Format read: ebook provided by publisher 
Release Date: 23 April 2012
Series: Book #1 in the Gamble brothers series
Number of pages: 172 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Read an excerpt

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…

Our Thoughts:

Stella: Well I’ll start by a confession but please don’t throw stones at me Anna: 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) *gasps* I know!

Anna: I’ll keep my stones Stella 😛 I know you’re not a big fan of YA stories, so you’re forgiven! (see how generous a person I am?)

Stella: Yes, but seeing how much I enjoyed 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 😉 )

Anna: Oh you should Stella! I’m a big fan of Jennifer Armentrout from her very first novel and so far she hasn’t disappointed me in the least! Somehow, she’s one of those authors who just can’t write a bad story. Simple as that. No matter what she writes, who her characters are, Jennifer Armentrout has a way of sucking you into her world and making you love everything that revolve around it. And with her first adult story, she just proves what I’m saying 🙂

Stella: I can only say that I concur with you Anna (and since I’m not a biased fan people you can give credence to my words 😉 lol)

Anna: I may be a biased fan, but Tempting the Best Man was just the sweetest story I have ever read! And one of Jennifer Armentrout’s biggest advantages is how she makes her readers unable to put down her stories. And the same thing happened to me with every book I’ve read of hers so far (that’s pretty much everything and anything she has published so far :P)

Stella: Well 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*)

Anna: I so agree, with both things Stella! And I’m so glad that J. Armentrout will get back to that hot trio that I can’t describe how excited I was when I heard about it. Because one of the things I absolutely love about this author is the way she writes not only her main characters but her secondary ones as well. And that glimpse of the other two Gamble brothers, just left me wanting more!

Stella: Yes, 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…

Anna: Oh Chase!!! Pure hotness! Can I have him for myself?

Stella: Sorry, you can’t! I want him as well, and I think Maddie would also have a few quite unfriendly words with us if we took away her love 😉

Anna: Ok, but I’m claiming Chandler for myself! I’m certain he will be equally hot! Wouldn’t like to displease Maddie. She was such a sweetheart!

Stella: Oh yes, Maddie was such a fun and cute heroine! 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 🙂

Anna: Oh, her huffing and puffing and all that bickering between her and Chase was a pure delight to read! I caught myself smirking while reading this story more times than I can count!

Stella: Oh yes, all that sexual banter was de-light-ful! Made me chuckle and wiggle my eyebrows so many times! 😀

Anna: And after all that, when they finally got together, well, it just made worth the wait all the more! Because that scene in the cellar, was smoking hot! One of the most intense and fun sex scenes I have ever read, and not just because it was a well written one, but because I was so invested to both Maddie and Chase and I just wanted them to get together finally.

Stella: Yes, though that scene in their cabin was a memorable one as well… *winks*

Anna: Oh it was a good one as well!

Stella: 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.

Anna: Well, something bothered me there a bit, maybe it was Maddie for not understanding Chase and helping him overcome his defenses or maybe it was Chase himself for being way too stubborn, but to be completely honest, it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of their story

Stella: Me I rather felt sorry 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.

Anna:  Couldn’t put it better myself Stella. That was the only thing that “frustrated” me a bit in this story. Maddie did come off as a bit immature, not seeing Chase for who he really was, but she was adorable nonetheless! Or maybe I was so focused on the hotness of them together that I completely disregarded anything and everything else!

Stella: Lol, I know Anna, I wasn’t hung up for long on this slight problem in Maddie’s characterisation either since whenever Chase was on scene I couldn’t take my thoughts away from him (though truth be told even when he was not on scene Maddie and I were mostly thinking of him as well lol 😉 )

Anna: Oh yeah, Chase had the same effect on me I’m afraid!

Verdict: All in all, Tempting the Best Man was just an amazing adult debut novel by Jennifer Armentrout. It was cute and sexy and it had everything I search for in a story to have a great time while reading it.

I give Tempting the Best Man 5 stars!

Stella: 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!!

I give Tempting the Best Man 4.5 stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

About Stella

Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

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