Review: Tempted by Megan Hart

I do not give spoilers! Just hints!!! *WINK*
Now, for those of you that know me, know I love Megan Hart’s novels because they are real. The situations and the characters are some of the most realistic ones I have encountered in modern day novels to come. And this one delivers!!! Now. with that being said… I will go on to review Tempted by Megan Hart

Tempted
• Paperback:
• Publisher: Spice (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373605196
• ISBN-13: 978-0373605194

The Blurh:
I had everything a woman could want.
My husband James. The house on the lake. My life. Our perfect life. And then Alex came to visit.
The first time I saw my husband's best friend, I didn't like him. Didn't like how James changed when he was around, didn't like how his penetrating eyes followed me everywhere. But that didn't stop me from wanting him. And surprisingly, James didn't seem to mind.
It was meant to be fun. Something the three of us shared for those hot summer weeks Alex stayed with us. Nobody was supposed to fall in or out of love. I didn't need another man, not even one who oozed sex like honey and knew all the secrets I didn't know, the secrets my husband hadn't shared. After all, we had a perfect life. I loved my husband.
But I wasn't the only one.


The Players and a little history:
For this story, I believe you have to understand the past to understand the future…

Anne - Daughter, sister and wife.
Her mother, the best way I can describe her is a very passive person. She raised her four daughters the best she knew how. Married to an alcoholic husband; although no one around him would call him that to his face. Let‘s just say that he loves his ice tea a little strong on the whisky and light on the tea. Oh, and there are fixing to celebrate thirty years together.
Her sisters… Claire, the baby. She is the rebel out of the whole group! She is the wild child, the only one to stand her ground and open her mouth and say what she feels. Mary, the second youngest, She is the one that makes everyone feel better. She is not married and once wanted to be a nun. Patricia is the oldest and she is the one to put everyone else in their place. She is the perfect mother… bakes cookies, PTA mama, awesome housewife, everything is in it’s order in her house… Nothing is out of place in her life. Now Anne is younger than Patricia. She is the one that keeps everything shiny and polished on the outside. She is the good daughter; she is one that takes care of everyone and everything. Anne use to work at a local counseling center, but the center lost its funding and the doors had to close. So, she has taken to being a housewife very comfortably
Anne is also the one who has everything. Anne is married to James Kennedy. Speaking of her husband, “I liked to watch him sleep, despite the way it sometimes made me want to pinch myself to prove I wasn’t dreaming. That this was my husband, my house, my life. Our perfect life. That there were good things to be had in the world and I had them.”
If I had to describe how I originally felt about Anne, I would tell you that she is a people pleaser. We all know that type. She will do whatever it is to please those she cares for. And that bothered me when I started reading the book. I wanted her to have backbone in the beginning of the story, especially with her sisters. But she just simply did what she had to do to please everyone. But, put her past in this mix… then I understood why she was like she was… With the sisters she has surrounding her and her mother the way she was… she saw it her job to be the good one.

James - Friend, son and husband.
His parents, while we do not hear much about his father… hold on to your hats about his mother… Believe me, if you have a mother-in-law that is nice… You will want to buy her roses after this story. His mother is the matriarch of the family. She is the Queen mother and No One and I mean No One disobeys her orders without feeling her wrath. But James is the only boy… and the baby! So, he does no wrong. And of course the world was and still is given to him on a silver platter. He has two sisters that you don’t hear much about.
I brought “friend” into this category because of Alex Kinnedy. Anne and James have mutual friends together, but we do not hear of them in the story. But this is no ordinary friend… This is his grade school friend that he grew up with. However, when they were 21 yrs old, something happened to their friendship that caused a riff to happen and since then, things have not be the same between them. That is until… Anne!
James loves Anne with his whole heart and there is nothing in the world he would not do for her. He holds the world at her feet. What woman would not love that in a man. But his carefree attitude would irk my nerves sometimes. And the way he would dismiss Anne’s feelings on how his mother treated her… well, I could have slapped the shit out of him. But that is Anne’s fault because she did not have the backbone I wished to see.

