Format Read:e-arc provided from NetGalley for review
Release Date:May 6th 2013
Publisher:Carina Press
Series: The Science of Temptation, #2
Formats Available: ebook, Kindle Edition
Purchasing Info: Goodreads | Publisher | Amazon | Kobo | B&N

Book Blurb:

Wildlife biologist Lindsey thought attending a fan convention with her new boyfriend Ben was a great idea—until their relationship fizzled. Lindsey still lusts after her ex—but if he wants her, he’s going to have to prove it.

Ben will do anything to win Lindsey back, and when he sees her in her skimpy black vinyl convention get-up, he realizes what she’s been craving all along. And he is inspired to finally give in to his own dark desire to take complete sexual control…

Lindsey is surprised by her reaction to Ben’s kinky new seduction techniques, and suddenly sees the brilliant but uptight code guru in a different light. After several erotic encounters in hotel rooms and stairwells, she’s falling for Ben all over again. And wondering if the intimate connection will last once they head home…

My Thoughts:
When I saw that Delphine Dryden was writing a sequel to her Theory of Attraction story I was beyond excited! I absolutely loved the first book in the Science of Temptation series that I just couldn’t wait to read a new scorching hot nerdy romance. And at this point I can’t help but wonder how it’s possible for me to love so much the first book in a series and feel absolutely nothing about the second one. Because that’s exactly what happened with The Seduction Hypothesis. I just read it feeling nothing whatsoever about the story, never getting the hotness of the scenes, never caring about the main characters and thinking that I should had just avoided reading any sequel to a just perfect story. Not that we had the same main characters but they made an appearance and believe me, it was hard for me to even recognize both Cami and Ivan from the first book in this new story.

But let’s take things from the beginning. The Seduction Hypothesis is the story of Lindsey and Ben both nerds who have recently broken up and are again meeting in order to attend the same convention along with 4 other friends, Cami and Ivan of the first book among them. So typically, this is a second chance in love kind of story, one that I usually really enjoy but unfortunately in this book the trope was rather poorly executed. Because in the end of day, all there was to The Seduction Hypothesis is a couple’s initiation to the BDSM lifestyle and the whole plot was just centered around a couple of sex scenes and nothing more. And probably things couldn’t have been different since The Seduction Hypothesis was a rather short story. Shorter than Theory of Attraction if memory serves right. But while in the first book, where the main focus was once more the sex scenes, we also had a very unique and intriguing character, here, we had nothing. Or rather we had once more two very intriguing characters but unfortunately they were never fully explored nor they were developed. Granted, Ben showed the most signs of development throughout the story seeing how he was first introduced as a man who was afraid to make any tough choices and live his life as he wanted and by the end we had a man willing to go after what he thought was good for him but still ,those changes felt somehow forced on his character rather than a natural development. He didn’t grow as a character he just accepted to explore the BDSM lifestyle and everything else just came along with that decision in a nicely wrapped package. As a result, the HEA by the end, didn’t really feel as one. The way Ben and Lindsay got together just felt like a necessity in order for the story to wrap up quickly and end in a happy way while still their problems weren’t really all that settled.

But the ending, no matter how quickly wrapped up wasn’t my main problem with this book. My main problem was the fact that The Seduction Hypothesis was just an excuse for some more hot BDSM scenes with no plot nor any in depth characters. And as a result, when there’s no substantial story or I can’t really connect to my main characters, the sex scenes hold no real value to me. I just read them detached, unable of feeling anything at all. And how could I ever feel anything when I don’t really care about the characters. When the author isn’t providing me with enough background to make me care about her characters.

All in all, The Seduction Hypothesis is nothing like the first book in the series unfortunately. The writing style is pretty much the same but this story is just written in haste, or at least it seems that way. There’s no real plot, the characters lack any depth and in overall The Seduction Hypothesis is just a story with some well written sex scenes in it, though again in the first book were way better, and little else. I read it quite quickly but I doubt I will remember much of it after sometime, unlike the first book which will be among my favorite erotica stories for quite some time.

I give The Seduction Hypothesis 2 stars

About Anna

Anna is a psychologist from Greece.You can almost always find her with a book stuck under her nose,so it's no wonder that all her friends make a joke of her.Apart from reading she dreams of the day she'll be able to travel around the world!Anna also blogs at Books to Brighten your Mood.

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