Review: Tempt Me with Diamonds (The London Jewels Trilogy #1)

Tempt Me with Diamonds (The London Jewels Trilogy #1) 

by Jane Feather

Blurb:

Three friends who met at an elite English boarding school take on the town—and the ton—one by one, in this sparkling new series about love, loss, and lustrous gemstones, from New York Times bestselling author Jane Feather...

A FINE ROMANCE…

Diana Sommerville seems to have it all—beauty, brains, and vast wealth, thanks to her family's ownership of a diamond mine abroad. But when her beloved brother dies in battle and leaves a lion's share of his estate to his best friend, Diana finds herself in a situation that seems scripted for the stage: Sharing her family home with the man she used to love—and now loathes. Worse, her unfaithful former fiancé has already moved in.

OR AN EXCELLENT FAKE?

Rupert Lacey didn't expect Diana to take the news without a fight. Still, he didn't expect her to bring the battle directly to their newly shared doorstep—complete with a full set of trunks, and a full set of orders to the staff. Yet there she is, bold, regal...magnificent as ever. Now they would face a formidable challenge: to ignore each other—and the unanswered questions that stood between them. The only sure thing is their still blazing desire. But with a woman like Diana, it will take nothing less than a momentous misunderstanding, a missing prized mare, and a shocking revelation to restore a love that hasn't lost its shine.

Themes:  Historical

Rating: 3.5 stars

Heat Rating:  

Review:

 An all new series begins with a new twist on the words Independent Women, but I am looking forward to seeing how Jane Feather takes these characters into the world of men and gives them a chance to spread their wings.  The series kicks off with a story of former lover coming back together after the tragic loss of someone they both loved, someone that leaves them in a bit of an untenable situation.  Ms. Feather has always has an interesting way of putting her characters into binds and them finding creative ways of getting them out of them, but I wasn’t too sure if this one was going to work out to everyone’s satisfaction to be honest, thankfully I was proved wrong.  Diana Somerville has returned to her home in England after living for years in Africa, prompted by the deaths of her father and brother to return, and is dismayed to find her former fiancé has been given half of everything she thought she owned outright.  Her brother has left everything he owned to the man that broke her heart and now she has to not only deal with him on business decisions but live with him as well.  Rupert Lacey has never stopped loving Diana, despite her breaking his heart with her lack of faith in him, and when he is forced to live with her he knows that the challenge she poses is one is can’t resist.  Diana is determined to win the war against Rupert, but soon she remembers how much her body and heart crave the man and her resistance is just not strong enough.  Leaving London seems the only option, until he follows right behind her, forcing her to own up to her desires and feelings.  But when they are faced with the first challenge of their newly rekindled relationship it becomes obvious that Diana will truly never give her heart and trust to him, leaving Rupert withdrawing.  Diana must now chase after the man to prove that she loves him enough for the both of them, or their love will truly be gone forever, and she just can’t accept that truth. Diana was one of those woman that I don’t really like too much, raised in a bubble and living a life of luxury without every really understanding the world around her.  She didn’t really appreciate the love of the man when she had him, allowing fear and stupidity to lose her the best thing in her life, and then when she has a second chance at it, she does the same stupid thing again.  In the end she finally wizens up thankfully, but though I like some of her decisions and she was certainly a strong-willed enough woman for her time, overall I would have been slapping some sense into her had I been one of her close friends. Personally I thought that Rupert was too good of a man for Diana, his love remaining true despite her childishly throwing away their love.  He was smart, dedicated, brave, sweet and sexy all while being a true gentleman and trying to protect himself from the rumors and trauma of their broken engagement.  HE worked so hard to prove to the woman that he loved her and show her that they could have a happy life together while all she did was plot to tear him down and try to bring him to his knees.  I am happy that in the end he got what he wanted, which oddly was Diana, but I would have liked to see him with a stronger female lead to be honest, a woman truly of his stature and greatness.  I am hoping that the other two ladies that will be getting stories in this series are better characters and look forward to reading their stories soon, but overall I have to say that Diana’s childishness made this one a bit of a drag for me.

*ebook provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.