His Taste of Temptation features a crazy mixed up love story with a couple of characters that drove me slightly nuts yet their story was so compelling I couldn’t put the book down. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
One affair, thirty days.
Since his last relationship blew up in his face, bomb expert Brad Crosby has lost his appetite for “permanent”. But his kid brother’s best friend? Now there’s a curvy morsel he could wrap his lips around.
For years Brad has been the star of Madison Graham’s fantasies. If only she were the kind of put-together girl he prefers, not a pastry chef whose makeup consists of a dusting of powdered sugar on her nose. A belief that’s confirmed when her apartment floods and he offers to let her sleep in his bed—alone.
Wrapped in Brad’s sheets, she dreams of his touches, his kisses, the feel of his body on hers. Except her dreams feel like reality—and come morning, she realizes it wasn’t a dream at all.
Soon the two are burning up the nights. But as Madison’s sweet love grows on him, Brad can’t help but think of extending their time together.
Too bad Madison keeps reminding him their affair has an expiration date.
Warning: May contain heat, explosive sex, and Fourth of July fireworks that pale in comparison to the sparks between a sworn bachelor and a tempting pastry chef.
Review copy provided for an honest review
Every once in a while I come across a hero that I absolutely want to knock over the head with a sledge hammer but then he turns around and does something that makes your heart melt and you forgive him for being so stubborn and obtuse throughout most of the book. Such is my love/hate relationship with the hero in Catherine Fox’s Taste of Temptation. The thing is he’s not a bad guy and he really does nothing wrong but because of something woman did to him he’s bound and determined to not fall in love again even when he knows he has the “right” woman in his arms and in his bed. That being said, I can’t only fault the hero in this book because the heroine wasn’t really being honest about the person she really is or about her feelings and still, I loved this book.
Madison Graham is a bakery owner trying to keep afloat but the space she rents both for her business and her home is a broken down mess and she knows she needs someplace better; her best friend and roommate Jonah agrees but for now he enlists his older brother Brad to help. Brad who Madison has had a crush on since high school, Brad who she thinks doesn’t know she’s alive, and Brad who turns her body and brain to mush.
All around handy man and sometimes bomb disposal expert, Brad Crosby never expects to walk into his brother’s apartment and see the object of his many fantasies dripping wet in transparent clothing. Not to mention that his brother makes him promise he’ll look after Madison while he’s gone on a job and he doesn’t think he means the kind of looking after he’d like to get into with Madison.
I really loved that both the Madison and Brad wanted each other fiercely but were holding back for personal reasons; Madison because she didn’t think she was sexy enough or Brad’s type and Brad because he mistakenly believed something was going on between Madison and his brother. They embark on a time limited affair and each day they spend together it becomes more and more obvious they are developing real feelings; feelings neither one is about to share. It was interesting to watch them go out of their way to take care of one another with neither one of them realizing what they were doing. Brad was great about boosting Madison’s self esteem stemming from her body issues and Madison proved time and time again that she was trustworthy and loyal something that was missing in Brad’s last relationship. The one thing these two don’t do well (and believe me there is a lot and I do mean A LOT they do very, very well together) is communicate.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I was glad to get a glimpse at the couples from the previous books as well. His Taste of Temptation features a crazy mixed up love story with a couple of characters that drove me slightly nuts yet their story was so compelling I couldn’t put the book down.
4.5 Stars
Thanks for the review Slick