Customer Reviews

Sweet Temptation (Heat)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Angelina moves to Houston to flee a stalker and to woo her true love Micah, who sees Angelina like a kid sister. Angelina is a submissive who will do anything to convince Dom Micah that she is the woman for him.

Maya Banks is a talented writer whose story telling gets better and better. She has a smooth style and I've enjoyed several of her books, especially the Sweet series. I liked the characters and was pulling for our hero Micah and our heroine Angelina to come together up until the football game at about p. 200. At this point I think Banks alienated her readers - at least me - as I took myself out of the story and shook my head.

Our former nice guy from the other books Micah treated Angelina so badly that I started rooting for the stalker (at least he sent chocolates and flowers). I wanted the stalker to rescue Angelina from her horrid boyfriend Micah who "gave" her to his buddies, at one point leaving the room, while they held her down and used her. But apparently she likes this, which is why I felt sorry for Angelina and wanted her to get some therapy for her low self-esteem. At this point I ceased to care whether Micah worked out his issues or discovered he really loved Angelina since I wanted him to choke on a gag ball.

Football stats: It almost takes a spread sheet to keep track of the football game gang-bang that went on for 40 pages. This really was a complicated and skillfully executed piece of writing but it did push the limits of my suspended disbelief. First, you have to believe a Texan would choose sex over football. Then in a 4-hour game (adding an hour for over time and the postgame show) 4 guys in their mid-thirties jizzed 12 times. (I don't think this is possible after about age 18.) During 8 mostly ménage sex acts, including 3 BDSM acts with wax, whips, a beam etc., Angelina endured 9 front-door penetrations, 3 back-door penetrations, 6 oral penetrations and apparently had 5 orgasms -- even though the guys used her hair as a bridal and stuffed her mouth so she couldn't breathe -- or say "stop", not that she would -- but it's fiction, so ok. In my opinion Angelina was treated worse than a whore so I think Micah and pals owe her some cash. Even at the bargain rate of 50 bucks an entry, I think she should bill a good 900 for this football game -- and reimbursement for the medical expenses any woman without steel orifices would incur. I know, I know this is erotic fiction, so she's ok. Reality is tissue tearing, blood, fecal incontinence, abrasions and infection, but who wants to read about that.

Plot wise Banks has got to call a moratorium on the kidnapper scenario. Of the six Banks books I've read four have used the bad guy kidnapping the heroine as the turning point into the dramatic conclusion. She's got to stop it, or buy new plot software or something.

This book is good for readers who enjoy reading about total dominance, sharing, pushing a sub's limits and ménage BDSM acts; readers who like Nathan and Julie will enjoy a couple very romantic scenes with them in it; and for writers who want to study how a good orgy scene is written (it was very skillfully done, you have to admit). But if you are looking for a traditional romance, standard Dom/sub scenes, original plot twists, or character arcs this isn't the book.

The Plot: The fourth book in Maya Banks's Sweet series tells the story of Micah. Micah's mysterious past comes to full light in this book--the tragic story of how his wife and best friend were killed in a tragic car accident and how he abandoned his best friend's kid sister, Angelina, in Miami when he fled the city trying to escape his past. But, Angelina is now all grown up and has been longing for Micah for years, waiting for him to move past the loss of his wife and to be able to love again. Taking cues that he is finally ready, Angelina moves to Houston to try to seduce Micah and, while she finds his friends more than welcoming, Micah is resistant to her advances at best. On top of this, Angelina's mysterious Miami stalker has followed her to Houston and begun threatening her and her newfound friends.

Zelda's Take: In the first three books of the Sweet series, Micah comes off as a true-blue kind of guy. He's good looking, likes to play, a hard worker and extremely loyal to his friends. What we don't see lurking below the surface is that he has run from his old life Miami, from the memories of his wife and lover... his best friends. We find that he has also run from the orphaned kid-sister of his best friend, whom he'd promised his best friend he'd care for in the event anything ever happened to him. He just walked. And forgot about her. It's kind of sad.

So Micah is obviously damaged goods--he has baggage and emotional issues that would be hard for anyone to move beyond. That being said, he responds to Angelina in what I felt was a really rude and inappropriate manner. He's downright mean to her when he is obviously attracted to her at the same time. Not only is he downright mean to her, but I feel he also uses her when he tells her that he'll play with her sexually, but won't ever give her anything more. Micah character fail. Boo.

Which moves us to the play. And, oh, does Micah play with Angelina. He takes this girl every which way to Sunday and there's no question he likes it rough with some pretty hard-core BDSM. As with some of Banks's previous Sweet books, it is the sex in this one that redeems it in my eyes. Despite this, what bugs me is that Angelina is willing to take any- and everything that Micah throws her way without expecting anything in return from him. She is happy enough to just give herself to him despite the fact that that he is wholly disrespectful of her. I have issues with weak women who won't stand up for themselves, and have a hard time respecting Angelina for forsaking so much of herself here.

