Tempting the Best Man by Jennifer L. Armentrout (J. Lynn) ☆☆☆☆
First and foremost, a warning. This book turned out to be erotica (surprised, but not displeased on my part). That being said, my review is probably NSFW because I will bring it up.
With that out of the way, this was an unexpected read for me. Seeing as how I'm already reading three books and once, I would have never thought of starting a fourth. Thing is, I got this book for my Kindle probably over a year ago and just came across it on my cloud last night so I thought I'd give it a try as light reading before bed.
Told myself I'd just read one chapter and that's it because I had to be up early. Next thing I know it's sunrise and I'm already at 51%, so a small nap, errand ran, and I got back to finish the rest as quickly as possible.
As a writer, I know that the first sentence, first paragraph, first page is the most crucial. That's what teaches your reader how to read the book (third person focalized, past tense in this case), but also what catches the readers attention. To tell the truth, I just about gave up after the first page. It seemed a little all over the place and the protagonist, Madison, seemed over dramatic and whiny. However, by the last sentence of the first chapter I was sold. I was a little lost when the next chapter started with a focalization on Chase's point-of-view, but once I got the hang of it, it was really perfect.
I liked the characters a lost, especially the mishaps between them. It's like a game of tag and they each keep missing the other, completely out of sync. Great story line. But I also had a lot of things I didn't like. I still felt Madison was a little over dramatic, but I mean, by the end I was kind of feeling the same way with the events. Most specifically though I had a problem with language.
I already addressed language as a stopper for why I almost didn't finish the first page, but it's more than that even. Towards the end there is also an uneven use of father/dad and mother/mom. It sounds really strange. Calling him Dad and then calling him Father just throws me out of the story. Father is much to formal in a story like this. But that's just a few problems I have.
It wasn't just the flow of the words and story, this book actually included a lot of my idiosyncrasies that drive me nuts. This isn't the first erotica I've read, but so help me if I have to read "her sex" or "his sex" ever again I'll strangle someone. Body parts have names! And "sex" is not it. Sex is an event not a noun. This is especially true, when "erection" is pointed out several times, but then later called "his sex" which drove me nuts. Just get on with the story, we get the idea, no hand holding necessary. That use of language takes me out. Let's also go with the use of "rear" used often in this book when "ass" is also used regularly. Just stick with "ass," the characters are in their twenties and "rear" is very old fashioned and prude. It's the word my grandmother uses.
I really would have liked to see a better ending. Like an explanation of why their signals crossed toward the end. It seemed like it all went out the window and forgot half the climax of the ending (no pun intended). The miscommunication was a big part of the story for the last several chapters and it is glossed over completely in the end. And I kind of want to know what happens after, not just imagine it. I want to see the characters more. Who knows though, Chase's brothers are getting their own books too, so maybe I'll see more of Chase after with those sequels.
Overall, 5 stars for storyline, very pleasurable (again no pun intended) light reading, but a lot taken off for use of language. If you can get past the poor use of language, you'll love this.