Alex Kinney - Friend & Lover
Alex is James’s friend only. At least that is how Anne sees it. She knows that they were the best of friends during school/college life, but something happened to put a dent in their relationship. She would ask her husband about their relationship and that dent but he would not really say much. So, she respected her husbands space and put it aside. Alex is the friend we all love to hate. You know the type… The one who “makes” your husband go out to have a couple of drinks… come in late… smoke ~ even if he doesn’t around you… . But oh my gosh… he is drop dead gorgeous (so is her husband by the way) and he just radiates sexuality!!!! He is sex on a stick!!!! Yea… really! If you think I am kidding… read the book ***haa haa evil grin*** Lover… well the book is called Tempted and the cover has two men and one woman…. *sex on a stick; that I would not mind being on with him*

Now… on to the story…

My thought:
This is an erotic novel… and again... Ms. Hart does definitely deliver!! No argument, hands down ~ EROTIC!! This book is hot, steamy, kinky and everything else in the middle. And I read it in two days… When I read one of her novels… I get no sleep… why you might ask… because I HAVE TO KNOW what happens. I fell in love with the couple as a whole, because come’on… who doesn’t want that type of relationship! They have everything… A house on the lake, he has a great job, they love each other endlessly, they have an awesome sex life, they eventually want to have a baby (but are enjoying the trying process) and a family… well… let’s just leave it at that. But as individuals, I found myself a little aggravated. Like I said earlier, Anne’s personality lacked a backbone. I did not like that. James, again…earlier… I could slap the shit out of for being the typical male in the relationship where his mother was concerned. But they are due their faults; doesn‘t every one have them. Why you might ask that they are due their faults; because Megan makes them real to us… and come’on… I will be the first to tell you that I actually know people like that. ((((That is why I LOVE Megan Hart’s novels)))) But I pushed through the hot steamy sex, I know ~ it was a challenge, but someone had to do it… I pushed right on through that and kept reading. Besides, I had to get to my sex on a stick **evil wicked grin*! Speaking of my sex on stick… My thoughts on him… **wiping drool from chin** ***oh sorry was lost in thought*** Alex, he has a strong personality. He is the one you love to hate. I loved him, at the same time I hated him for coming in the middle (so to speak). But you will understand….

The Plot
This one is hard for me, because it really is not about testing a marriage… or seeing what it is made of. The more I think about it… The plot of the book is a husband trying to give to his wife - what he thinks she wants. Truly, that is what James is trying to do. And no one can fault him for that. He is simply trying to please his wife. Anne, tries to accept what her husband is offering to her. To please him. Like every relationship, sometimes you need a change and James is willing to allow the change to happen… Hell, he even encourages it. But the undertone of what is going on… there is more than one relationship at stake here. James & Anne. James & Sex on a Stick…*cough* I mean Alex. Anne & Alex. Yes… you are following me right. James and Anne… happily married, no problems, no fighting (expect the normal martial ones garbage, maybe) great couple. James and Alex… best friends until one night it got pushed to far but not far enough. Alex and Anne… We all know triangles are never pretty. More than just sex is at stake for a woman. We all know that no matter how hard we try, our hearts get in the way. We are made that way. So what is one to do when your husband and his best friend want to try to make you happy… Who loves who more, does it become a competition of hearts, who wins, who loses, was it worth the lost, was it worth the win, what did you win, does it leave you thinking about what if… are you happy with what’s left?

The Unexpected
Well… Anne’s new attitude! She rocked it out towards the ending! Yea, I loved her… She put some hot sauce on her personality and character and kicked some ass. But the hot sauce is Alex… he pushed her. That is one of the reasons I loved him. He gave her something… Expect, I still felt for her when it came to this relationship with James and Alex. A woman’s heart is a tender thing to mess with. Besides Anne’s attitude, the ending took me for a loop. I never saw that coming… because the three of them came so close to having an almost perfect threesome. Or at least what could be deemed a perfect threesome. And I am still looking for the why?? You will understand.
Another thing that was unexpected for me was Anne’s condition. That took me by surprise.
Oh and I almost forgot… where the idea to have Alex in the mix…came from… That took me by COMPLETE surprise!!!! Oh yea, I am going to make you read this!!

