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Whistle Stopper - Tempted
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List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $8.14
Your Save: $ 5.81 ( 42% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Spice
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780373605194
ISBN: 0373605196
Label: Spice
Manufacturer: Spice
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Publisher: Spice
Studio: Spice
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Two + One = Wheeeeeee!
Comment: Early in Tempted, while making love with her husband, the heroine, Anne, marvels how he touches her in just the right way. Of course, he has it easy. "...I usually wanted what he wanted me to want," she explains.
The degree to which this is true - how much Anne is willing to buy into her husband's choices for her - forms the main conflict in this involving and steamy romantic novel.
Anne's capacity to accept her husband's desires, as well as her own, are tested when he introduces her to his long-missing boyhood friend, Alex. From the first time she hears her husband, James, on the phone with Alex, Anne is suspicious of their relationship. There's an intimacy there, an undercurrent of shared secrets, a flirtatiousness, maybe a submissiveness....she can't put her finger on it, but something isn't right.
When Anne finally meets the mysterious Alex, her curiosity and concern are quickly intermingled with attraction and desire. Alex is one fine man: charming, handsome and, as the Aussies say, dead-sexy. .
Soon, it becomes clear that James wants Alex involved with their marriage in a manner that would surely get them on the Jerry Springer Show, should they decide to take their arrangement public. But why? What happened between Alex and James all those years ago?
Moreover, what does Anne want now? A chance to be serviced by two eager lovers? Alex all to herself? Her life with James back to the way it was? Or something else?
(And don't the two names - Alex and Anne - sound as if they belong together? Or is the assonance merely reflective of James's desire to replace Alex with the next-best thing? Hmmmmm....)
As a gay man, I was concerned about Tempted. The set-up - happy marriage is threatened and perhaps destroyed by scheming homo homewrecker - sounded as if it could quickly turn ugly. But other reviews here on Amazon convinced me to take a chance.
I'm glad I did. Hart is too smart to make the gay guy the bad guy. In fact, he's not even gay - Alex appears to be the most easy-going and matter-of-fact bisexual you'll ever meet in print (if you don't count Madonna's picture book "Sex," that is). For Alex, playing both sides of the fence is natural and great fun. You go, Alex.
James, on the other hand...well, you'll have to read the book to find out what his motivations are.
But, mostly, this is Anne's story, and Hart does a lovely job of showing us her conflicting desires. Hart also maintains the suspense...there's a lot you don't know about everyone's backgrounds and motivations until late in the book. Up until the end, you're not even sure who will up wind up with whom. Oh you may guess, and you may be right, but you won't be sure.
There are also some interesting subplots involving Anne's family, and there are heroes and villains who get what they deserve.
Throughout this book, I was reminded of a line from Stephen Sondheim's great musical reworking of classic fairy tales, "Into the Woods." At one point, Cinderella, who is (ahem) tempted by the dashing Prince, is asked if she wants the life of a princess or not. "But how," Cinderella sings , "can you know what you want/Till you get what you want/And you see if you like it?"
By the end of the book, Anne gets what she wants. But will she like it? Would you?
One last thing I want to point out is how effectively Hart uses humor to dial down what otherwise might have been the overblown drama of Anne's dilemmas.
Especially funny are Anne's frustrations with her three challenging sisters, siblings who know how to push each other's buttons, and who often delight in doing so. Their comic, slangy conversations are great fun to read, and they serve as a reminder that Anne's life (like ours!) is defined by more than just her relationships with men.
This is a book for grown-ups. The reader who doesn't mind - or who loves - explicit scenes will be well rewarded by this examination of where an unconventional relationship can take us. Hart deserves much credit for sharing her characters' journeys without judging them.
Scott Sherman, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery
Customer Rating:
Summary: Complex and Unexpected
Comment: My reading preferences are generally away from hard, real-life pain and dark storylines, so I expected this to be my least favorite of Hart's books. But she does an extraordinary job, no matter what the subject matter, drawing a reader into the lives of her characters. The complexity of Anne's relationships and her personal journey to find what will fulfill her brought many surprises, and I finished the book satisfied at her growth.
