Alluring Temptation

by Jess Cody, Mia Hewstone

Welcome to Temptation Club.
Where desire kills…
And everyone has something to hide.
She came to Temptation Club for revenge.

She stayed for the man who could destroy her.

Isabel dances for the rich and powerful by night, her ocean-blue eyes hiding a deadly secret. By morning, another body drops—and no one suspects the girl with the caramel hair and perfect smile.

Her plan is simple: find the truth, slaughter the men who ruined her life, and disappear.

Then Sawyer walks in.

Tattooed. Dangerous. Her boss… and the brother of the monster who once tried to break her.

Getting close to him was supposed to be part of the game.

Falling into his bed wasn’t.

Now the line between vengeance and obsession is bleeding red.

In a world of secrets and lies, two broken souls are playing the same deadly game.

The only question left is: who will survive the fall?

🖤 Dark romance
🔥 Enemies to lovers
🗡 Ex’s brother
💋 Boss x employee
🩸 Morally grey characters
🔒 Forced proximity
🌙 Secrets that could destroy everything

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 25, 2026

About the author

Jess is a Dark romance author from the heart of Liverpool. When she isn’t writing her spicy scenes or trauma-based characters, she’s curled up in bed reading her spicy or taboo books. In the day, she is a writer, and by night, she is just a normal human with an adult job.

Reviews

[My_Books_In_Nooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review ‘Alluring Temptation’.

I love a good dark romantic suspense book.
And this book got me hooked in from the start!
Isabel was in a bad relationship and she barely made it out, and now she is out for revenge.
She needs to find out where her ex is, and where else better to start than the nightclub of her ex’s brother Sawyer.
Her character is broken but also strong, sweet but also that delicious bad girl hunter vibe.
Sawyer has his own reasons why he needs to find his brother, and he will with any means necessary. Even when he has to use Isabel to reach his goal.
Sawyers character is the typical badboy, rough around the edges, but knows about honour, and no touching innocents.

The chemistry between them is slow burn, their push and pull palpable.
Their 🌶️ is delicious!

Overall enjoyed this book. Somehow wished though it would have dug further in her 🔪 scenes, like make her explore more that vigilante side heheh.
But all is good.
4/5⭐️

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved meeting Isabel and Sawyer and reading along to all their unhinged antics, it was such fun and I just know everyone is going to love meeting these🖤

I really enjoyed this book, I haven’t had many recently that have been dark so it was so nice to get back into the dark romance vibes, and Jody and Mia pulled through with this! The first half is getting to know the background and the reason for the story plot and the characters, and then the second half is where it gets more intense and the spice starts spicing! I read this book in 24 hours and would definitely recommend to my fellow dark romance readers🖤

We have our FMC Isabel who is out for revenge, and goes under cover working at her ex’s brothers club to try and get intel on her targets, and that’s where we meet our MMC Sawyer. It is a true enemies to lovers vibes and they hate each other, but they have one thing in common…revenge on the same person👀 As the story progresses, the sexual tension builds and is so hot, and keeps edging you which we all love with an enemies to lovers trope🤪

I loved the dynamic where there’s 2 broken people finding and healing each other without even realising. We have Isabel who has gone from a timid person to being unhinged where Sawyer is unhinged from the get go, and that’s just doing something for me when both challenge each others unhinged levels🤪 They both give predator x predator vibes and have met their match, but will they risk getting burnt or can they work together in making sure both their revenge is carried out and justice is served…

[OooLaLa Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unhinged Never Looked So Good

Besties... this one said 'enemies to lovers' but make it completely unhinged. Anastasia walks into Temptation under the name Isabel with one goal: get close enough to Sawyer to find his brother (and her abusive ex) Greg. What she doesn't plan for is the dangerously possessive attraction brewing between her and her new boss.

Sawyer is morally grey, ruthless, suspicious, and definitely not winning any awards for healthy communication. 😂 But watching these two go from wanting each other dead to realizing they might be equally twisted had me hooked. Between hidden identities, mafia connections, revenge, kidnapping, bloodshed, and Greg constantly lurking over everything, there is rarely a peaceful moment.

And whew... when the spice finally takes over, it goes FULL SEND. 🥵 Anastasia getting to reclaim her power was easily my favorite part, especially when Sawyer realizes she doesn't need rescuing... she needs someone willing to stand beside her while she handles business herself.

