Above Temptation

by Karin Kallmaker

For Kip Barrett, a secret commission from her boss's boss's boss, CEO Tamara Sterling, shows that the respect she's earned for her integrity and intelligence as a fraud investigator is justified. All she has to do is what she's done successfully follow the cyber-trail, find the high-tech thief, and document it so that justice prevails.

This time, however, the embezzler is one of their own. Sterling Fraud Investigations has an unblemished reputation for ethical conduct and security. Kip must find out who and how, as soon as possible, and no one but Tamara can know what she's doing.

As Kip gets closer to discovering the embezzler, her clandestine meetings with Tamara grow more frequent. It doesn't help that her admiration for Sterling's work is compounded by an undeniable physical chemistry. But SFI has an iron-clad no fraternization rule, and Sterling investigators never break the rules. She needs to wrap up her findings before anyone—including her emerging prime suspect Tamara Sterling—realizes Kip is not above temptation.

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Lesbian Fiction, Lesbian Romance, Mystery, LGBT, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published May 18, 2010

About the author

Karin Kallmaker has been exclusively devoted to lesbian fiction since the publication of her first novel in 1989. As an author published by the storied Naiad Press, she worked with Barbara Grier and Donna McBride, and has been fortunate to be mentored by a number of editors, including Katherine V. Forrest.

In addition to multiple Lambda Literary Awards, she has been featured as a Stonewall Library and Archives Distinguished Author. Other accolades include the Ann Bannon Popular Choice and other awards for her writing, as well as the selection as a Trailblazer by the Golden Crown Literary Society. She is best known for novels such as Painted Moon, Simply the Best, Touchwood, The Kiss that Counted and Captain of Industry.

The California native is the mother of two and lives with her wife in the Bay Area. You can catch her blogs at Romance and Chocolate: https://kallmaker.com/blog/. Find her on social media by searching for "Kallmaker" - there's only one.

Reviews

[Frank Van Meer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had two issues with this novel, one that isn't really the book's fault, and the other is because a publisher like Bellabooks really should have done better.

The book is all about fraud and banking, and I don't have a clue about either. Sure, I know how banks work and do business, but the technicalities completely go over my head, mainly because US banking seems so different from what I know. So, Kip is looking for evidence, and I'm sitting here thinking: OK, whatever, if you say so. As I said, not really the book's or the author's fault. I have the same issue with courtroom novels that go deep into the procedures. I spend more time googling stuff than I am reading the story.

The other reason it gets one star is because the epub and mobi versions I purchased from Bellabooks were so badly formatted, I actually complained to the publisher. (and of course, I received an awfully polite reply about how sorry they are and it will never happen again.) Basically, it was formatted in such a way that it was one giant wall of text, compounded by the fact that countless paragraphs had no space between sentences. I can tell you, that makes for some tedious reading, especially if you are not familiar with the topic at hand. I don't know if this applies to the Kindle edition as well. What bugged me most is that the book is five years old. Surely someone would have spotted these issues by now.

Bellabooks promised me an updated version in the future, so I might read it again and adjust the score. Until then, it's just the one star.

edit
I just received the edited version. Will reread it again later and do a proper rating.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Ulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, I think, is the first suspense novel Karin Kallmaker has written, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope she'll write more of them!

[Alealea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm binge-reading Karin Kallmaker's books this month.

A book that has a strong tv-movie-vibe

the plus
> the money trail quest was interesting
> respect of self-honor

the minus
> the culprits were an absolute no-surprise
> some scene are so movie-like it felt surreal. (I know, I know, it's a book)

The writer tropes seems to be
> awful birth families (oh yep)
> bereavement (not in this one !)
> light miscommunication or misconception
> lava-hot sex scene

[Xiaoqing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slow burn work place romance with exciting plots and super cool and likable MCs. I was slow to warm up with this book, the first half feels a little dragged on, but it got better in the second half, especially the last few chapters! For people who don't work in finance field, it takes time to understand the intricacy of banking and investment. I really enjoyed this unlikely couple, each has her own trust issues and tragic family background but they are strong and brave and extremely devoted to their jobs and the chemistry is out of the chart!

[Rey Hawke · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

After 'Tropical Storm', I think I have a giant soft spot for contemporary corporate falling-for-the-boss books, haha. But there are just not very many of it, so I was really happy when I read 'Above Temptation' because I enjoyed it so much. :) It's at its core, a suspense mystery in that the two lead characters Kip and Tamara (the employee and her boss's boss's boss lol) are working together in secret to unravel an embezzling scheme that threatens the future of their company.