I think a lot of reviewers missed the point of this book. First, it's not a romance, so I think the ending, while not what *I* would choose, is the right choice for Anne. (Setting aside the fact that I'd never be in a position to have that choice to make!) Second, it seems a lot more realistic to me than many ménage stories, which ignore emotional and general consequences and the outside world.
I urge people who didn't connect with this book not to disregard future (or past!) work by Megan Hart. She is far from a one-note author, and I'm confident that all of you who liked her past work will like her upcoming releases, too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Erotica, But More
Comment: *****
I didn't expect a whole lot from this novel, and started it with some trepidation, as it was the first erotic novel I've ever read. I was pleasantly surprised at its complexity and depth and power to make me think, perhaps even more than its obvious entertainment value.
This is the story told in the voice of Anne, a wife and daughter, someone ostensibly very happy with her life. To her surprise, life's circumstances lead her into changing complicated sexual relationships with her husband and her husband's best friend.
It's the sort of story that answers the question "how could someone ever be involved in something like THAT"---a "threesome"? After reading "Tempted" you can understand, you can see and even empathize (or at least I did) with how such an unusual sexual and even more so---emotional---relationship could happen.
There are many strong subplots, including family issues such as how we regard our parents as adults, how we learn to stand up for ourselves and ask for what we want, and probably most central---how we decide when to leave a relationship and when we stay. These subplots are played out not just in Anne's life, but in the lives of her sisters, her parents, and her in-laws.
"Tempted" has mystery, plot twists, great anticipation, and vivid descriptions. I gave it five stars because I think that the author did everything she could with the medium---writing a high-quality, provocative, thrilling erotic novel that appeals on many different levels.
Highly recommended, if you are looking for an erotic novel. Note that the language describing sexual activity is very explicit.
*****
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as good as her other works
Comment: Having read both "Dirty" and "Broken", I was awaiting this release with great anticipation. The heroines in the other books were both very sympathetic. They each struggled to maintain a strong facade while their insides were a broken mess.
I never felt for this female lead. She had tragedies in her life but unlike the other two, she was weak all the way around and seemed to me to be more of a whiner than someone who fought tooth and nail to make it through each and every day.
I'm glad to see that others greatly disliked the ending. I thought it was just me. But after spending a Saturday reading this book in its entirety, it ended up being chucked across the room because I was so dissatisfied with the ending.
Saying that, I'm still looking forward to her next book and hope that Ms. Hart is able to recapture the magic which made me adore both "Broken" and "Dirty".
Customer Rating:
Summary: Tempted
Comment: I had really high hopes for this book. I have read three books by this author, and the first I enjoyed, but the second was a huge disappointment. This was worse than the second one if that is even possible. I won't waste everyone's time with a synopsis of the book, since it has been done so often, but instead share what I couldn't stomach about it. A) This story is beyond depressing. Anne is afraid of the water after a near drowning, she miscarried as a teenager, her father is an alcoholic who has come close to delivering blows, her mother is an enabler failing to see the problems, and sister Patricia is an enabler married to a gambling addict. Sadly there are more, but you get the idea. B) Alex and James have an unhealthy relationship. While there are many moments I wondered about both of their sexual preferences, both were explained. The way James changed when Alex arrived was disturbing, and the deal they made about Anne was appalling. They have a bad influence on each other acting literally like they were 15. C) The manage was barely interesting. Sure the words were there, but not written well at all. The rules in place about what Alex and Anne could do together were ridiculous - why bother? D) Anne wasn't going to leave James, but yet she felt that Alex knew her better than James did even after all the years they were married. She also made comments about how she was attracted to Alex like she has never been to James. I am sure he will appreciate being second choice for the rest of his life. E) Finally, Anne's choice in how to say goodbye to Alex made for the worst part of the book. This is my last book by this author.
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Editorial Reviews:
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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. And I loved my husband. But I wasn't the only one.
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