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 enlarge | Author: Megan Hart
Publisher: Spice
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $8.00
You Save: $5.95 (43%)
New (7) Used (8) from $6.25
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 7315
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 4.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0373605196
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780373605194
ASIN: 0373605196
Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
A Sexy Sad Truth June 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was hooked by the very first scene and had to see what would come of Alex's phone call revealing his soon-to-be arrival home. I felt besides the erotic scenes, which were very fun and descriptive, Hart put the characters together very well. Life isn't all butterflies and she created plenty of conflict within her characters to make it real. However, I do find it hard to believe that every single character had a different problem: love triangle, homosexuality, gambling addictions, pregnancy, affairs, alcoholism... while I felt the characters were very in depth, it was almost over the top and the book became almost deflating at some points with all the issues going around. Also, I felt Jamie's private issues with Alex went unresolved or untold. Besides these two things, I liked the ending. While normally I like a happily-ever-after to lift the spirits, life isn't always like that and I believed the book ended like it should (even though I was sympathetic for Alex who ends up alone). I'm glad Anne found her sense of self, and she knows its up to her to make the best of what she has. Not everyone is meant to live in a perfect menage-a-trois. Ah, well.
 Much more than I expected. June 16, 2008
I bought this book on impulse but held off on reading it because I figured it would be all sex and no real characters or storyline but I was wrong. I pretty much couldn't put it down once I started reading it. The author really delves into each of the characters, their family, etc.. and shows you how they came to be the person they are now. She brings out their passion, humor, and vulnerabilities so that you actually care what happens to each of them. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book.
Good, but not quite what was expected May 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Overall the storyline was pretty good. I didn't really like the ending that much, and if you are looking for something erotic this really isn't what you're looking for...but overall the storyline was much stronger than some erotic novels.
Two + One = Wheeeeeee! May 9, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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
Complex and Unexpected April 28, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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 menage 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.
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