REVIEW: Tempting the Best Man by J. Lynn

Format: Kindle
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date: April 21, 2012
My Copy: Self-Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Madison Daniels has worshipped her brother's best friend since they were kids. Everyone thinks she and Chase Gamble would make the perfect couple, but there are two major flaws in their logic. 1) Chase has sworn off relationships of any kind, and 2) after blurring the line between friends and lovers for one night four years ago, they can't stop bickering.

Forced together for her brother's wedding getaway, Chase and Madison decide to call a truce for the happy couple. Except all bets are off when they're forced to shack up in a tacky 70’s honeymoon suite and survive a multitude of "accidents" as the family tries to prove their "spark" can be used than for more than fighting. That is, if they don't strangle each other first.

Fans of Jennifer Armentrout's Lux and Covenant series might be surprised that the author has made her first venture into the adult contemporary romance genre. Writing under the pseudonym, J. Lynn, Tempting the Best Man was a sweet, sexy and funny romantic read. Even though I would consider this a mild adult romance I would like to warn Jennifer's YA fans that there are steamy/racy scenes, so if that isn't your cup of tea or if you're under 18 years old, I suggest you skip this book for now.

The story between Madison and Chase isn’t all that new. The tale about a girl in love with a childhood friend has been told time and time again. What made Tempting the Best Man stand out from the others is that Madison and Chase were so charismatic and charming. The multiple time they stuck their foot in their mouths were hilarious. You just knew these two were meant to be together except that their road to happily ever after had always been muddled with misunderstandings. Situations could have easily been fixed if Madison and Chase would have just been honest about their feelings from the get go and communicated better but then again the story wouldn’t have been as fun to read if everything was just smooth sailing for these two.

I enjoyed Madison as a heroine. She’s young, smart, stubborn, spunky and a tough, which is expected especially since she grew up with a bunch of rowdy boys. She was successful at her job and her only weakness seemed to be Chase Gamble. She didn’t handle everything as maturely as most people would but that was one of her likeable characteristics. I understood her trepidations when it came to Chase, honestly when you’ve been in love with someone for that long, emotions just get a hold of you that you can’t control. Chase Gamble was a very swoon worthy hero. He’s young, successful, wealthy, determined and had women lining up to be with him. Growing up with a womanizing father, he’d convinced himself that he was a duplicate of his father and wasn’t capable to truly loving or honoring a woman. From the beginning, you could tell Chase always had feelings for Madison just by observing the way he around when she was in need or the way he took the over protective brother role in her life seriously.

With likeable main and secondary characters, a cute unrequited love story, and wonderful chemistry between the couple, Tempting the Best Man is a wonderful read to add to your contemporary romance reading list. I was a little perturbed by the misunderstanding at the end which could have EASILY been cleared up but overall it was a fun story that I zipped right through. I can see why so many people love Armentrout's work and hopefully you'll be tempted enough after reading this review to pick yourself up a copy of of this quick witted, sexy contemporary romance.