I was pretty engrossed in the mystery, and the author did a good job of throwing red herrings and doubts while Kip and Tamara were investigating the clues. And their simmering and yet forbidden attraction was really well-done. I really wanted them to get together already because they just WANT each other (lingering looks, barely restrained passion, 'we need to stop' moments lol), but you know their principles and ethics won't allow them to indulge in each other, so that's that urgh factor here. But when they do get together in the end (finally!), the passion was great. xD

This is probably not one of Karin Kallmaker's more famous books, but I think this might be my favourite book of hers actually. And if after reading it you want to read more of Kip and Tamara, check out Frostings 2, there's a short story in there that continues after the main events in this book, and it's pretty sweet. :)

[Joc · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started reading this I thought the two main characters, Kip and Tamara, would never work. They're both inscrutable and insular. I kept hoping but they never did work for me. With a backdrop of finance and embezzling which also bore me to tears, the odds were stacked against me enjoying this.

Usually a fan of Kallmaker, I really struggled to get through this. Luckily she's written tons more books which I'm sure I'll enjoy more.

[Sara Dooley-Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a great read. I listened to the audio version on Apple Books. And I don’t know if this was an error by the narrator or an editing issue, but there were not long enough pauses between paragraphs at several points, which was very confusing. Other than that, the story was great. It kept my interest and felt action-packed. I have no expertise in the world of fraud investigation, but it was written just technical enough to be believable.
I laughed out loud several times at the author’s hilarious descriptions of the two women’s internal dialogue trying to resist their attraction to each other.

[Candace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read a few of Kallmakers books, some better than others...for me this was a not her best, by a long shot! I only plowed on through it, as best I could, because it is for my bookclub...and who thought that cover was a good idea? The details given of unraveling financial fraud made my eyes glaze over. The two main protagonists, Kip and Tam (characters in gay novels never have names like Sue and Jane!), don’t inspire any feeling in me to even care what happens to them. Glad I’m done with it. For those of you who liked it, good for you, but it obviously wasn’t for me.

[Emily Marmer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got half way through and then just skimmed to the end. It seems like later they like go on the run from the law together? which I would have eaten up normally, but their dynamic just made so little sense I lost interest. They don’t know each other and then after like 3 interactions they’re suddenly so attracted to each other that they can’t control themselves even if it jeopardizes their careers? Crazy.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this for Bookriot's 2017 Read Harder challenge, category LGBTQ+ Romance Novel. This is not a normal category for me to read, but this wasn't particularly engaging at all. There didn't seem to be any chemistry and the extensive focus on technical details/banking was hard to get into.

[Jore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

[Alena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It once more drove home to me that to me, characters are key in the enjoyment of a book. I don't need to like them, but I need to be interested in them. Here I wasn't, so I couldn't really care less. The two main characters just didn't come alive in the pages. I also don't think that the crime/suspense aspect of the story really is Kallmaker's strong suit. Certain themes were way overdone (can I really trust her?) and the real culprits were kind of obvious in the way they were treated in the story.

Also, I hava a real strong dislike about the cover. One more instance of 'Let's put a naked chick on it, then people will buy it'. I guess I can see how cover is related to the plot, but really.

[Joie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I have a soft spot for Karin Kallmaker anyway so I will most likely love just about anything she writes. With that said even though I liked this book I really really really hated Kip she was a major bitch with some serious trust and abandonment issues. The story could have moved along at a much faster pace in my opinion if not for her. I mean Tam was clearly way to sweet but I just didn't like Kip and certainly not for her. At least Kip had a good personalitly change by the end of the story but please you can't walk through life like that in the first place.

[MiserableFlower · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really hoping this would be better...I mean I get why they have to behave but I was really hoping they would be pushing the line a little. There was the main conflict through all but the last four pages or so, so really I found this story to be uber frustrating. I really wanted there to be some sort of connection in the romance the whole, we need to behave wasn't really saucy enough to keep my attention and it dragged terribly.

[Lira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and I liked the characters. The story kept me interested the whole time and I thought the timing was perfect. I rooted for the characters and was left guessing if Tam really had done it... Even though I had a good idea pretty early on who the culprit was. A new favorite for me. Very enjoyable read.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this book great. The story was amazing. I love the way that Kallmaker wrote this book. It was her same great style but with a new twist. I kove her books and can never get enough of them.

[Chiyo Gomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

I mean... It was good, I guess.

I finished it and wasn't bored, but the room for improvement is endless.

I wasn't feeling the chemistry between these two characters much.

Plus, I automatically deducted a star for accurately guessing the mystery culprit(s) from the get-go.

Meh.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I revisited this story in audio form and loved the narration by Quinn Riley. She does a dreamy Tamara Sterling.

Also, I'm glad to report this book does not feel 14 years old at all. It is zero dated. If anything, its subject matter is even more prevalent today that when it was written.

[Audrey]

Half way through! :)-

[Becko · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story, the romance was better than the mystery, but I think the romance was meant to be.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull characters and meandering storyline.

[Black Sun · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never connected with the plot or the characters.

[Melina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. It was not 4 stars worthy in my opinion, but the end got me.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping mystery with romance mixed into the story.

[Dide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Police and thief kind of a story with an expected twist but not predictable