Although I didn’t like it as well as Dirty or Broken, I liked Tempted better than either of you. I would have given it a B+ or A-. I particularly related to the heroine for growing up with an alcoholic father, an upbringing that tends to shape a person’s adult reactions to almost everything.

I loved Hart’s realistic handling of the subject matter. Too often these types of books introduce a third into the relationship without plumbing the emotional repercussions.

I was very disappointed though by the overall resolution of this novel. One thing not mentioned in your conversational review is that James’ true feelings for Alex are not at all uprooted. There is clearly more than mere friendship going on between them, and more than love, there is physical attraction. I’m not sure why Hart didn’t explore that element or bring it closer to the surface, but it bugs me that the reader is left without that resolution. I’m also not happy with the knowledge that James still doesn’t “get” Anne completely, and he seems to very selfishly choose to ignore her emotional needs. I’m not sure if that will change in the future and that bugs me as well.

YET–I must say, this lack of resolution makes the realism all the more acute for me. This story feels like it could happen to anyone I know. Rarely do people fully resolve their emotional conflicts.

It’s definitely a measure of how this author writes that she is able to engage my emotions so fully to the point that I don’t feel “right” not knowing what is going to happen with Anne and James.

Next on my list is ‘Taking Care of Business’ which is sitting on my table, while waiting for my delivery of ‘Dirty’ and ‘Deeper’. Keep up the great work MH!

I would simply like to add, for anyone who reads this review and the ensuing comments, that Hart is currently busy writing Alex’s story. In other words, a loose-end tyer if I ever saw one! Hopefully this book will answer some of the questions we were all left with after Stranger.

I have a beautiful, youthful wife I love and I guess the thought of the loss of her to an Alex who makes her “clit twitch” terrifies me.

Well, if it’s any consolation it’s my personal opinion that if a marriage is on strong ground, that won’t happen. Usually something has to be wrong for an affair to develop, IMO (she says and ducks).

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Anyway, I think James and Alex are in love and in the beginning use Anne as a “vessel” to make their sexual connection that James can’t admit (not an original idea).

I actually haven’t seen this idea used in a book before, but then I don’t read many erotic novels that aren’t romances. I think your suggestion that James and Alex are in love is very interesting, and I agree that they use Anne as a “vessel” to some degree, although of course she wants the sex with them both to happen, too.

Anne fell in lust with Alex to spite James.

I really don’t think that’s the case; Anne just didn’t seem that angry with James to me.

I am vexed as to why James would let an un-birth-controlled Anne do Alex or why Anne would want to. For me this is where a good story hits the brick wall. I would have preferred for Anne to have gotten to the hotel and gone into the room to find Alex with some random guy. It would have been closure and her and James could continue their lives.

That would have destroyed the romantic aspect of the book for readers who enjoyed the attraction and emotions between Anne and Alex, and I think it would have been a downer of an ending for those readers. But I can see where to a reader who wanted Anne and James together more firmly, such an ending would have provided closure. I do think more closure would have been good, but I personally would have preferred for that to come from Anne making a choice between the two men, and then sticking with her choice, regardless of her feelings for the other.

“Tempted”…emh… I have not been as emotionally moved, or maybe “unsettled” is a better word, by a story since seeing Diane Lane in “Unfaithful”. Common theme? I have a beautiful, youthful wife I love and I guess the thought of the loss of her to an Alex who makes her “clit twitch” terrifies me.

This book takes you all over the place, very fast, with an intense, emotional story full of very complex relationships; a lot of ground covered and a lot of baggage- more baggage than JFK airport. All through the book you are waiting for the other shoe to drop and the truth to reveal itself and explain the characters motivations for being so reckless. At some points, the story and tension in the relationships are so compelling I wanted to skip through the proforma sex scenes to get to the train wreck you know is right around the corner. Maybe that’s what is attracting a guy to this story- the pending train wreck. I should add I don't get the ménage a tois thing- not me with two women and especially not another guy – yech.

I found this site because after reading this story I really needed an outlet and Googled. Glad I found it.

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Anyway, I think James and Alex are in love and in the beginning use Anne as a “vessel” to make their sexual connection that James can’t admit (not an original idea). Anne fell in lust with Alex to spite James. I am vexed as to why James would let an un-birth-controlled Anne do Alex or why Anne would want to. For me this is where a good story hits the brick wall. I would have preferred for Anne to have gotten to the hotel and gone into the room to find Alex with some random guy. It would have been closure and her and James could continue their lives. But still, it’s just fiction and fun. She wrote the book and it is what it is.

Denise — What an interesting take on the book. I saw Anne and her story somewhat differently, and I think the differences in how we read it illustrate how each reader brings her own imagination to a book.

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She blamed James for “setting it up” but it would have happened whether he set it up or not. Anne and Alex were on the collision course to an affair the moment they set eyes on each other.

I’m not certain this is the case. It’s true that there was an intense attraction between Anne and Alex as soon as they met, but I’m not convinced anything would have happened if James hadn’t suggested the threesome. I don’t know if Anne would have done it or not, given the opportunity, and I’m pretty sure Alex would not have. Or else why would he have asked, in that last scene, if James knew Anne was there?

