Tempted

by Jami Alden

Though he smolders with sexuality, Lauren knows better than to give into her wild attraction to her best friend and co-worker, Tony Donovan. She's been down that route before and knows the hurt that comes when she tries to push past the boundaries of friendship with a player like Tony.
Then and out of town party finds them sharing a hotel room together, and Lauren finds herself tempted beyond reason.
Praise For Jami
“Jami Alden always takes you on a wild ride!
- New York Times best seller Catherine Coulter

“The perfect balance of emotion and romance.”
-New York Times best seller Maya Banks

“Hot and emotionally charged, Jami Alden always delivers.”
-New York Times best seller Shannon McKenna

“A fantastic story that will keep you hot and bothered.”
-Romantic Times Book Reviews for Private Party

“Alden can wring every emotion from her characters.”
-Romantic Times Book Reviews

97 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2015

About the author

Like so many romance readers, my first romance novel was by Kathleen Woodiwiss - The Flame and the Flower, to be exact. I was thirteen. I spent the next month working my way through her entire back list. Shortly thereafter I discovered Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Karen Robards, Catherine Coulter, Shirlee Busbee among others, and devoured their lavish historical epics full of overbearing alpha males and the women who brought them to their knees. I was hooked. My high school teachers marveled at my ability to read romance novels under the desk and still score straight A's. I started to imagine myself, living in a cabin in the mountains somewhere, writing romance novels.

It took me quite awhile to pursue my dream. After graduating from Stanford with a degree in English Literature, I worked in a variety of soul sucking admin jobs before I began my career in marketing. It wasn't exactly my dream job, but at least my writing appeared on several web sites and in many software marketing brochures. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fit the phrase "and her loins melted like hot wax" into any of them.

During my stint as the world's surliest receptionist, I took my first stab at writing. The result was a very melodramatic western historical which reads like a bad Elizabeth Lowell rip off. Its currently languishing on my hard drive, forever stuck on page 330.

Then in fall 2001 I had an incredible stroke of luck and got laid off from my marketing job. I decided it was time to stop saying I wanted to be a writer and to actually give it a serious go. Fortunately my husband, a socially well adjusted alpha male, is a very generous patron of the arts.

Four years later, I sold my first book and I'm pretty much living the dream of getting paid to write romance. I don't live in a cabin in the mountains, but I do live in a rural-ish town near San Francisco (hey, we have deer and bunnies in our yard, along with the occasional coyote) with my husband, sons, and two dogs who patiently listen to my dialogue and help me work out plot points. When I'm not writing sexy romance, I enjoy running, reading, yoga and watching Food Network and bad reality TV.

Reviews

[Draven · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more novella than novel and more sex than any actual plot. Felt like first time author stuff with more than a few character description inconsistencies (hello, editor, report?) but I’ll reserve judgement on this author because I feel like Alden got better with her later works. Sex was fun but lacked the substance to make me love it.

[CharmaineW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received this complimentary arc copy from the author for an honest review.
Never read a story about one of the Donavan brothers before but the wait was worth it. Tony Donavan is one hot sexy man. He works with colleague Lauren and she is like "one of the boys" ......well at first she is. When he sees what his brother Mike has with wife Karen, it makes him think.
Lauren loves her job as a carpenter and working with brothers Tony and Mike, her boss. She really fancies Tony but keeps things secret. A weekend visit to her parents 30th makes her ask Tony to be her fake boyfriend.
This is a story of good friends pretending to be lovers but then fate takes an unexpected twist. A plot dealing with emotions, family secrets, relationships, insecurities and so much more. Loved how Tony realised how he felt about Lauren , eventually and how Lauren copes with family secrets, her own emotions and wanting more than she has had.
A brilliant storyline, hot sexy moments and at the end, wanted more it was so good.


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[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was cliche, predictable and boring. This trope has been used and recycled so many times (which I actually don't mind). I enjoy reading friends to lovers story, but I also expect the author to put her own spin to it to make the story her own.

Also, I'm getting tired of authors using the OW (other woman) as a source of conflict and misunderstanding. That, to me, is just the lazy way out. Please find something different.

The writing was good, but this story isn't anything different from the thousands of books out there.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is technically 4th book in the Donovan brothers series.
So far all brothers have a HEA but Tony has seen all his brothers find their soulmate. Lauren starts working as a carpenter for Mike Donovan and meets Tony who works for his brother.
For 7 months Tony has kept his hands to himself but when he's invited to play Lauren boyfriend at her parents 30th anniversary things for a little out of hand.
Love this story I do think it actually my favourite