Temptation just too much!

I just did not like Zachary Nash, Marquess of Hawkridge. I did not like his treatment of Faith Digby, his jilted fiancé of the past. The way he threatened Faith, after his dastardly treatment of her, as though he had any rights after his abandonment of her was disturbing.
I can understand, given the times and the importance of marriage as a social contract, his duty to family lines, to restoring the fortunes, but all in all he was a spineless coward. His anger is not righteous, rather it's a blatant act of birth and privilege towards a woman whom he gave up all rights to.
Yes, there is a HEA but the story just lacked that special something.
As you can see I was not impressed by Hawk, nor by Faith's reactions to him, more of a victim than someone who had conquered the past. I almost DNF. Hawkridge and his rant about his rights became quite tedious. His threatening of Faith, his high handedness I found disturbing. I just did not like him by the end of the novel. Faith was in an unenviable, trapped by her own feelings of powerlessness, hopelessly still besotted it seems by Hawk and unfortunately in a position to lose all, given the rights of the ruling class and men in particular at this time.

A NetGalley ARC

This series keeps improving with each installment. Ms. Ridley is adept at creating heart-wrenching but redeemable circumstances for her characters that invite the reader to keep forging ahead to help the protagonists reach their happily ever after. What I love about the Rogues to Riches series is the humanity given to the men. They absolutely do not get by on their charm and good looks. They have to work hard in life and love. It is refreshing to not have the female succumb so easily. The only odd part of the story was only one of the protagonists ever said “I love you” out loud. But definitely a good story in the continuation of a very good series.

I have read several other of this author's books and really liked them. So, I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it was not as good as the others. Hawk and Faith meet when they are younger and are in love. Hawk plans on offering for her and based on this intent, she sleeps with him. But when Hawk goes home and tells his mother and the man in charge of the dukedom, they tell him that there is no way that he can marry Faith. She is a commoner and he must marry someone in his class. Hawk doesn't care and plans to marry her anyways, until he finds out that the dukedom is beyond broke. His father spent all of the money and accrued a large amount of debt before he died. And now, the man in charge of the estates is doing more of the same. So Hawk sends Faith a letter saying they can't marry and asks if she is with child from their time together. Faith is devastated and tells him no. Unfortunately, it turns out she is.
For 10 years, Hawk has spent everyday trying to return the estates to solvency. It seems that throughout his struggles his whole life has been woe is me. He has sold everything and soon fears that he and his mother will be eating greul. Their clothes are threadbare. He is trying to raise funds to open a port on his property. He runs into Faith again, after all these years. Turns out the commoner has faired a lot better. Her family has made a fortune. Soarks fly, both good and bad.

The rest of the story goes back and forth. Hawk lives her and wants her. No, he can't be with her because she is a commoner. Her dowry would enable him to open his port. He is angry that she kept his daughter from him. Faith remembers how much she loved him. No, he abandoned her. He doesn't deserve his daughter. She feels bad that she kept his daughter from him. He'd only want her for her dowry.

I couldn't wait to finish this book. I could not warm up to any of the characters. If I hadn't read this book as an ARC, it would have become one of only a handful of books that I didn't finish. The worst part is that it could have been such a great story. I would definitely recommend the author's other books.

While I truly enjoyed the rest of this series, I don't think the passion/tension was quite as developed in Lord of Temptation. I did like the author's creative storyline (not really seen before in this genre), and only wished there was more of a believable romance between the hero and heroine.

I just finished the fourth in the Rogues to Riches series and found it to be a good read. Maybe it's me with this comment, but it seems to me the author repeats much of the story, maybe as a filler? How many times do we have to be told he has no money or that his love for Faith never left. I felt it could have focused somewhat on the fact that Hawk was young, naive, henpecked by his mother and others and just a coward. He's now mature and more kind to his mother than she deserved. I enjoyed the read but found myself skipping over the pages since it was "been there, done that" for me. Since this is my opinion, I still would recommend the book because I enjoy this author.

Erica Ridley has provided another delightful book in her Rogues to Riches series. The characters were richly drawn and I literally could not see how this could resolve well considering all of their obstacles. There is one issue with Hawk's brother Simon who is investigating a friend of Hawk's that will keep me wondering. I look forward to more and getting my answers.

Hawk has been penniless since he inherited the title and had to give up the girl he loved long go. Now years later, he is put back in her path, only now she is an heiress. This is the story of Hawk and Faith and love finding its way back despite all of the things that have gone wrong in the past. Ms. Ridley does a wonderful job of weaving the characters back into each other's lives and back together.

Lord Zachary Nash was in love with Faith Digby and the world looked bright until his father passed away and he became the Marquess of Hawkridge. With the title came the responsibility for all the debt the marquisate had accumulated under his father and then his guardian. He needed money so he had to abandon his love to make the estate solvent again. After years of hard work Hawk is almost paid off all the debt he owes. Hawk regrets losing Faith, but he could not afford to marry her then or even now.
Now ten years later Faith is an heiress and Hawk has never forgotten her. As Hawk tries to get back in her good graces how does he convince her he still loves her and not her money. Faith is still angry and hurt, but she also has a secret she’s afraid for Hawk to find out her secret. Hawk wants to marry Faith and she’s is determined that Hawk to never get his hands on her money. A captivating story of a second chance at a love of a lifetime if only they can learn to trust each other again.
This is my honest opinions after I voluntarily read a copy of this book that was provided to me with no requirements for a review.