When Anne told Alex that James knew she was there at the hotel, I believe she was lying -’ she lied about being off birth control and other things so why start telling the truth now.

This is possible — I wouldn’t rule it out as being out of character for Anne — but I felt that she and James had started a process of communicating more honestly and that Anne valued that, so it wasn’t my interpretation when I read the scene.

When Anne makes a comment to the effect that because Alex wasn't saying anything to her, did it mean nothing to him? Did she possibly ruin her marriage over this when it meant nothing to him? That made me think that James didn't know.

I think you are referring to this section of the book:

“Goodbye, Alex,” I said at last. “I hope you’ll be happy.”

He didn’t answer. I wanted him to say goodbye. Say something. But he was a rugged rascal even at the end. He gave me a half nod and a half smile and left me wondering if I had risked everything for a few hours of useless lust. If that’s all it had ever been. If I’d made a mistake in going there. [p.425]

(Then of course, Alex does say something).

You know, I didn’t pay much attention to this line before but rereading it makes me think that James actually did know that she was going to sleep with Alex, but was unhappy about it.

I think she wanted to get pregnant with Alex's kid to keep a part of him always with her.

That hadn’t really occurred to me before, but now that you say it, and I have reread the ending, I think it’s possible, though I’m not sure either way.

I would have preferred it for Anne and Alex to go off together. They obviously had something passionate going that probably would not have lasted long but the way she could not let Alex go was doing a disservice to James and her marriage(and I doubt once she had actual sex with him -’ other than just oral, hands, etc.- she would be able to let him go as she thought she would). She was making them both miserable and blamed James for everything. I think James deserved someone better. Alex and Anne would have been together if not for the fact that they both loved James and didn't want to hurt him. Couldn't they see that Anne's moping and her and Alex's obvious love for each other hurt him more? Anne and Alex had something with each other that neither of them had with James -’ they understood each other and burned for each other.

You know, I might agree with you if it weren’t for a factor that I think you are discounting — that there was also a powerful attraction between James and Alex. I wonder if maybe to some degree James let Alex sleep with his wife because he couldn’t bring himself to give himself to Alex more directly. Allowing those encounters to happen between Alex and Anne was the closest James could come to sleeping with Alex himself, something I do believe he wanted (at least subliminally) to do.

Yeah, I think James was afraid there would be an affair if he didn’t agree to it, but I also think he was turned on by Alex’s presence in the house. Remember the scene (before the threesome started) in which James brings Anne to orgasm under the blanket while Alex is right there in the room with them? I thought that this was an indicator that Alex’s presence was a big turn on for James. And there were other indicators, too.

I'm not sure I can handle another book like this -’ although I do wish Megan Hart would write a sequel as there were too many questions left unsaid.

Dan and Elle, the couple from Hart’s Dirty, appeared in Broken, where there was a continuation of their story. And there were references to Joe from Broken in Tempted (he was the guy Anne’s sister Mary had her one night stand with — this is the first scene in Broken). So I think it’s possible that James, Anne or Alex will appear in one of Hart’s future books.

Megan Hart is a really good writer because this book will stay with me for a while.

She does write very powerful books. I would encourage you to read Dirty and Broken, since they are closer to romances (Dirty especially).

I think I am definitely in the minority here with my thoughts on this book. By the way, I loved the review.

This was my first Megan Hart book — I listened to it in the car on the way to work and had to constantly turn it off because it was so emotional for me. Overall I think Megan Hart is an excellent author and she really stirred things up for me with this book.

Now for the book: Anne is the most selfish character I have ever encountered in a book. Alex was predictable (a rogue, rascal or whatever you want to call him). James was a good guy who was obviously in love with his wife (and his best friend) and desperate not to lose his wife or his friend so he encouraged this relationship. Anne never once took responsibility for this affair (and I do think it was an affair once they started having sex without James morning, noon and night) and made it ok in her mind by blaming it all on James.

She blamed James for “setting it up” but it would have happened whether he set it up or not. Anne and Alex were on the collision course to an affair the moment they set eyes on each other. She took after her father and her mother both. Her dad would never take responsibility for his drunk actions and her mother had an affair and left the man even though she was in love with him because she thought her place was at home. Her father was desperately in love with his wife — just as James is with Anne. I think her mom telling her the history of her affair had a lot to do with Anne’s decision to stay. If I was James I would have told Anne she was no longer welcome in his home when she said “she didn’t think so” to his question to her of would she rather be with Alex.

When Anne told Alex that James knew she was there at the hotel, I believe she was lying — she lied about being off birth control and other things so why start telling the truth now. When Anne makes a comment to the effect that because Alex wasn’t saying anything to her, did it mean nothing to him? Did she possibly ruin her marriage over this when it meant nothing to him? That made me think that James didn’t know. I think she wanted to get pregnant with Alex’s kid to keep a part of him always with her.

