Review: Tempting Taste

Tempting Taste by Sara Whitney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adored Sara Whitney's "Tempting Taste" and highly recommend it. Even though it is technically the second book in the Tempt Me series, it reads as a complete standalone, so readers (like me) who are new to the series will not feel lost at all by starting here. Fair warning, however: reading this book will probably make you crave cake. I know I am! I have never tasted peach cake before, but thanks to the description of it in this book, I am now searching all of my local bakeries to find it because it sounds so delicious. ;-)

The main characters of this story, Josie and Erik, were both very likeable and well-developed. The female lead, Josie, was what my grandmother might describe as a "firecracker": outgoing, energetic, independent, and maybe even a bit bossy. There was a world of hurt hiding beneath her seemingly confident exterior, however, mostly related to her mother, Pamela. It wasn't difficult to figure out why; Pamela seemed like a real witch who alternately ignored Josie and treated her cruelly, for no apparent reason. Her mother's behavior drove Josie's determination to be successful in her career, if for no other reason than to get Pamela's attention. Unfortunately, this ambition was at the root of a lot of the problems Josie and Erik had to work through to get to their HEA.

I found Erik to be completely swoon-worthy, and he was definitely one of my top 10 favorite book boyfriends of all time. (It didn't hurt that I was picturing Chris Hemsworth as Thor the entire time I was reading about him. A man who looks like Thor/Hemsworth who can also bake me delicious cake on demand is pretty much my idea of perfection!) I love grumpy heroes who slowly open up as they fall in love, and Erik's grumpiness was particularly adorable. He was so shy and sweet, and I loved the way he came out of his shell with Josie and made such an effort to use his words with her. They really seemed to bring out the best in each other, and I found it very easy to root for them both individually and as a couple.

I am very much looking forward to reading the other books in this series. (I'm going to need to find and sample that peach cake first, though.)

*ARC provided by the author via InkSlingerPR.  All opinions expressed are my own.

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