Although I received this book as an ARC, I was very much looking forward to reading it. The set up for it in Lord of Night was wonderful. But I am sorry to say that it just wasn’t as good as I had hoped. It was very much a HEA story without the adventure and suspense. I would have liked to see something go wrong that would pull Faith and Hawk together more than just their past mistakes. In saying that, it is still a great read and fairly clean. Now to wait for the next one. The story of Grenville has been set up in the last couple of books and I am sure there will be lots of adventure and mystery to come. A great series with much more fun reading to come as Ms Ridley continues to set more characters for future books. This can be read as a standalone but it is much more enjoyable to read them all from the beginning.

Good reversal of American heiress trying to buy English title. Both of the main characters are trying to hide their true status before they inevitably fall in love.

I love this series and it's great to see the characters from the previous books carry forward. Hawk and Faith's relationship is definitely an interesting one. It takes a while but they finally manage to come together, through unconventional methods, and eventually find their HEA.

I really do love this series and Lord of Temptation was no different. The storyline really struck a chord with me and I felt it added real depth to this book. I loved Hawk and Faith and especially The Digby’s. I thought the ending lagged a little bit and that is why I gave the story 4 stars instead of 5.

This was a wonderful read! Lots of romance and a slight undercurrent of a mystery too. Was a slightly different angle than other romances. The H/h did not start off despising each other and then eventually realising they were the loves of each others lives. There was a history between them that started with love, then family and duty gets in the way and when they do reunite , it is the heroine who is a success and the hero is impoverished. It was just different enough to be interesting and familiar enough to satisfy. Thoroughly recommend this book to all lovers of historical romance.

I love this book! It is classic Erica Ridley! One of her best books yet!

Even though both the protagonists are only in their late twenties, this is a second-chance romance. Both eighteen when they first met and fell in love, Lord Hawkridge was talked out of marrying penniless Miss Faith Digby for the good of his failing estate.

Now ten years older and wiser, still desperately trying to bring his bankrupt marquesate back into profit, Hawk is startled to run across Faith again. Still unmarried, still the only woman he’s ever loved, she’s now a considerable heiress. How will she ever believe, though, that he wants her for herself and not her money, when money was the reason he left her all those years ago? When he discovers the secret she’s been desperately trying to hide, though, all bets are off.

Though this is the fourth in Erica Ridley’s Rags To Riches series, I haven’t read any of the others and that didn’t matter in the slightest. The story stands perfectly well alone. Hawk and Faith were absolutely charming together, both of them willing to recognize past mistakes and move on. Hawk’s determination to offer an apology to Faith even though he understood he might not receive her forgiveness, just because it was the right thing to do, made me fall utterly in love with him.

This was such a delightful read. As soon as I finished it, I wanted more. A perfectly crafted gem of a Regency romance, I highly recommend this one to lovers of the genre. Five stars.

Lord Hawkridge and Faith Digby both know that some mistakes carry devastating consequences. Years have past after the last time they have seen each other but fate has it for them to bump in to each other again. When they do both react quit differently. It becomes clear that second chances, to have or to give, are not easy at all to navigate. It takes true love, persistence and the dare to trust again and to see two broken and hurt people come together. Lord Hawkridge is determined to not let Faith leave his life again, but Faith has a secret that will bring ruin to her life if it becomes public and will hurt Lord Hawkridge deeply! Can their need and love for each other survive this?

This is tough to rate. On the one hand, I absolutely loved the beginning, but then the second half happened and kind of ruined everything for me.

At first, it seemed like this would be 100% my kind of book: a second chance love story between two people who fell in love when they were 18, have been separated for 10 years, and finally find a way to forgive and move on.
I thought Hawk was a sweetheart for the first half. Yes, he slept with Faith when they were young and left her when he discovered that his father left him astronomical debts and he would have to marry a rich heiress to even remotely become solvent again- add to that the fact that Faith is decidedly lower class AND her father is a mere merchant and his mother and guardian continue to berate him for the scandalous connection... I can see why a young, impressionable man overwhelmed by duties he is determined to take seriously would think leaving the love of his life was the way to go. Yes, the way he went about it was not ideal, but he was eighteen. Ten years later, he has grown into a responsible -if still impoverished- Marquess who is still trying hard to restore his estate. He has never forgotten the only woman he loved, and when he realizes that his bastard half-brother he recently met has married Faith's best friend he tries his best to apologize and make up for lost time. But Faith is determined to keep the new-found independence her father's financial success has allowed her, and doesn't trust Hawk isn't just after her dowry...

The first half was lovely and slow-burn, the feelings were killing me, but then, unfortunately, the second half was much too dramatic for my tastes. There's a big bad secret Faith is hiding, and I thought Hawk's reaction when he finds out was just despicable. Honestly... It sort of went downhill from there for me. I thought both held on to their anger much too long, and then just forgave each other out of nowhere.

All in all, I enjoyed it up until the middle, and then sort of only skimmed. But I have little tolerance for fabricated drama, so. It might just be me. Who knows. But I did enjoy the beginning immensely, that was a solid 5 star read. Up until the middle...

Interesting historical romance. Hawk and Faith have a history and meet again ten years later. Their first parting wasn't a happy one and there were regretful mistakes made on both sides. Now there may be another chance...
Good read. Wasn't happy how Hawk walked away, even at his young age; or how Faith solved her problem, though, again due to age. Love St. Giles, girls and school and how the story ends. Not happy with Hawk's mom especially how she relates to him; in love with Dahlia, her siblings and Chris! Waiting for Bryonny and Heath's stories.
Voluntarily read ARC for honest review.

4.5☆
Enjoyed it
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Rogues to Riches
Second chance romance
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

I look forward to reading the other books in this series.