First book I read by this author. I loved the strong chemistry between the characters. The plot was amazing, and I enjoyed how the story turned out in the end.

Tempted by Maria Mesmer is a captivating read that blends romance, suspense, and a dash of intrigue. The characters are well-developed, and the chemistry between them pulls you right into the story. I really appreciated the emotional depth and the way the plot kept me engaged from start to finish. The pacing was perfect, and the twists along the way added just the right amount of suspense. If you enjoy a compelling romance with rich character dynamics, this one is definitely worth picking up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read Tempted in exchange of an honest review.
This book was a fun and cute reading. An easy romance between the boss and one unnoticeable employee that happened to be the sister or the boss best friend...
The characters were well-written.
Hailee is this bubbly, adorable character, and Alex? Well, he's a bossy, broody, blue-eyed boss who just happens to be her brother's best friend.
Talk about an enemies-to-lovers dream! The chemistry between them is off the charts, and even though they spend a lot of time fighting their attraction, the slow burn is absolutely worth it. I’ll admit, I’m not usually a fan of slow burns, but the sizzling tension between them kept me glued to the pages.
While the book is an incredibly promising debut, I do have to say the second half didn’t quite live up to the potential set up in the beginning. There were some moments that left me wondering if the pacing or the plot could’ve been tightened up a bit. But, despite a few minor hiccups, the character development was stellar. The author really took the time to craft two characters with undeniable chemistry, and it shows. Even though I felt some things could have been refined, I can’t deny the talent on display here.

I’d give Tempted a solid 4 stars. It’s a slow-burn, spicy, forbidden romance with plenty of steam and emotional depth. While it’s a bit of a typical enemies-to-lovers trope, Maria Mesmer executed it so well that I found myself genuinely invested in the story.

Thank you again for allowing me to read the ARC copy.

I really enjoyed the character growth and progression in this book and the tension was top tier 😍 looking forward to reading more books by this author

Reading this book is something I loved. Watching the hard exterior of Alex battling to stay away from his best friends little sister.

This debut novel captivated me so hard from the very beginning to the very end.

What a great billionaire romance book! It was a bit slow to start for me but it picked up. I loved the ending and I’m excited for the next book about Sophia and James!

This was a good book with a HEA. The forbidden romance, brother best friend, was what I was looking for. The spice was there and I overall enjoyed the book & plot.

I really enjoyed Alex and Hailee's story - the chemistry between them seemed natural and the twist kept me guessing for a while, without drawing too much away from the romance. The pacing was good, with their European trip not being the entire focus of the book.

Hailee's reaction to trauma was a little strange, and we didn't get a full amount of either back story really. Lucas is an interesting character that I'd like to know more about and I already like the sound of James and Sophia's story.

Overall I enjoyed this book and thought it was done well. A nice easy billionaire romance beach read.

Tempted is about Alex, a billionaire miner as there is nothing more tempting that a man who fucks up the Earth for money…drill baby drill and make it nice and deep. Alex is in hot water for some kind of money laundering scheme with some banks..blah blah blah boring. Hailee is the hot sister of Alex’s friend Lucas, who helped her get a job with Alex’s company. Lucas may also be involved with this whole money laundering case but it’s all very unclear. Anyway- one day Lucas and Hailee almost get shot by some bad guy assassins as one does. Lucas asks Alex if Hailee can move in with him so she can stay safe bc there are apparently only 2 bodyguards in all of Manhattan and they happen to live with Alex. Lucas also pulls the big brother archaic bullshit of “don’t sleep with my sister” like she isn’t an adult who cannot consent to having her vaginal cave explored for mining prospects.

We all know what happens when anyone says “don’t sleep with my sister” in a book…the sister is immediately plowed. Alex is tempted and Hailee is properly excavated. But here’s the problem. Alex is a dark figure. Hailee has already told us that she craves some dirty coal mining sex action…but we barely see it on page!!! There’s a lot of tell, but not as much show. Hailee tells us she’s basically on strict pelvic rest for days after her first night with Alex bc he quarried her genitalia to the point of them becoming a superfund site. I’m going to need more evidence to support this, please.

This book was meh- but too much talking and not enough actual strip mining. Also- the dangerous and secretive legal mumbo jumbo subplot ended up being a total nothing-burger that was never fully developed. I would have loved it if Hailee was kidnapped by some dirty Uzbekistani uranium mining magnate to get back at Alex for his dirty deeds done dirt cheap. That would have been fun.

Smut- 2.34 stars (this could have easily been a 4 star smut book)
Romance- 3.11 stars
Story- 3.02 stars
Getting tied up in a uranium mine and saved by your billionaire boyfriend-18.5 stars

#smuttybookreviews #stripmining #mining #uraniummine #uzbekistan

This was a cute, funny and cheesy read.

The classic grumpy billionaire and bubbly best friend's sister who are trying to mask their feelings for each other but succumb to their feelings with time and close proximity. It was fun following both Alex and Hailee's stories. I would definitely say that this book focused more on the characters than the actual plot. Also a good amount of spice in this book.

The writing style was very easy to follow and I didn't see the plot twist coming! I feel like the ending was also perfectly laid out with the grand gesture and of course, Alex's story coming to a perfect end.

The only downside was that I found it to be quite repetitive at times and drawn out towards the end, but it didn't stop me from enjoying myself. I would also have loved to read more about Alex's backstory.

This was a 3.5 ⭐ read for me.

I cannot wait to see what Maria Mesmer comes up with next. This was a great first book. Also very excited for James and Sophia's story.

Thank you to Net Galley and Victory Editing for the ARC copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Definitely a slow burn but the story line was decent and I would recommend this to other readers. But, something was missing. I plan to reread and update my feedback at a later date.

