolve the situation by gambling away their remaining funds. It doesn't take long for him to get in over his head with some unsavory characters, who threaten him physically unless he agrees to pay the debt by allowing them to take Portia to a brothel to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Fortunately, Bryght Malloren, who has been intrigued by the spirited Portia ever since she threatened to shoot him when he broke into their lodgings to retrieve a letter, finds a way to rescue Portia from her plight. Resigned to his fate, he sets about trying to help resolve her problems and persuade her to marry him. Portia, however attracted physically to Bryght, cannot imagine anything worse than being married to a gamester, and nothing Bryght says or does can convince her that he is not addicted to gambling, especially after she discovers that the man who won their estate is one of his best friends. Tempting Fate is a worthy successor to My Lady Notorious, the first in the five-book (so far!) series about the Malloren family. If you like books with determined, marriage-minded heroes and strong-willed heroines that are not too easily won, you will LOVE this book.
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