LauraJ’s review of Flirting With Temptation by Kelley St. John
Contemporary Romance released by Forever 1 Feb 09
If I keep having luck with books from authors I haven’t read before but have on my tbr shelf, I’m going to clear away a lot of unread books. This is the second book I’ve read in a week that I’ve coming saying “Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t read anything by her yet”. I guess I need to come out from under my rock more often, huh.
This was a fun story that I read through very quickly thanks to great pacing and such fun characters. The heroine, Babette kind of reminded me of, well, me. I don’t think I’ve quite decided what I want to be when I grow up, I change my hair color frequently, and back in the day, I changed boyfriends to match my hair color – not the changing of boyfriends anymore since I’ve long outgrown that and met “The One” – much like Babette does. Luckily for her, Babette does discover that she has a talent for repairing broken relationships and opens a business selling her self as the Love Doctor. The business is going well and her track record is 100% until a new client walks in, one who can help Babette’s business grow quickly and in a big way if she is successful and wants her to repair a broken relationship with the client’s former fiancé who also happens to be Babette’s ex-boyfriend (of sorts), Jeff.
After making a few changes and with some encouragement from her Grandmother – Granny Gert tells her numerous times that Babette needs to get some gumption and go after what she wants – Babette heads to Florida to approach Jeff and convince him to talk to his ex-fiancé. Jeff is still a bit bitter by not only his recent break-up, but also his break-up with Babette. To him all women have wandering eyes and he wants nothing to do with either of these two woman from his recent past. Something that is very understandable when you learn how the break-ups occur.
Jeff is still attracted to Babette (as she is to him) but still tries to resist. He offers her a proposal, one he is sure will get rid of both women for good. He tells Babette that if she can make it one week without flirting then he will talk to his ex-fiancé with no promises of reconciliation (because there won’t be any). Determined to be successful himself with getting rid of both women, Jeff tries his best to set Babette up to fail. The problem is Jeff is failing miserably at resisting Babette who in return is doing quite well at resisting the urge to flirt.
The hero and heroine in this story are great and I loved their easy, sexy banter. But it was the secondary characters that gave me lots of laughs. From Babette’s Grandmother who is having Babette track down an old friend she has her eye on to the senior citizens in the retirement community next to Jeff’s condo, they added so much to the story. They show that it doesn’t matter what age are, you can still be young at heart.
There is another book previous to this one featuring Babette’s sister Clarise who appears in this one, but this book can easily stand alone unless you are one of those sticklers who has to read books in order. I’ll be going back to read that one as well as checking out he rest of Ms. St. John’s backlist. Can’t wait for more and next time I won’t be waiting as long to pick them up to read.
Grade: B+
Summary:
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She’s playing it cool.
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Wild child Babette Robinson doesn’t do relationships, but she does have a knack for helping other people with theirs. When she opens her own match-mending business and dubs herself “The Love Doctor”, she becomes the biggest name in Birmingham, She even attracts teh attention of socialite Kitty Carelle, who hires her to fix her broken engagement to Jeff Eubanks-Babette’s ex!
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He’s turning up the heat.
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Three years ago, Jeff and Babette’s chemistry was off the charts, but though she basked in his sexy charm and wicked with, she couldn’t commit to a deeper relationship. Convinced that all women have wandering eyes, Jeff issues a challenge: He’ll do as Babette asks and talk to Kitty, if Babette abstains from all flirting for one whole week. With Jeff doing his best to make her melt in his arms, will this sassy vamp be able to save her business? And after tempting nights, will she want to give up the man she once tossed away.
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Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