A good slow burn romance with plenty of chemistry but not as much heat as I expected. I loved the family story and the twists. Great characters.

A good stand alone story that delivers what it promised. A slow burn certainly yet enough suspense and danger to keep me engaged in Alex and Hailey’s story. As this is Maria Mesmer’s debut, I can not wait to see what she writes next as she evolves as a writer.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC of Tempted in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 4.5 stars for Tempted by Maria Mesmer, her literary debut, and honestly a smash hit! This book was a fun read filled with slow burn and angst that had me reading this one across a solid 24 hours just because I didn’t want to stop. Hailee and Alex’s story is well developed and plotted out so that this novel will be the first in the series. It also does a good job introducing the characters that will be featured in her next book, Damaged, which will be out this February.

In short, Hailee is worked at an unfulfilling job in New York for her brother’s billionaire best friend, Alex Blackwell. Her job has essentially morphed into a PR role due to serious allegations of money laundering through Alex’s mining corporation, but it’s not her passion. When her brothers banking institution he works for is implicated as well, things become too dangerous for Hailee and her brother, Lucas, to the point of getting wrapped up in an unsuccessful hit attempt outside a New York cafe. In light of everything, Lucas asks Alex to take in Hailee in order to have his security provide protection for her, at least until everything blows over (under the strict orders to keep his hands off her-I’m sure we are all well aware how that’s going to work out).

This book oozes slow burn and sexual tension all over the page. If you enjoy billionaire romances, a grumpy MMC, crime filled plot twists, forced proximity, one bed situations, then you’re going to want to check out Tempted! I do want to mention, the one small caveat about this book that I didn’t like, which was a detail in the plot line that kind of ruined Alex’s character for me. Spoiler alert ahead so turn back now if you so choose!! But essentially, after Hailee and Alex have a falling out, Alex immediately (and I mean within minutes) runs back to his side chick, Paige, to drown his feelings in booze and sex. Hailee essentially completely put herself out there, Alex made some pretty dark confessions that Hailee could not handle, and so she left-and within minutes he’s texting Paige for a booty call. That totally gave Alex’s character the ick factor that I could not shake, which sucked because I really liked his character up until that point. I’m not sure he ever made a full recovery for me, but I feel like that scene could have been written a little differently to not make Alex look like such a heartless dick, because from that point, it takes a pretty big change of heart to go from billionaire playboy to love sick puppy pining for Hailee back. Just too big of a character anomaly for me. But on the whole, I really enjoyed this read and will certainly be picking up Damaged in February to get James and Sophia’s story! Well done on the first book, Maria!

Enjoyed reading this book. Would have liked a little bit more of a back story for Alex Blackwell and more of a character development. I like the plot twist at the end tho.

The first half of the book was really enjoyable. The tension and yearning were set up really well, we as readers knew exactly where things stood and how the mc's relationship was strictly boss-employee. The plot set up with the danger and excitement hooked you in as a reader. There were stalkers, hired hitmen, bombs, and questionable morality. It definitely set the overall mood as tense. The set up as an erotica was written very well with the mmc expressing his tendency as a dom and the fmc desiring to submit to the mmc in certain ways. The second half of the book is where I started to lose interest. It was no longer an erotica; there were only two short sex scenes, which was a let down considering this is marketed as an erotica book. The characters came off as a bit immature to me, I often got second hand embarrassment and cringed while reading some scenes. As for the danger and excitement aspect, it fell short in the second half. None of the danger and excitement continued from the beginning into the rest of the story, so that was a disappointment.

Overall, this was pretty good for a debut novel and I enjoyed reading this.

Tempted was a true romance novel. The story of Hailee & Alex was one that I figured would play out the way it did, but some of the details of how the couple came to be were quite surprising.

Maria is a very detailed writer, with me being able to visualize & place myself in every scene she depicted. Her medium- paced writing style definitely served its purpose and kept me on the edge of my seat, wanting more.

As for the characters, I love how Alex seemed to be off limits in the beginning, but was swept off his feet by Hailee, who wasn’t putting up with any of his crap.

Although I was expecting more, in terms of erotica, this book was the perfect balance. It took some time to get to the erotic portion, but once it got there, it was extremely descriptive and felt real!

I give this book 3.5 stars, only because the story did seem a little drawn out. However, I’m eager to read the next story of James & Sophia!

i wanted to love it but it was okay. the story felt rushed and all over the place and there was so many plot unneccessary drama and twist to the atory Alex couldnt stay away from Hailee but also left her because he lied and want her to keep her dreams

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I liked it! It was cute! The story itself was fairy believable but with the way the male character was behaving I thought the "secret" was bigger. It seemed like a bit of a let down. It didnt seem to be that much of a deal breaker to me. But overall it was cute

3.75 stars. This book was so FUN. Billionaire boss and employee/friend's little sister romance.... sign me up. Hailee and Alex have amazing chemistry and the spice was great. This was a slow burn and nothing happened romantically until over halfway through the book. I devoured this book and loved that it wasn't just a romance novel it also had some mystery component too... which kept it interesting. What I liked about this book: how soft Alex was when it came to Hailee and I loved Hailee's character- she was funny, witty and confident. What I thought this book was lacking was I needed more. The storyline was quick, (which I usually like with these types of books) but I felt something was lacking. I wish the characters had a little more depth. I can't pinpoint exactly what was missing, but I overall liked this book and the author will for sure make a fun and spicy series. Thank you Victory Editing and NetGalley for this ARC. Of note the second book will be out in February per the authors note at the end and I cannot wait to read about James and Sophia.