On top of this, with the stalker/kidnapper Banks has brought in another nefarious plotline that seems a bit too ancillary to be real and relevant to the story. I just found it unecessary and a bit contrived. Not to mention Micah's seemingly miraculous turnaround once he knows Angelina is in danger... all of a sudden he is a changed man!

So, unfortunately, as hot as I thought Micah was going into this book and as excited as I was to get some more time with him in the House, his treatment of Angelina in this book really bothered me. Sure, I get that he was struggling through his issues, but I just don't see that as a worthy enough excuse. That being said, the sex was still hot, so I can say that it's still a worthy read for some good BDSM play, but if it had to float on it's plot and character-development alone, we'd have a swiftly sinking ship.

Micah lost his wife as well as his best friend in a tragic accident that left him unable to cope with the painful memories of his loss, so he moves to a different city and creates a new life for himself in hopes to be able to forget the agony of all that he has lost with their deaths. Each year he makes a pilgrimage to their graves, then secretly visits a club to submit to inflicted pain as a physical manifestation and release from his grief and anguish that he suppresses and hides in his replacement life.

Angel is a determined, strong, and resilient woman who knows what she wants...and she wants Micah. She will stop at virtually nothing to prove to Micah that she is the one woman who understands him and can fulfill both of their needs. Running from a stalker she feels the timing is perfect to pursue Micah; to let him know how she feels about him and hopefully gain his love while hiding from the dangerous admirer who is pursuing her.

I've loved the Sweet series, and Sweet Temptation is no exception. One of the things that I think Maya Banks does so well is create a world of friends that readers crave to know more about again and again. Readers of this series will not be disappointed as they get a glimpse into the lives of the characters they have grown to love. I think her dialogue between friends whether they be male or female is close to genius. When reading these passages it feels exactly like you could be there taking part in the fun.

That being said, I had some serious doubts about Micah as a hero about half way through the book. I questioned whether I liked Micah because of how he treated and reacted to Angel...in more than one scene. But Micah is a very complex Alpha hero. He feels guilt, rage, desire, fear, lust....and finally love. Those are a lot of emotions to have to deal with and all of these emotions translate in their sexual encounters.

At first, Angel feels that she needs to prove to Micah that she can handle all of his dark and demanding sexual needs. Their relationship is illustrated through many love scenes, some of which I initially thought were a bit excessive (even for an erotic romance), but the more I reflected on the story the more I realized that the sex scenes were a very carefully orchestrated series of escalating events that progressively intensified with Micah's growing need to prove and test not only himself, but also Angel. The more he pushes her, and the more it seemed like the sex scenes were deliberately unemotional on Micah's part, the more it showed his growing obsession and craving for her acceptance and love. He continuously tries to prove to himself that his feelings for Angel are nothing more than lust. Micah is an overwhelming alpha and Dominant hero.

Angel continuously tries to demonstrate to Micah that she can take anything he can dish, and tries to reveal her love for him by being submissive and accepting of his wants, needs, and desires....including accepting that she may never have the kind of love that he had for his deceased wife. At times I wanted to shake Angel and have her realize that she was worthy of his love, not just his acceptance...to not solely focus on Micah's needs, but to discover her own worthiness of love. And in the end she does. She realizes that she is worthy of the kind of love he had for his first wife and is not satisfied to settle for a relationship where her love is not returned in full measure.

Maya Banks pulled the story together beautifully. I loved the way the book ended with an intimate scene between Angel and Micah, not of a sex scene as an expression of their love for each other. Instead it was with a heartfelt declaration that honestly showed what he was willing to do to earn the love that Angel gave so freely. It was much more meaningful, and I felt that it really showed the progression of their relationship that began with sex, but ended with words of love.

Sweet Temptation is intensely sexual, just like its hero Micah. It is also endearing because of the friendships, emotional and heartrending because of all that Angel and Micah go through, as well as suspenseful with just the right amount of danger to declare that in the end, love is triumphant. It is totally and completely engrossing. I think you will feel a wide range of emotions when reading this story, one which is definitely a sweet temptation for romance lovers. Read and enjoy all of the books in this series. I know I have! I've found that I've developed a "sweet tooth" for Maya Banks and anxiously await each novel.

My favorite scene:

(a few sentences have been deleted because it gave away too much of the story, however it doesn't diminish it's meaningfulness IMO)

He stared back down at her face, her lashes resting delicately against her cheeks, the dark smudges beneath her eyes, like bruises.

This....this was what loved looked like. Vulnerable yet strong. Constant, unwavering...He was absolutely, completely unworthy of her loyalty. The magnitude of injustice he'd heaped on her was enough to make him sick. He'd treated her like some sexual conquest, a toy to slake his lust while he kept his heart guarded and safe...

