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Book Reviews of Tempted

Tempted
Tempted
Author: Megan Hart
ISBN-13: 9780373605194
ISBN-10: 0373605196
Publication Date: 1/1/2008
Pages: 426
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 173

3.6 stars, based on 173 ratings
Publisher: Spice
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

28 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

dwarrickh avatar reviewed Tempted on + 46 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 12
I found this book really hard to put down. It was very compelling with real life emotions and feelings. Reading things from Anne's perspective was interesting although I would have loved to have been privy to the inner thoughts of Alex and James. This is a woman with a lot of dynamics outside her marriage which are pretty easy to identify with...like the interfering overbearing mother-in-law, alcoholic father, sister's with issues of their own,and other people's expectations . Enter the sexy "best friend" into the mix and things just spiral out of control. Not really happy about the way things ended. Can't stop thinking about that!! I think this is a book I will ponder on for days to come.

**Just a note to say that I actually re-read this book to see if I picked up any little nuances that would help me to reconcile in my mind why this story played out the way it did. Life is certainly about choices...but don't think for a minute that there will not be consequences after those choices are made. Things never turn out to be as simple as you hope they will. I did feel that the relationship between these three, while unconventional, was soul deep. I was mostly just left with a sense of finality and a profound feeling of sadness and loss that three people so connected would never be all together and happy again. Wanting that is not realistic, I know, cause things in life don't work that way, especially when three people are dealing with matters of the heart. Based on the decisions they made, no one could possibly come out a winner in this story. I guess I am just that "fairy tale, happy ever after" kind of girl, which makes this story weigh heavily on my mind long after the book has been read...in this case, twice.
CherryDuck avatar reviewed Tempted on + 150 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Anne and James have what by all definitions is a good marriage. James and Alex have been best friends since boyhood. But Alex and Anne have never met due to a falling out that the men had in college and the fact that Alex has live overseas all these years. Anne is not familiar with all the elements that make up James and Alex's friendship and it's a mystery she has never cared to explore. Then Alex phones and James invites him to stay for the summer.

Alex takes Anne's breath away with his looks and wins her over with his personality. What starts as an easy friendship between Anne and Alex, turns into an innocent flirtation, then more. Then one night the three of them decide to take their relationship to the next level and give into the sexual tension that has been filling the air. The three of them take each other to bed, one night then turns into one summer.

A normally monogamous couple, Anne and James choose to give into their desires for a summer of sex. They choose to let fantasy become reality. But what is supposed to be a summer of mindless passion, no strings attached, gets complicated as emotions and hearts become involved and feelings change.

I liked Anne, James and Alex, I liked them separately and I liked the three of them together. I like Anne and James. I liked Anne and Alex. But I hated James and Alex. When it was just the two of them they reverted to adolescent behavior I couldn't stand. They were two different people together and though they enjoyed each others company it was easy to see no one else would. I guess that's the whole point; how we are different things to different people, multifaceted creatures. The other point would be the fact that there is no such thing as 'no strings attached.'

Okay, I admit I was expecting just a bit of mindless porn on paper, of the highest quality of course, but I am really surprised at the depth of emotions that this book covered. It explores, confronts and dissects relationships between lovers, spouses, friends, sisters, in-laws and parents; the threads that create and make up relationships, their strengths and their fragility.

This is a highly erotic and sensual tale. When these three people go to bed they worship every inch of each others bodies and thoroughly. It's bold, graphic, explicit and delicious, but never tasteless. It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but had it not been for the ending, one I completely disagreed with, this well written tale would have easily been a 5 star book; I loved every page of it.

Cherise Everhard, April 2008
txag80 avatar reviewed Tempted on + 257 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Megan Hart manages to make you think, even while you are all fuzzyheaded with the erotic situations she presents. She also makes you feel empathy for characters who usually dont get a second thought in an erotic romance.

Anne is content with her shiny, happy life and feels lucky about having a loving, sexy husband. She has enough self-awareness to know that, as she puts it, she made the right decision to love James. She is taken off guard when James boyhood best friend returns from Singapore. Millionaire Alex is a self-described rascal, he winks and flirts and seduces. When Alex becomes a houseguest for the summer the sexual tension crackles in a lusty triangle. Anne is also hyper aware of the change in her husband, he seems as smitten with Alex as she.

This book gets 5 blazing stars from me. The plot is thought provoking and the relationships are prickly with real-world complexities. There are several breath taking moments: Anne looking up at her husband and his friend, falling in love; Anne realizing that her husband and lover are happy to have her as a sexual playmate since they will not have sex with each other; and her sister advising you have to let him go but which one?

