Compromised by Christmas

by Katy Madison

Roxana Winston's family is in dire straits. Instructed to land a wealthy husband by any means necessary, she is packed off to a holiday season house party thrown by the wealthy Duke of Trent, Maximilian St. Clair. She is determined to get herself compromised, and she needs Max to play his role as protector and demand the proper recompense for her when the time comes. But unbeknownst to everyone, Roxana has a secret plan to break free of the narrow roles for women defined by society. Her skills with the needle can be used for more than disguising her poverty; she hopes she can turn designing into a career. The last thing she needs is to fall for Max, who has a very inconvenient sense of honor and thwarts her every attempt to persuade a certain gentleman to cross the line.While Max is amused by the lovely Miss Winston's schemes to land a wealthy husband, he is determined to protect her virtue, even when the greatest threat to it comes from him. And when he learns the reason for his guest's behavior, he is more determined then ever to give her the greatest gift of all...even if that means he has to throw his principles to the wind.

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 28, 2012

About the author

Katy Madison has always loved stories. As a child she was always lugging a book around. At the age of eight, after
Katy Madison having gone through over a hundred Nancy Drew mysteries, all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books—at least twice—and many others including her full weekly allotment of library books, Katy went to her mother and begged for a new book to read. Her frustrated mother handed her a romance novel. Katy fell in love with the romance genre. She quickly found where her mother hid the rest and began sneaking them out to read. She cut her eye teeth on books by Georgette Heyer and Mary Stewart, not to mention dozens of Barbara Cartland’s. With a nod to great Gothic novels like Jane Eyre and Rebecca, Katy offers up her gothic romance Tainted by Temptation.

Reviews

[WinieP · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was darker than I thought from the blurb. The author brought to the story the fact that during that period, husbands had absolute authority over his wife and family, and could be legally as abusive to them as he liked. The heroine's desperation and fear of marriage stemmed from that fact. The hero is still grieving over the loss of two younger brothers. Therefore there was a lot of angst before they finally were able to get together. It was an enjoyable story with just enough heat. The subplot of the stepmother and the hero's friend added interest. What was a big minus, was the epilogue that was really an annoying teaser for a sequel.