Review: Tempting as Sin

Tempting as Sin by Rosalind James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Lily is the twin sister of Paige from Guilty as Sin and Rafe is the younger brother of Jace from the same book. In the epilogue of the first book we saw that Lily and Rafe had already met and clearly did not get on. This book starts three weeks earlier than that epilogue and explains the backstory to all the antagonism.

Fast forward a few months, Rafe's ex-girlfriend is stirring up trouble by circulating edited videos which make it look like he is at the very least intimidating, if not abusing, her. He decides to leave Hollywood and hide out at his brother's cabin in Montana whilst learning how to ride a horse for his next film in which he plays a rural sheriff.

Lily is an interesting dichotomy, the ex-wife of a famous Hollywood actor, she owns a lingerie shop in Sinful, Montana but also has a small free-holding on which she raises chickens and dwarf goats and grows her own fruit and vegetables.

Their beginnings are a romance trope, a night of stepping outside their comfort zones, assumed identities and insta-love, which falls apart when they realise they are about to become in-laws. When they run into each other a few months later they have each had time to reflect and realise they each behaved badly - slowly a romance develops involving a stray child, a goofball dog, secret identities and humiliating riding lessons.

I absolutely adored the first book in the series and I did enjoy this book but I have to say I didn't like it as much as the first book. However, I am not sure how much my views on this book have been coloured by: (1) reading Rosalind James' blog; and (2) reading the early chapters on the blog. I felt that this book lost its way and (maybe) went in a different direction to the way Rosalind James originally intended (I believe that the release date was delayed, although that may have been for personal reasons) and so the first 25%-33% of the book felt sort of rudderless to me, like Rosalind James didn't know where it was going. But, as I say, I may be projecting what I inferred from reading her blog onto the book.

Lily and Rafe are two genuine, caring, lovable people who have been burned by the plastic Hollywood lifestyle, too kind for their own good. Add in a big, dopey cross-breed dog, a gun-shy neglected child and the uncanny twin sense and you have a funny, sweet, charming romance featuring adorable characters.

View all my reviews