Because Megan Hart provides fully developed characters there are so many ways this story could end read it to find out!
reviewed Tempted on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This was the firts Megan Hart book that I have read, and was intrigued after reading many of the previous reviews, so requested it and finally got it through PBS.

I have to say that I was not disappointed. An easy read, with a heavy subject matter. A story that I was captivated by, and characters that were deeper in growth and emotion, than many others books I have recently read.

While I am also more of a happily ever after kind of reader, I don't think that the story could have ended any differently than it did without compromising the personal journey that each person had in this book. The writer made some hard choices, just as the characters did when deciding how to play out this emotionally complex story, and I applaud her for a great book, and am anxious to read more of her work, even though they all may not necessarily conclude with a conventional happy ending.
wolfie0516 avatar reviewed Tempted on
Helpful Score: 4
Like one of the other reviewers, I am also going to reread this book to see if I pick up on and interpret things any differently the second time around. The book left me thinking and mulling over the complexity of relationships and choices that were made in this story by most of the characters, but especially Anne and Alex. I can't help feeling sad and a huge sense of loss with the final decision, but I don't really know another way it could have ended and not torn everybody's world apart more than it already had. I did not expect this book to have such a deep story or to leave me so moved and unable to stop thinking about it. I was pleasantly surprised that there was more to it than just sex (I admit that I read it out of curiosity for how these types of things, i.e., menages, work). I found myself not able to put it down though (stayed up all night to see how it ended), and not because of the steamy and very passionate sex, but because of the relationships that had developed between the three characters. I think the story resonates so much with us because it strikes at the heart of what some of us face where there's reality on one hand that you try to make the best of and on the other hand, there's that secret fantasy where you're swept away by someone and completely caught up in them and share a very intense, personal, deep understanding. All of this is played out in the midst of very dysfunctional family dynamics and issues that also give you a lot to think about. Very good book overall and worth reading if you like to be challenged and be left thinking.
reviewed Tempted on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
No, this book isn't for everyone. I liked it, though. I've read several books about menages and this one is the most real. The characters in it are real and the emotions of the book are real. Its not just porn on a page, I felt the characters had a reality to them that isn't often found in many of the other erotic books I've read. This book is what I would characterize as erotic drama....yes there was an menage going on, but that wasn't the focus. I loved it and can't wait to read more of Megan Hart's books.
Firefly avatar reviewed Tempted on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This book was...well, I'm not sure. It is an interesting story. Like all Megan Hart's books, it isn't necessarily happy or easy to read. The erotic parts of the book were great. I thought the main character did some things that seemed, well, odd. Usually, I can handle odd (or assume it is due to all consuming passion, LOL!) But this was different. She made choices that I struggled with. And I really struggled with the ending of the book. All in all, though, I like story that makes me think, and this book did that!
munk avatar reviewed Tempted on + 40 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This book is one that keeps you thinking long after it is over. It is erotica but one that could be seen in a real life situation. Lots of highs and lows in this story. I liked the characters. They were happy, sad, angry and loving. The story was well written and I was intrigued enough to read it cover to cover on one sitting. I simply couldn't put it down until I knew how it would all end. On a 1-10 I give it a 6. I will be checking out some of Megan Hart's other work.
KimM avatar reviewed Tempted on + 117 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Third book I've read by this author. I love her writting style. Secondary characters are great in this book. One is from one of her other books- Broken. I've also read Dirty. All three were excellent. I will re-read.
reviewed Tempted on + 44 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book was really so realistic I could almost believe it had really happened. The author ties in life and fantasy, desire and debauchery, love and loss and doesnt clean up all the loose ends. I really liked how the book mimicked life, almost the point of painful. How many times do we have to make a choice or choices that bring growth and pain but have to be done? This wasnt a pretty little picture. The characters were real with real issues and I felt myself getting wrapped up in their world, knowing what choices were the right one and yet wondering if they would make them. Life can certainly suck but this book definitely didnt. Ms Hart out did herself here. She managed to capture the mundane and the mythical making me think that perhaps the drama of life isnt in facing the decision but in facing the results of those decisions.

This is a great read for those that want more depth to their fantasy; for those that can't ignore the realities of a situation no matter how pretty the packaging it comes in.
txag80 avatar reviewed Tempted on + 257 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Megan Hart manages to make you think, even while you are all fuzzyheaded with the erotic situations she presents. She also makes you feel empathy for characters who usually dont get a second thought in an erotic romance.