I would have preferred it for Anne and Alex to go off together. They obviously had something passionate going that probably would not have lasted long but the way she could not let Alex go was doing a disservice to James and her marriage(and I doubt once she had actual sex with him — other than just oral, hands, etc.– she would be able to let him go as she thought she would). She was making them both miserable and blamed James for everything. I think James deserved someone better. Alex and Anne would have been together if not for the fact that they both loved James and didn’t want to hurt him. Couldn’t they see that Anne’s moping and her and Alex’s obvious love for each other hurt him more? Anne and Alex had something with each other that neither of them had with James — they understood each other and burned for each other.

I’m not sure I can handle another book like this — although I do wish Megan Hart would write a sequel as there were too many questions left unsaid.

Do either Alex or Anne change their mind and go after each other?
Does Anne get pregnant? If so, by who?
Does Anne ever truly “forgive” James and let Alex go?

Ok, now I just have to remember it was just a book and Anne, James and Alex’s actions have no effect on my life — Megan Hart is a really good writer because this book will stay with me for a while.

I have never read Kathleen Dante’s books so I can’t comment on their quality either way, but Megan Hart’s books don’t generally include euphemisms like the ones you describe. She tends to use very blunt language and four letter words instead.

I’m not sure if by “set in other worlds” you are referring to paranormals, urban fantasies or other kinds of fantasy romances. But no, some erotic romances are very much set in the real world and I would include Megan Hart’s books among them.

As with any genre or subgenre, it can take a while to discover the books and authors that really appeal to your tastes. Besides Megan Hart, another author of erotic romance I really enjoy is Pam Rosenthal, who writes erotic romances set in the Regency era.

I highly recommend Rosenthal’s novella “A House East of Regent Street” which can be found in an anthology of erotic romance called Strangers in the Night. And if you don’t mind something challenging, I thought that her most recent novel, The Slightest Provocation, was one of the most unique and risk-taking books I’ve ever encountered in the romance genre.

Hart’s two novels, Dirty and Broken, are also excellent, even more so than Tempted in my opinion. It’s debatable whether Hart is really an author of erotic romance — her books are labeled as erotic novels rather than romance, but I think she’s worth reading regarding of what you call her books.

You can find reviews of some of the books I just mentioned at the links below:

Janine’s A review of Rosenthal’s The Slightest Provocation

Janine’s A- review of Hart’s Dirty

Janine’s A- review of Hart’s Broken

Mrs. Giggles’ most excellent review of Strangers in the Night

Rose — Thanks for explaining. Typographical and grammatical errors in books annoy me too, but I just wanted to make clear to our readers that Jennie and I didn’t recall encountering them in Tempted, and weren’t criticizing the book for that.

Huh. I didn't even think of that as an issue, since it usually takes months to regain your fertility after being on DepoPrevara for an extended period like Anne was.

The key word here is Usually. I can speak from experience and say that was never the case with me and both times I had been on it for years.

Huh. I didn't even think of that as an issue, since it usually takes months to regain your fertility after being on DepoPrevara for an extended period like Anne was.

Lorelie, I didn’t know this, but I think I would have seen it as an issue even if I had, because there’s a point in the book when Anne goes to the doctor, and James mistakenly thinks she didn’t take the shot, and therefore, as we find out much later in the book (even though months don’t go by), he doesn’t want her to have actual intercourse with Alex, though everything else is allowed.

No, when you throw in the birth control issue, it doesn't really make sense.

Huh. I didn’t even think of that as an issue, since it usually takes months to regain your fertility after being on DepoPrevara for an extended period like Anne was.

Incidentally, Megan Hart will be hosting a discussion on Tempted in a few days.

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No, when you throw in the birth control issue, it doesn't really make sense.

That was how I felt too. I felt that it was there to satisfy something that had been missing for Anne, and for us readers, because we never got to see actual intercourse take place between Anne and Alex. But it didn’t seem to me to make sense for James to be okay with it, or for Anne to recommit to her marriage and then do something like that if James wasn’t okay with it. Which is why I ended up feeling that it was a bit contrived — there for us readers more than for the characters.

Well, I'm not sure that I had really high hopes for Anne and James' marriage anyway – that was part of my problem.

I think that I may have had a bit more hope for it than you did.

As I've said, I don't mind if things aren't wrapped up super-neatly – I don't need a Balogh-style epilogue with kids running around. Particularly in books where the h/h have only known each other a short time and/or have had heavy conflict, I prefer the realism of “we're happy right now” to a straight HEA.

Me too.

The problem with Tempted – and it may be that I'm just getting entrenched in my opinion because I love to argue – but the problem was that the things felt so unresolved, and the HEA-for-now so tenuous, that it just wasn't satisfying. But it might be more okay if I try to reset my mind to not view it as a romance.

Yeah, you need to press that re-set button, Jennie. :) This book didn’t feel like a romance to me, though it had some romantic moments. I would have actually been more satisfied if the ending had been different; if either Anne never got to sleep with Alex, or if she chose to leave James. Those endings would have been darker, I think, and also more realistic, but I would have found either of them more romantic than the having-the-cake-and-eating-it-too note that the book ended on.

I want to reiterate that Megan Hart is such a gutsy, unconventional author, and that I felt that even with its flaws, Tempted was worth the $13.95 I spent on it, and will defnitely read her next book, too.