Although the spine of Temptation of the Warrior labels it as 'Historical Romance,' it actually contains a considerable dollop of paranormal folded in throughout its the pages. Merrick Mac Lochlainn travels through time to protect his people from a great evil. He journey's from the Isle of Coruain in the year 981 to 19th-century England seeking a special stone, one of two that exist somewhere in England, based solely on the prediction that he needs to find 'Keating' on the Carlisle Road. As Merrick arrives on the Carlisle Road, he sees a woman being attacked by four men and wades in to help, knowing that he can't use his usual magic in this situation as it will alert his enemies to his location.

Jenny Keating, the young woman the mysterious man helps, has her own secrets. She's recently left a school where her treatment has been decidedly Jane Eyre-esque with beatings from the Reverend Usher, the headmaster. Her one possession of value, a special pendant left to her by her parents, has been stolen, and she's on the trail of her erstwhile roommate, Harriet, whose brother apparently lives in Carlisle. Jenny decides to travel to Carlisle to find the pendant before taking up her new position as governess just north of Carlisle. Her strange abilities to affect objects when she feels emotions strongly have forced her to keep herself to herself - along with the fact that everyone she has ever trusted has left her.

When the man who helped Jenny against the assailants wakes up from a crack on the head, he has amnesia. Jenny names him Matthew and says he is her husband so that a band of Gypsies will help them. Merrick remembers nothing of his mission and believes that he is Jenny's husband. As the band travels slowly towards Carlisle, Jenny finds herself getting more and more attached to Matthew, but she fears that a man such as he must have a wife whom he will remember.

The story moves on as they hunt for the pendant, Merrick's memory returns, and he and Jenny realize that they have no future. But is there more to Jenny than meets the eye - and are the prophecies about Merrick's future wife misleading?

This is an enjoyable book featuring some interesting settings with the band of Gypsies and moving around Carlisle in the search for the pendant. Jenny and Merrick are both believable and likeable, although Reverend Usher seems a pantomime villain. The paranormal aspect of this story sometimes feels distracting, and the short scenes back in Coruain are, for this reader at least, rather spurious. However, it remains a good read overall.