Book Review – Tempted by Megan Hart

Tempted

*side-eyes the original cover*. Blink. Blink blink. *grins* Tee hee!! *blush*

Ummmm… hehe. I don’t really have to tell you what the book is about… do I? We all know Megan writes erotica. Yep. She does. And this is quite… erotic. Hard to tell by the cover, but I can assure you, it is. (can you hear my sarcasm? Can you? LOL!)

(btw: there’s a bunch of shocked/confused/intrigued blinking going on in this one. And not just by the reader). I laughed each time the characters *blinked*, because I could see them, perfectly.

*glances over shoulder to see if anyone is watching*

Okay. Let’s be honest. It is what it appears to be. Judging a book by it’s cover in this case will result in a fairly accurate assumption.

HOWEVER. Megan, as Megan writes, goes deep. Deeper then just a few super-sexy romps in bed. Because this book explores temptation in an almost realistic light. It’s hot. It’s all-consuming. It seems like a great idea at the time, on the outside, in the moment, at least (even though alarm bells are sounding in the background). And even though it could end up all wrong, the characters can’t deny the attraction, and their more basic instincts are acted upon. They act as if they are trying to hold back, but the constant titillation and flirting plays each of them, and this is an easy game to get into.

Not so much, though, when the stakes are incidentally raised. When emotion suddenly plays a part in the game.

Because you see, Anne and James have been married for a few years now. They have a seemingly perfect marriage, and Anne counts her lucky stars each day to have a husband like him. They seem to adore each other, and their love, while not all consuming, is what Anne thinks is a perfect love. An appropriate love. A true and healthy love. They are great for each other, and while like in all marriages, they have their little bumps in the road…

James is an intense butterfly, flitting from focus to focus and giving each his undivided attention. It’s flattering when it’s you. Not so charming when it isn’t.

… she believes their love is real, and that’s all that matters.

Until Alex arrives. Alex is James’s long lost best friend. They have history. Even bad history, although she doesn’t quite know what that is. But years later, Alex is a guest in their home, and while on the “outside” everything is polite and congenial, she sees James in a whole new light.

“A few weeks? Here?” I didn’t mean to sound unwelcoming, but…

“Yeah.” James’s grin was small and secret , for himself. “It’ll be great. You’ll love Alex, babe. I know you will.”

He looked at me and was, for an instant, a man I didn’t know. He reached for my hand, linking our fingers before he took them to his lips and kissed the back of my hand. His mouth caressed my skin, and he looked up at me over the top of his kiss, his blue eyes with excitement.

But not for me.

He’s “Jamie” to Alex, and he’s picking up some of Alex’s more wild ways, acting like “boys”, and there seems to be a closeness between Alex and James, that even she has not experienced with James in the past. James almost seems to worship Alex.

“What’s Alex like?”

“He’s like the lake.”

“Tell me.”

James shifted, the bed dipping as he moved and tugged the covers with his feet. “Alex is… deep, Anne. But he’s shallow in places, too, when you don’t expect it. I guess that’s the only way to put it.”

And Alex is something to behold. Confident, rich, sexy and an obvious bad-boy, he doesn’t come from a steady, more “well-to-do” background like Jamie did. In fact, Alex and Anne seem to have more in common regarding their bad childhood memories.

It was all fine with me, that veneer. The shiny reflection that kept anyone from seeing what was underneath, the eddies and currents and depths of the truth. It was, after all, what I was used to.

Jamie, loving both Alex and Anne more than anything in the world… has an “easy and fun” proposal for her. Nothing serious. Just… them.

But when a “little fun” over the course of a few months begins interrupting their normal, happy life, everything is put into question.

“What is it about him?” I whispered the question so he could pretend not to hear it.

He heard me. He didn’t answer, but he heard. We looked at each other. I didn’t like the sudden distance between us, in a moment when we should have felt closer than ever.

It’s not all romance and sexy interludes. After all… she is living with TWO men, who occasionally… well… are slobs, and do the men things that we like to forget when reading “romance”. I love that this, is explored by the author.

… I sometimes felt like the third wheel, not privy to their in-jokes, or moronic forays back to adolescence. It was sometimes like living with Beavis and Butthead.

And of course there’s the emotional aspect. The new connections that are forged and the changes that are a result. And not just between Anne and Alex. But what exactly happened, once, between Alex and Jamie? The past comes back to haunt them all, and the present reality keeps intruding on their private world.

Something to explore, if you’re intrigued. But this… this one had me discombobulated, and well… unsettled. I couldn’t put it down, but how I feel about it is still up in the air. Daring, scary, exciting, uncomfortable, and it sort of drowns you, emotionally.

4 stars

Interested in the series? Check out the reading order guide!

BTW – here’s the NEW cover: