llicit Temptations is two romance novellas combined into 1 book. I like Katee Robert's writing, which is why I requested this book, and in that respect was not disappointed! The spicy scenes are plentiful and oh so satisfying.
The first story is a trope I loathe: surprise pregnancy. Our couple meets at a wedding, hooks up, and we follow the aftermath. However, the romance was so sweet, I had to admit to myself that maybe I don't hate this trope as much as I thought. The short and sweet length fit perfectly with this story.
The second story was a grumpy/sunshine office romance. I liked the characters in this story, they were fun to read about. May have found a new favorite trope in grumpy/sunshine. It was delightful.
I liked the subtle interconnected-ness of the two stories. They could work as stand-alones, but the glimpses of characters from the opposite books is really fun.
If you like Katee Robert, no doubt you'll like this book. If you're looking for a smutty, quickie-romance, I think you'll like this one.

Katee Robert never fails to bring the spice and fans will not be disappointed in these two novellas! It was great fun to see alternate sides to the characters between the two books and I especially enjoyed the first story. Katee tackles potentially uncomfortable topics with a healthy dose of humour and steam. It was nice to see a more contemporary setting to alternate with all the fun fantasy worlds she usually builds! Would recommend.

This is apparently two books republished as one. Honestly, I don't love the new name; it just doesn’t quite encompass the stories inside.

First up we've got Becka and Aaron. She gets pregnant after a one night stand with him and when he finds out at 12 weeks, he makes her move in. I’m a sucker for petnames in books and her’s is minx, which I think I mostly like because they are supposed to not be into each other. Holy moly, this story is spicy. Like, plot where? Under the spice. So the first story was VERY SPICY and then they fought, made up, and had a beautiful baby. The end.

The second is about Trish Livingston (Aaron's sister from the first story). She is a bubbly, sunshine girl who goes to work in her brother's office while he is on parental leave and falls immediately for the gruff, grumpy boss. It's a we want to but shouldn't until they get to London for a job and dive all in. It was a little slow and I didn't really connect with either character.

To be honest, aside from them being interconnected novellas, I don't think they need to be in the same book. The vibes were VERY different between the two.

Spicy? Yes. Interesting? They didn't do it for me. Which is unfortunate, because I love some of Katee's other stories!

⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Really enjoyed this was a 2 for one book. Typically not a fan of insta-love. Can deal with it more when the story is a novella like these are, since not a lot of time so someone has to fall hard and fast. Glad it was the men who fall first and fall hard, too many times the narrative it's women who fall in love first. It's a societal norm flip - guy wants commitment, girl runs away. Also way for the men to fix a situation, plan and carry it out - that is truly a way to get my fanny to flutter. Love our first leading lady was already killing the game in a way that made her happy and our second leading lady we got to be on the journey with her to fulfilling her career aspirations. Also loved how these leading men would follow their woman to the ends of the earth and back if needed. Troupe were good between the two stories checks a lot of boxes, personally could have done without the one night stand ending in pregnancy (personal taste thing).

I enjoyed the spice in both the stories in this book. I do however wish that there was a bit more to the stories even though they were novellas. I loved Cameron as a character and also enjoyed the other characters. Overall the book was a 3-3.5 for me as it was a quick but fun read.

Illicit Temptations by Katee Robert is two novellas in one! I didn’t realize I would get a two for one! Both novellas were previously released under different names: Make Me Yours & Make Me Need.

Make me Yours:
This fast-paced novella follows Aaron and Becka meet at Becka’s sister’s wedding and have a fun evening which results in Becka pregnant. Aaron immediately wants to play a role in the pregnancy and the two rekindle their passion from their first night together.

Make Me Need:
This novella follows Aaron’s sister, Trish who begins working at his cybersecurity firm. There, she meets Cameron who is partners at the firm with Aaron. They have a bit of a volatile relationship and banter for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. 3 stars ⭐️

✨Book Review✨

Illicit Temptations - Katee Robert

📖 These stories have been previously published as Make Me Yours and Make Me Need and they’re now perfectly paired in a single publication that allows you to enjoy both stories back to back. The first act of our novel is Becka and Aaron. A sexy one night stand after her sister's wedding leads to something more complicated when she ends up pregnant. Act two is between Trish, Aaron’s sister, and Cameron his partner in business. Will Trish be able to put up with Cameron’s grumpy bullshit, or will she quit and tuck tail back home to her parents house?

