Don't Tempt Me

I did just what I thought I would - I downloaded Don't Tempt Me by Loretta Chase Monday night and I have read it twice already. I loved it, but not unqualifiedly. There are appealing and entertaining main characters, witty dialogue (excessive dusting!), and good sex. I think what's holding me back from loving it unreservedly is the lack of tension or conflict. It goes from some minor hitches to big love affair mighty smoothly and so the book (which I read in ebook format so I don't have a good notion of how long it would be in a printed book) seemed sort of lightweight. I've thought this about her last 3 books actually, so I shouldn't be surprised. Her earlier works, Lord Perfect and Miss Wonderful for example, are very detailed and meaty and there is so much to relish. I keep hoping the next one will be like the older ones, but no.

And now, just to be contradictory, the opposite problem - too much tension, too much conflict. I've just reread the Joanna Bourne books, The Spymaster's Lady and My Lord and Spymaster. I enjoyed them when they came out and they've improved on second reading, but somewhere about two-thirds of the way through I start thinking shouldn't they be starting to trust (get along, believe, etc. etc.) each other at this point? It seems that the major conflict between the two main characters isn't resolved until the last 2 or 3 pages even though they might be enjoying wild monkey sex already. I do love that her heroines are accomplished in some way in their own right - almost unbelievably so - and that in some circumstances, the heros acknowledge that. Just not enough, in my opinion. I keep thinking wouldn't it be nice if just this once instead of acting at odds with each other yet again, they could pull something off together, something they've planned? Yeah, that would be nice.