There’s nothing tempting about Tempt Me With Kisses, at least at first glance. The cover is an ugly dried-blood color with an annoying half-unclad couple on it (the man has snaps on his shirt!), and the back blurb talks about bold warriors and flame-haired Scottish lasses. Ho-hum.

But if you avert your eyes from the cover and read the story, you’ll find an unexpected treat. The characters in this book are quite different from the thewy knights and head-tossing maidens that populate so many Medieval romances. They actually seem like real people, and the plot of this book is driven by their realistic, likable personalities.

Caradoc is in an impossible position. Lord of Llanstephan Fawr, a manor on the Welsh marches, his loyalties are torn between the Norman King Richard and the Welsh Prince Rhys. Due to his brother’s foolishness he is deep in debt, and his holdings are likely to be taken away from him if he can’t come up with the money to pay King Richard’s taxes. Then a red-haired woman drives up with her entire (considerable) dowry packed in carts, and makes him an offer he can’t refuse.

Fiona MacDougal is the daughter of a Scottish wool merchant. She has adored Caradoc from afar since she encountered him as a child, but the differences in their stations made a match between them impossible. Until now: he needs money, she has it, and she needs a husband. Quick.

There are numerous obstacles to this marriage of convenience, besides the fact that the man and wife barely know each other. Caradoc resents the fact that he must essentially sell himself in marriage to save his estate. There is a considerable class difference between the noble Caradoc and Fiona, a merchant’s daughter. Worse, most of Caradoc’s tenants are horrified at the betrothal, including Caradoc’s spitfire sister Cordelia. His men sit around and discuss ways of preventing the marriage, and his servants all but rise up in revolt. And finally, Fiona has a Big Secret that you just know is going to come out at the worst possible time.

What makes all of this work – and it does work – is the fact that both Caradoc and Fiona are such likable and believable characters. Caradoc is not a musclebound warrior in chain mail – he is in fact a very shy, somewhat bookish young man who has devoted his life to his estates in spite of his nagging certainty that he doesn’t deserve it. His hard work and willingness to help out with the shearing has won the devotion of his people, but he is barely aware of it, always comparing himself to his dashing brother Connor (the hero of The Maiden And Her Knight). Fiona is not a hoyden; rather, she is a sensible and intelligent woman, alone and in trouble, who needs a husband. She turns to Caradoc because she has dreamed of him since she was very young, and because she knows he is worthy of her trust. But she does not, in fact, choose to trust him.

I don’t like Big Secret plotlines very much. It’s a tough trick to pull off: the secret has to be bad enough that the secret-keeper genuinely fears for the relationship if it is told – yet not so bad that it actually destroys the relationship once it is revealed. Generally the balancing-act is not achieved, and I’m just annoyed with the characters for not trusting each other.

Fiona’s Big Secret is really big. We know what it is from the beginning, and I understood perfectly why Fiona kept it from Caradoc. I like the way that keeping the secret took its toll on her. Every day that passes makes revelation of the secret even more impossible. The days and nights that should have been the happiest of Fiona’s life are spoiled, in small ways, by the necessity of deceiving her husband.

The book has a few flaws. That Big Secret is not going to fly with some readers no matter how justified it seems. Also, Caradoc is a reserved man who is often terribly inarticulate – there were times when I wanted to yell at him, “Talk to her, you idiot!” For me, those things were balanced by the charming secondary characters and the passionate, romantic relationship between Fiona and Caradoc.

The books of Margaret Moore have had very mixed success here on AAR – the previous book in this series, in particular, got a resounding thumbs down. I thought Tempt Me With Kisses was quite good. Fortunately, it stands alone – no need to read the first book to enjoy this one.