Dark, chaotic, twisted, and seriously addictive.

My Ratings:  ⭐ 4/5  ▪︎  🥵 4/5

🥀 My ratings and review are my own. For my rating scale breakdown, head over to my Goodreads &/or Amazon profile! 🖤

[Emily Knaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I love tempting you. It’s my favourite hobby.”

Such an incredible dark, intoxicating enemies to lovers slow burn that thrives on tension so thick I swear you could freakin’ taste it.

Isabel steps into Temptation Club with vengeance as her compass, secrets stitched into her skin, and Sawyer standing in her way like a locked door she keeps trying to kick down. From the moment they collide, it’s explosive and thrumming with tension. Their relationship is built on distrust, heat, and that dangerous awareness that neither of them can afford to slip. She’s hunting for revenge, he’s hunting for the truth both linked to the same person. Sawyer’s the tattooed, morally grey boss who sees too much, and Isabel’s the vixen ridding the world of one evil man at a time. And every interaction between them feels like a dare.

What made this book really hit the spot for me was how their motives grind against each other. Isabel’s rage and Sawyer’s control spark in every scene, turning even the smallest exchange into a power play. You can feel the shift, that moment when hatred starts to blur, when the danger becomes addictive, when the person you shouldn’t want becomes the one you can’t stop thinking about. It absolutely delivers on obsession, secrets, and forced proximity.

A huge thank you to Jess Cody & Mis Hewstone for the early copy!

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun, dark little ride. Jess Cody and Mia Hewstone definitely knew what they were doing with the temptation part, because this one had me curious, invested, and more than a little intrigued from the start.

I really enjoyed the characters and the overall chemistry of the story. There was just enough darkness, tension, and spice to keep things interesting without it feeling like it was trying too hard to shock me. Sometimes you just want a book that lets you sit back and enjoy the mess, and this absolutely did that for me.

I also really liked the collaboration between these two authors. The story felt cohesive, the characters were entertaining, and I flew through it pretty damn quickly.

Overall, Alluring Temptation was a solid 4-star read for me. Dark, spicy, entertaining, and definitely worth picking up if you like your romance with a little danger mixed in.

Thanks to Jess Cody and Mia Hewstone for gifting me an eARC of Alluring Temptation. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Justina Staniforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read, and one I really wanted to love, but it didn’t quite hit like I thought it would.
This could be because it was co-written, or not, but it felt like the writing style changed, some chapters were disjointed, and consistency was not there.
Don’t get me wrong - the story idea was good - a woman, Isabelle, aka Anastasia, who escapes a horrible situation, and seeks revenge on her ex and his family, going as far to working as a stripper/dancer for him - Sawyer.
But the enemies to lovers trope didn’t hit like I wanted it to.
Her dark side-hobby needed more explaining. Like why? Who was she targeting? How did she start unaliving people?
I was excited about the big finale - the final standoff between brothers. But it was almost fade to black, then all too easy.
2.5 ⭐️
3 🌶️

[emma beresford · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 star 🌟

You know whe you start a book and your like yessss bad a*s boss Queen out for revenge!! Yep that's this book.

Isabel has been through trauma, pain and heartache and her revenge plot is her Ex boyfriend.

She has the strength to work into a str*p club to get a job to find him, this is where Sawyer comes into the story as her New boss and brother of said Ex.

This was dark, sinful and Sawyer also has plans....

This story takes enemies to lovers and says hold my Beer!!!!

Emotional damage incoming and upsetting topics through and there is also deleting ☠️

Loved this full of suspense and tension and I highly recommend.

Please check the TW your health matters.

My views and opinions are my own.

[Kalexreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark and dirty enemies to lovers’ story of revenge. Isabel thinks Sawyer is in league with his brother, her abusive ex. Sawyer knows there’s something shady with Isabel, but he doesn’t know what. Eventually, they figure out they have the same objective, but there are some pretty big bumps along the way. Spicy and depraved. Loved it!!!

[Lynnmarie542_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has the perfect mix of trauma, revenge, suspense, banter, chemistry, and that delicious slow burn!

It’s dark, spicy, twisty, and had me hooked the entire time. The tension, the twists, the chemistry UGH. I loved every minute of it!