📚 I loved the way these were novella length and were quick and easy reads. I thought exploring the dynamics of an accidental pregnancy with a one night stand was interesting. I also found the grumpy boss and sunny secretary to be enjoyably predictable. Overall a nice read.

🌟 As with most Katee Robert work this is explicit and detailed with bedroom scenes - so if that’s your cup of tea then pick this up when it publishes September 10th!

Shoutout to @netgalley and Katee Robert for putting a copy of this on my Kindle early!

#BookReview #BookRecommendation #IllicitTemptations #KateeRobert #NetGalley

This book is made up of two separate stories that complement each other in some of the best ways. These love stories are similar in ways that make you fall in love with the characters and their worlds, but different enough that you don’t feel like you’re reading the same story twice. The story was well written. The character development shifted seamlessly. And the smut was 10 out of 10. Highly recommend this book!

This was previously published separately as Make Me Yours and Make Me Need. Now the Duet has been updated and under one cover called Illicit Temptations, releasing on Sept 10, 2024. Overall I rate this book a solid 4 Stars. Separately, I would rate Make Me Yours 4 Stars, and Make Me Need 3.5 Stars. The stories were short, but had good character development. My only disappointment is that I wish each story had been longer as I would've loved to have been a part of these couples' lives a bit longer.

To date, I've only read Katee Robert's Neon Gods series. Conceptually, this is very far from Neon Gods. At times, I had to remind myself that this was Katee Robert. Not that it's a bad thing. I'm just saying that if you are expecting something along the lines of Neon Gods, you will be disappointed. But if you are looking for straight couples in an every day, real world setting, with protective alpha males, some spicy scenes and a couple of HEAs, then I think you will enjoy these stories.

Make Me Yours – Aaron and Becka
Great story. Aaron Livingston was relentless in his pursuit of Becka, until he felt she really didn't want him anymore. He was angry and hurt, but did exactly what she didn't need him to do. Walk away. But once he realized his mistake, groveled, and once they got out of their heads, the relationship improved immensely. They laugh together and love spending time in each others arms. Expect some super hot bedroom (and other areas in the apartment) scenes. The ending and their HEA was superb.

Make Me Need – Trish and Cameron
On Trish Livingston's first day of work she's saved from falling off a ladder by her brother's business partner. Cue the insta-love. I thought the instant ga-ga relationship a bit difficult to believe considering his inability to interact well with people. Somehow, Trish is able to ignore all of his rude grumpiness and fall in love with him seemingly based solely on his good looks.

In the end, Cameron becomes less grumpy, and they do get their HEA, but I wish there had been a longer story arc about his angst and issues with peopling.

If you are looking for Katee Robert's fantasy series style depth and world building, this may not be the set of novellas for you. However, if you want tropey, comfortably predictable, cis-het romances with some spice, these are the perfect little treat.

Make Me Yours:
Tropes: Accidental pregnancy, millionaire romance, opposites attract, not like other girls and insta lust/love
A classic tale of woman who isn't like all those other women winding up pregnant and acting completely out of character (because babies?) all while "enduring" the affection and support of a perfect specimen with endless funds to spend. Ridiculous! Needless to say I loved it.

Make Me Need:
Tropes: Brother's Best Friends/Best Friend's Little Sister, Grumpy-Sunshine, millionaire romance, forbidden romance, failure to communicate
Another bog standard romance where a grumpy man with no social skills (for no reason here, not even a tragic past! How refreshing!) falls in love with a fragile flower who hides behind a smile. All she needed was the magical penis to show her how to embrace self-worth. Everything works out perfectly because $money$ and true love. Of course, this was amazing!

These are exactly what's on the tin and fans of Robert's earlier works will enjoy these quick pick-me-up reads.

This was my first ever Katee Robert book. Keeping in mind that they are short novellas (I wish they were longer full length stories), I really enjoyed them. It was great to have just a little taste of Robert and now I'm going to pick up one of her full length stories. These are like a tasty trope soup. Do check and make sure you are comfortable with the main themes, otherwise I think they are a great quick romance read.