Anne is content with her shiny, happy life and feels lucky about having a loving, sexy husband. She has enough self-awareness to know that, as she puts it, she made the right decision to love James. She is taken off guard when James boyhood best friend returns from Singapore. Millionaire Alex is a self-described rascal, he winks and flirts and seduces. When Alex becomes a houseguest for the summer the sexual tension crackles in a lusty triangle. Anne is also hyper aware of the change in her husband, he seems as smitten with Alex as she.

This book gets 5 blazing stars from me. The plot is thought provoking and the relationships are prickly with real-world complexities. There are several breath taking moments: Anne looking up at her husband and his friend, falling in love; Anne realizing that her husband and lover are happy to have her as a sexual playmate since they will not have sex with each other; and her sister advising you have to let him go but which one?

Because Megan Hart provides fully developed characters there are so many ways this story could end read it to find out!
Bookfanatic avatar reviewed Tempted on
Helpful Score: 2
This book isn't for everyone. Though the cover makes it very clear this book has erotica, much of the story is non-sexual and about the bond between Alex and James, James and Anne, and Anne and Alex. Like all other Megan Hart's contemporary stories I've read, this one doesn't have a neat, HEA ending. Hart writes books that are ambiguous and messy like real life. I wish we could have learned more about what the two men were thinking. I would have loved to have known more about their deal, the rule making conversation, the big fight in college from their perspective, etc. I read the next book "Naked" which was supposed to be Alex's story, but that didn't shed much light into what happened in "Tempted."

I loved how this book made me root for James at point then for Alex. This is a book you could read more than once. I might have to read it again to see what nuances and tensions I missed the first time around.

I have a happy marriage and for the life of me I can't imagine why one would open a Pandora's Box by inviting a third into your sexual relationship. Bad idea all around. It's fine as a fantasy, but not so great in reality.
ellasmommy avatar reviewed Tempted on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I couldn't put this book down. Although erotic and a menage, the story was so wonderfully written and engaging, you kind of forget the sex stuff and get into the story. The author goes really deep into the characters and the ending, although you see it coming, is incredibly depressing and sad. Not at all what I expected from an "erotic" romance. I definately suggest you read this one. It's a tearjerker and the characters come from seemingly real and relational dysfunctional families that I found easy to connect with and empathize with.
ladybird avatar reviewed Tempted on + 44 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book was excellent! I had given up on most erotica books due to the lack of plot and characterization. I want a bit more than page after page of sex, with a couple of pages of plot stuck in here and there. Well, I got it with this one! This book started by giving you a decent foundation, and then built from there. The characters were realistic and believable. I like that the entire focus wasn't just on the 3 main characters, but had a whole array of supporting characters (some you like, some you don't) as well. I like how it covered some of the realistic aspects of inviting a third person into your marriage bed. I like how I didn't know how it was going to end. I normally don't care for books written in the first person, but I make an exception in this case. It really gave you an insight as to what she was feeling, and how the chain of events unfolded. And the sex scenes were wonderful, erotic, but not tasteless or gratuitous. I couldn't put it down!
johnna27 avatar reviewed Tempted on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book was okay. It was not what I expected. To much sex and not enough story. The ending was also very diappointing. I had never read this author so I don't know if that is normal. I might try one more by her to see if it is any better.
zhollywood avatar reviewed Tempted on + 104 more book reviews
The sex is hot, and the story well written, but I didn't like the ending. Since most of these erotic novels get lumped under the romance genre, I expect happy endings... otherwise, it's not a romance novel, IMHO. It requires ALL the "good guys" to be happy at the end. I think one gets cheated. I'll leave it at that, so as not to spoil anything.
sh0rtstak avatar reviewed Tempted on + 89 more book reviews
I'm not sure what I expected when I ordered this book but what I got was a far cry from what I thought it was going to be. Maybe I live in a box but I just couldn't get into this story. Yes, it's erotic and gave me a few hot flashes but for the most part I was left feeling queasy and uncomfortable and damn sure not feeling sorry for the main character. This is some twisted stuff and not for the more conservative at heart. I also felt the story didn't finish with the most of the characters lives. This is my first and most likely last read from this author.
reviewed Tempted on + 69 more book reviews
wonderful,hot book.
mince avatar reviewed Tempted on + 21 more book reviews
Tempted
Author: Megan Hart
Have you ever seen a more PROVOCATIVE, SENSUOUS, SEXY COVER TO MELT YOUR SOX OFF? (I want to be in the middle! Wink-wink-in my dreams) Luscious fantasy comes to life with all the ways two gorgeous men can pleasure a woman without the need to touch each other...oh yes, that is what we want: A dreamy,steamy,& may I say "well orchestrated" mènage a trois. Notably, nothing crude, ugly or twisted. And, heavens,there's even a well thought out PLOT!! As believable, complex and multi- layered as the characters themselves, which is surprising.Even the secondary characters draw you in and make laugh & hurt. A UNIQUE & worthwhile read.
From the back cover
**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 was wary.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 & 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.
laina42107 avatar reviewed Tempted on + 115 more book reviews
I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book, but I thought it was amazing. Sure it had its steamy and erotic moments,but it also had realism. It was an interesting take on marriage, friendship, and past memories that can shape you into the person you are in the present. I loved how realistic it was. I find that very refreshing. The ending of a story doesn't always need to be wrapped up with a big shiny bow.
momx3 avatar reviewed Tempted on + 73 more book reviews
Totally loved this book. It isn't just a trashy read, although there is plenty of trash, there is a great story line.
reviewed Tempted on + 16 more book reviews
This book was slow, boring, unemotional and all around BAD. You want a good Erotic book then read Anne Rice collection on Sleeping Beauty, she writes under a different name on these books but they were good...This book was NOT!
ceeceelandau avatar reviewed Tempted on + 282 more book reviews
This book was a little different then some of Megan Hart's erotic romance novels. I liked the book, but the ending left me with a feeling like something was missing.

