Modern Tempted Review #3

Hello folks! The past few months have been an exciting whirl of revisions, cover art suggestions, author photos, marketing ideas, the list goes on. But now that I have a second to breathe I wanted to share my thoughts on some more releases from the new Mills & Boon Modern Tempted line. So, without further ado ...

Backstage with Her Ex

Louisa George

Her ex…the VIP! Hiding out in the gents’ toilets backstage is not the way Sasha imagined bumping into her significant ex. Especially when that ex is notoriously damaged, famously wild rock god Nate Munro! She has a massive favour to ask him, but one glimpse of his sinfully dark eyes and all she can think about is that he’s seen her naked! Nate’s used to women doing anything to get his attention, but he never pictured bubbly schoolteacher Sasha as the groupie type – she’s far too sweet! But when the paparazzi get a hint of their reunion, it’s scandal all the way. Now the question on everyone’s lips is this: In this showdown between the girl next door and rock-and-roll royalty, who’s going to come out on top?

This story had lots going for it from the start. First up, it's a reunion story, and I love a reunion. – falling in love is a rush, but making that into a real, solid relationship is the real test and – if you can do it – the real reward. So we were off to a good start :) Add in a couple of fantastically drawn characters and I was hooked. Nate’s a full-on bad boy, no half measures, with women coming out of his ears (ahem). Sasha, on the other hand, is uptight, nervous, terrified of letting go -- cue lots of emotional conflict!

I loved the hot chemistry between the two, seeing the softer side of Nate, and wondering right to the end how they’d manage to transform their passionate affair into a real relationship.

Top marks all round, and an author I'll definitely look for again.

Maid of Dishonour

Heidi Rice

When she’s very, very bad… Gina Carrington knows exactly how to have fun! But when she slept with her friend’s brother, the off-limits Carter, she quickly discovered she’d overstepped the mark. …life is so much more fun! Years later Gina sees Carter again, and can’t help but wonder what the harm would be in one more night… He’s available, gorgeous, and behind that laid-back Southern charm there’s a wild side even she can’t tame! But Gina has secrets which she can’t hide for ever – will their chemistry be strong enough to keep Carter by her side when they come to light?

As I predicted in my last set of reviews, Gina's story is one to look out for. She’s feisty (even for a M&B heroine, and that bar’s set pretty high) with a bad girl history to put to rest. Let me nail my colours to the mast here – I don’t like cheaters. It’s just not okay with me, and I knew from Gina’s appearance earlier in the Wedding Quartet that that was how her and Carter’s story starts. So I knew Heidi Rice would have a tough job winning me over. 

Reader, she did it. It wasn’t easy, and if it wasn’t for the fabulously vulnerable side she managed to bring out in Gina, it couldn’t have worked. Not that Gina was the one in the wrong with the cheating of course. But even Carter – who was someone else's erring fiancé when they met – ends up with your heart. It's not just the time since their 'mistake' that made me forgive them, but everything they'd done in the intervening years to try to atone.

So all that, and with a southern American setting – with all the stifling heat and humidity that implies – makes for a steamy read. 

And of course I couldn't not mention the guest appearance from my new favourite romance character ever – Cassie Barclay. All round, a superb read.