Ex Libris

My Thoughts: I'll start by a confession: Tempting the Best Man was the first story I read by Jennifer L. Armentrout (who's writing her adult novels under the penname of J. Lynn). Many blogger freinds are big fans of her books, so seeing how much I fun I had with Tempting the Best Man I think I’ll give Jennifer’s YA series a shot and see if I like it as much as her smexy adult one (if there is a hero as delicious as Chase then I’m up for it ;-) )

Tempting the Best Man was definitely unputdownable and quite addictive, I know I devoured it in one day and if I had the other Gamble brothers’ stories on hand I would have delved right in! (Note: Tempting the Best Man is the 1st book in Jennifer’s new adult series about the three Gamble brothers, so sadly I’ll have to wait for the next stories to published first before I can get my hands on them :-( *sighs*)

The Gamble brothers are an interesting lot: besides their unhappy childhood what they all have in common is - besides their hot looks - is that all three of them are quite the ladies’ men and have commitment and relationships issues due to their dad’s unfaithful conduct and how it deteriorated their parents’ marriage. So let’s get back to Chase, the youngest Gamble brother and the hero of Tempting the Best Man...

Chase is the best friend of Maddie's older brother, so the three of them grew up together. And much to Maddie's chagrin and irritation despite her being a 25-26 year old grown up, he still treats her like a little kid sister, while Maddie has quite different feelings for him:

“But he’s constantly poking at me, you know? Teasing me in front of my family, treating me like a kid sister, when all I want to do is shake him…and get him naked.”

What we get to see and hear about Chase makes him seem the ideal man, so no wonder Maddie has this huge crush on him she just can't get over:

He was the type of guy who would rip off his shirt in the middle of Snowmageddon and give it to a homeless person on the street, but there’d always been this raw, dangerous edge to him. Chase wasn’t the kind of guy anyone messed with.

*sighs* Chase’s reasoning for why they shouldn’t/couldn’t be together drove me up to wall (together with Maddie). I understand that his parents’ marriage left him scarred and my heart went out to him, I just hoped Maddie would finally get to him through his thick skull and make him see the light that he really was a generous, kind, warm-hearted and honourable man.

Maddie was such a fun and cute heroine!

Throwing the car into park, she debated getting out and kicking the damn car. Instead, she did the mature thing: placed her head on the steering wheel and cussed some more.

Since she was the youngest it was a lot of fun seeing how all three Gamble brothers (besides her own blood related brother) treated her as their little sister (well except Chase anyway), and how this treatment would ruffle her feathers since she was “not a child anymore”! She was a delightful and very entertaining heroine, I liked her huffing and puffing, and don’t misunderstand me, she was no spoiled brat or hissyfit-throwing princess, she was very logical and rational, except when it came to Chase, then she became all starry-eyed and tongue-tied like a teenager with a crush.

And all their sexual banter was de-light-ful! Made me chuckle and wiggle my eyebrows so many times! :-D

“I blew a tire.”
“You blew what?” Madison rolled her eyes.
“I blew a tire.”
“Wait. I can’t hear you. Guys, can you keep it down?” His voice got a little farther away from the mouthpiece. “Maddie’s on the phone and she blew something.” The room erupted in male laughter.

Their relationship was full of sizzling banter and innuendos and then when they took things to the phsycal level it just burst into flames:

then his mouth was crushing hers, and her world became him—the touch and feel of his lips pressing down, forcing hers to respond. It wasn’t a gentle kiss or a sweet exploration. It was angry and raw, breathtaking and soul burning.

I felt rather sorry for and a bit frustrated with Maddie as she acted like some addict always going back for more heartbreak delivered by Chase and his refusal of having a relationship with her. I thought that due to Chase being her childhood/first crush, in her present day relationship with Chase Maddie retained pretty much the glow and starry-eyedness of a first love. She still saw Chase in a rose mist and as the prince of her dreams and fantasies and not necessarily the flesh and blood man (with doubts and insecurities) that he is/he has become. In this aspect I found Maddie a bit immature. But this was just a minor thing that I found nagging.

Verdict: With no prior knowledge of Jennifer Armentrout’s writing, after having read Tempting the Best Man I just became her newest fan! I enjoyed every moment of this witty and sexy bantering romance between a charismatic hero and an adorable heroine and count back the days ‘till we’ll get to read the next Gamble brother’s story!

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Cover: 8/10

Read our dual review at Book Lovers Inc.

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