The Expected
Well, James’s mother being a complete bitch… that was expected and never let up! Now, that is one person I could bitch slap the piss out of!!! She never failed to disappoint me. Another thing I found pleasantly expected was James and Anne’s love. It was a constant. I loved that, no matter what their endured, their love was there and evident. Ms. Hart brought it to the pages and let us see the “little” things.
This is during Anne’s parents anniversary party, her dad just finishing giving his thank you speech. He just thanked his daughters for the party. “The crowd sought us out, the four. Patricia, with her arms around Sean’s waist and her kids circling her like satellites. Mary, standing just far enough away from Betts. Claire, deep in conversation with a tall guy I didn’t recognize. And me, looking out from the dubious safety of James’s arms. They seemed to be waiting for something. “”They want you to talk,” James whispered. “”Go ahead.”” “”No,”” I said, but he linked his fingers through mine and squeezed and I somehow found the strength.”” Now, I picked this particular phrase because I am one for the little things… and this is one of those moments and I found myself going “awww… sniff sniff“.

Smut Or No…
This is an erotic novel. Hell… if I described one of the characters as “Sex on a Stick, “ what do you think~!~! I loved it all. It was in your face, but hell… they are married, what would you expect. It was refreshing to see that the woman in the story was not a bottled up, ,maiden that no one has touched her except her husband. She even talked about her past lovers and what they were like ((I even had a good laugh… because oh how true)). It was nice to know that she knew her body before her husband knew it. Knowing one’s body is very important!!!! That part (besides so many others) let me know that she was a true woman. The sex scenes are done very well (again… a signature of Ms. Hart). It was never an “oh no not again” factor ~ because they are married. Some of it was make up sex that I was even taking notes on (haa haa). Very well done!!

What Pleased Me
Towards the end of the book… Funny to read that huh?? I loved it. The beginning was a little rough for me… the ending… kind of left me unsure… but the mid-ending rocked!!! I love the concept of the book. I mean, what man does not fantasize about his wife with someone else… Normally it is another woman… but hey… that was not the way James wanted it. And if you never thought of a threesome in your head… then you are lying (just joking ~ don‘t want to upset anyone… lol) And what woman does not want to please her man. Again, the characters are sooo well like people I know or you know. Anne’s father… my step-dad was an alcoholic that no one would say that to his face. Or I am sure we know someone like Claire, the outspoken, wild, rebels child; Patricia, the “bestest” best of everything.. with a world crumbling around her; James’s Mother… the bitch (I am SURE we all know someone like her). Even though I did not like some of these people, it very much pleased me to see their story unfold for me.

What Displeased Me
The ending. NO, Not in that way, so hit the damn “Process To Checkout” button. I felt Anne was owed more than she got. I am a woman after all… and I just wanted to see everyone happy ~ together. And yes, I know that triangles do not typically work that way… but hey, that does not mean I was not rooting for the ending to go my way.

Cover
Okay… can you say smoking hot! I love her covers!!! It says everything about this book!!! Three hot bodies, one that you can see the wedding band on. The men are engaged in light touching as well. It is just awesome!!! Period.

If you are interest to see what else Megan Hart has to offer, please check out her website.

And do not forget to browse through her Up Coming Release!! They look hawt!!

Oh and PPPPSSSS, please check out her blog link http://www.meganhart.com/blog/2009/05/30/editing-naked/ because we find out that Sex on a Stick… I mean… sorry… Alex gets his own story!!!!! Wonder if we will see Anne and James in his story!!!! And it is called… you ready for this one… Naked!!!! OH YEA… I will have already hit the PRE-ORDER button when she says it is available !!!!!
Another great one by Ms. Megan Hart!

That wraps up another great Ms. Megan Hart book for me... Now, I will be moving on to Dirty! Let me know what you guys think... or thought of the book if you read!!!