Katee Robert is an auto-read author for me. As a huge fan of her O'Malleys trilogy, the Wicked Villains series, and Neon Gods saga, as well as the Dark Tides duology (so far), this one had me just at seeing Katee's name. What a SPICY fun ride.

Thank you to Netgalley for a gifted copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Don't expect to read these novellas hoping for relationship building and character development. These are meant to be quick books, hot between the sheets that lead to a hea. Given that premise, these books had all the hallmarks of a Katee book and were enjoyable reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Katee Robert for an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

This was a combo of two novellas put into one book. I love how fun and easy they were to binge, I just wish there was a little more to them. Very spicy and always a great time!

Illicit Temptations is a re-release of two previously published novellas, Make Me Yours and Make Me Need. Both were quick, spicy reads that kept me interested the entire time! I love Katee Robert's books, and this one was definitely fun to read.

If you are looking for books with lots of spice, I'd definitely recommend these novellas. The first one is a surprise pregnancy trope and the second one is brothers best friend / workplace romance. While this book did help me get out of a bit of a slump, I wish they had more growth and development in them vs feeling like insta love. At times I felt like the relationships were much more physical than emotional, and I wish there was more of a balance.

Overall this was a quick, fun and spicy read and I'd definitely recommend. Thank you to Netgalley & Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC copy!

This novella duo in one book—- perfection. It has a couple of my favorite tropes- surprise pregnancy and grumpy sunshine, but they are a bit insta love. Not necessarily my favorite trope, but with the lengths of these, it didn’t bother me too much.

Ultimately, I loved these and Katee is forever the best. I can’t wait to buy this for my shelf.

If you’re looking for a little palette cleanser between books- this is it. You get 2 novellas wrapped up into one for a quick and easy read. I don’t love the pregnancy trope but it didn’t really bother me so much here. The spice was spicing and I appreciated the quick moving stories.

I think I'm waiting to add a star rating to this on review sites until I think longer, but I worry that KR has too many publishing obligations at this time. I was underwhelmed by both stories included in this book (the second was better than the first). They unfolded far too quickly and there was zero chemistry of intrigue. The first was a surprise-baby, and I don't immediately discount that trope but there was nothing to endear either MC to me and I didn't get the interest in the MMC at all. The second one was more enjoyable but still lacked the chemistry that I generally expect from Katee. I will always pick up her books but I wanted more from this.

This is a twofer book! It’s a republishing of the last two books in Katee Roberts’ Make Me Series. Neither story is particularly deep or life changing, but both are cute and steamy.

Make Me Yours Review:
This book isn’t messing around. By the second page, our couple has met, developed insta-lust, and by page twelve- they’re down to business.

Becka’s heart has been broken (by the world, by her mother? Still unclear really) and she’s drowning the ugly in her head out with meaningless sex. You might think that being at her sister’s wedding might slow her down, but if anything it amps up her need to check out. She connects eyes with an intense and compelling man, Aaron, standing at the bar during the reception and there is an immediate heat.

One night of passion between them results in a pretty standard pregnancy trope between a rich tech dude and a broke, pragmatic, and emotionally unavailable personal trainer.

Things of course heat up, get emotionally tangled, and all work out in the end.

If you’re into quick romances, surprise pregnancies, protective/controlling MMCs, and angst- this will be your jam.

Make Me Need Review:

The second story in the duet follows Aaron’s little sister into her first day at his cyber security firm
as the much needed front office administrator. She meets Cameron, his rough around the edges and socially impaired partner, and we are immediately moving full speed ahead into a grumpy/sunshine, boss/employee, brother’s best friend/baby sister trope.

Cameron finds himself gentling around Trish and feeling protective rather than annoyed and put out. Trish is quickly overwhelmed by intense attraction to her new boss.

Both of them make less than professional choices so that we can get to the goods of this story quickly.

If you enjoy protective stoic men, power dynamics, miscommunication, and 0-100 mph instalust- this story is for you.

Once again Katee Robert knocked it out of the park with this 2 novella compilation. Book 1 was definitely my favorite but they wove together nicely and I enjoyed both.

I will say accidental pregnancy is my least favorite trope but honestly I would eat up anything by this author🤷🏻‍♀️