The book begins with a married couple, Anne and James. Their life seems to be going well. They are still in love with one another, their sex life seems really good and their communication doesn't seem to be lacking. Their respective in law's are another thing altogether.

Things change when her husband's friend, Alex, comes and stays with them. From the moment she see's him she's in lust. He's a walking, talking sex on a stick. She never believed she'd be the kind of person to want another man other than her husband. Sometime later she begins to see a change in her husband. She pick's up on some flirtation from Alex in front of her husband. It appears that her husband's okay with her being with Alex. There after she sleeps with both her husband and Alex together. At first she feel's like a slut and a whore, but then after her husband and Alex show no revulsion she begins to see that her husband is completely on board with this arrangement.

It was suppose to be a fling, but like most well meaning thing.....it goes wrong. She begins to fall in love with Alex and he begins to pull away. Her husband doesn't understand what went wrong, he can't understand how she could fall in love with Alex and not just leave it as sex. Their relationship unstable when Alex leave and she feel's like without him she's incomplete.

I expected for her to see that it's okay to love them both. I expected Alex to come back and stay. What I didn't expect was the way the book ended leaving me feeling like this book had some major hole.

I'm not saying I didn't like this book. I just expected a different ending. I expected a happier ending. I guess Megan Hart had something else in mind.
ceeceelandau avatar reviewed Tempted on + 282 more book reviews
This book was a little different then some of Megan Hart's erotic romance novels. I liked the book, but the ending left me with a feeling like something was missing.

The book begins with a married couple, Anne and James. Their life seems to be going well. They are still in love with one another, their sex life seems really good and their communication doesn't seem to be lacking. Their respective in law's are another thing altogether.

Things change when her husband's friend, Alex, comes and stays with them. From the moment she see's him she's in lust. He's a walking, talking sex on a stick. She never believed she'd be the kind of person to want another man other than her husband. Sometime later she begins to see a change in her husband. She pick's up on some flirtation from Alex in front of her husband. It appears that her husband's okay with her being with Alex. There after she sleeps with both her husband and Alex together. At first she feel's like a slut and a whore, but then after her husband and Alex show no revulsion she begins to see that her husband is completely on board with this arrangement.

It was suppose to be a fling, but like most well meaning thing.....it goes wrong. She begins to fall in love with Alex and he begins to pull away. Her husband doesn't understand what went wrong, he can't understand how she could fall in love with Alex and not just leave it as sex. Their relationship unstable when Alex leave and she feel's like without him she's incomplete.

I expected for her to see that it's okay to love them both. I expected Alex to come back and stay. What I didn't expect was the way the book ended leaving me feeling like this book had some major hole.

I'm not saying I didn't like this book. I just expected a different ending. I expected a happier ending. I guess Megan Hart had something else in mind.
Javabean avatar reviewed Tempted on + 38 more book reviews
I really did not enjoy this book at all. The story line to me was horrible, and not enjoyable.
bombschell avatar reviewed Tempted on + 214 more book reviews
Written in the first person. This one was a bit much for me. I was never intrigued by the story and had a hard time keeping interested. Never did finish.
reviewed Tempted on + 254 more book reviews
it was ok
reviewed Tempted on
Good book