He bent and whispered against her soft skin, "I never want you to know another day without my love, Angel girl." P 337-338

Ratings: 4.75 stars (this one is hot, even for an erotic romance...some BDSM, menage with 4 men, and many sex scenes with just the H/h)

Spoilers ----

I ultimately didn't find this book fulfilling; either story or relationship wise. Romance? What Romance.....

Okay, so in previous books of the Sweet series, Micah was the nice guy who had really kinky sex habits. In this book, he's apparently the biggest, baddest BDSM guy in Houston. Cool so far. Angelina is his deceased best friend's little sis; who he has known since she was a young teen, and who he promised David --- he would always take care of and watch over ---. So he 'gives' Angelina to a group of his buddies (3 of them, strangers to her), because he owns her and wants to share her. This group of guys, along with Micah, proceed to have some really, really rough and abusive (and forced) oral, anal, and vaginal sex with her (along with various BDSM activities - mostly welt/blood inducing whippings) for HOURS with no fore play. Angel submits because she loves Micah, and will do whatever he tells her to.

At the very end of the story, she is kidnapped. Micah has an epiphany; decides he loves her, wants to have kids with her and the whole picket fence, and doesn't want to share her anymore. That's pretty much it, and yes; this book is really as cheesy as all this sounds.

According to the book, David and Hannah died when Angelina was 20, and she lived with the three of them for years. How could Micah have treated someone who was basically family to him so callously and without thought or regard as to her safety or well being? I understand he didn't want to love her, but as someone close to him he should have treated her with a modicum of the affection and respect he has the other women in this series. I kept wondering who this 'new' Micah was. He was creepy sleazy, and it was all about him all the time. Angel had loved him for years, and would do or be anything to get him to notice her, even change and train herself into being the bottom / bondage bunny she thought he wanted, and engage in sex acts with other men for his pleasure. I understand she liked the pain, especially when Micah administered it; but he passed her around to his friends like a sex toy, just because he could.

I had also gotten the impression from previous books that more time had passed since their deaths. How (and why) did Micah go from sweet and devoted husband to the baddest BDSM man and kinkmeister of Houston in just 3 short years? Inquiring minds want to know. Banks spent so much story time playing up the clunky S&M and sticky, kinky group sex that she apparently had nothing left over to create an informative story with. There was no romance / love here, just hard BDSM and relentlessly crude, kinky, rough sex with all his buddies. He used her like a doormat (and allowed others to use her), and she let him. At one point in the book, she told Cole that she did what Micah ordered her to do because she felt it was the only way she had a chance to hold onto him. (Not much self respect there, and that's just really sad). His 'professions of love', as they were, came about 12 pages from the end of the book. Too little, too late. When she springs her 'surprise' at the end of the book, I sure hope it was his......

Is this book Erotic, sort of (bondage porn really); Romantic, no. Just because the H engages in bondage and whipping sex acts alone with the h every once in a while instead of in an S&M orgy with every Tom, Dick, and Harry he brings home to do her does not make this a romance. Varied acts of rough painful sex with numerous strange men throughout the book do not a romance make, even an erotic romance.

If you are looking for the h having anonymous and degrading sex with lots and lots of different guys, this books for you. If you are looking for something with a real love story, or actually has any kind of a plot, you are sool; cause this book doesn't have one.

Not recommended unless you are into punishing yourself; erotica has been done better in plenty of other books. For excellent Romantic Suspense, try Maya Banks KGI series (2 are out so far) - hot sex and actually has a really good story. Those books are highly recommended, this one is a pass.

There are some things you can never un-read. I've enjoyed the three other books in this series. Sometimes they pushed my boundaries in a good way and made me step outside my comfort zone, but I was able to relate to the hero/heroine in each of those three prior books.

Looking forward to reading about Micah in this installment, I couldn't be more disappointed. I could not relate to either of the main characters in this novel in any way, shape, or form. I love reading Maya Banks' books because the characters draw you in, they feel so real, and many times I have a warm fuzzy feeling when I'm through. After reading this, I felt nauseous.

Micah seems to hate Angelina all throughout this book. There is a graphic group sex scene in this book that absolutely horrified me, and I kept reminding myself that this was apparently what the heroine wanted, except that just seems totally unrealistic. The scene would have been okay, in my opinion, if any of the characters showed a little smidgen of respect for the heroine while they were engaging in this activity. They treated her like a piece of trash, and the scene is written as if she enjoyed this. I tried hard to make some kind of connection, but I could not relate or understand at all.

I normally enjoy Maya Banks and erotic romances, some with threesomes, foursomes, BDSM, but there was absolutely no love scene in this book that was even remotely romantic or led me to feel that any person could be aroused by what was going on. I wish I could erase this book from my memory now.

Did not like this one at all! Although the last 2 chapters it got a whole lot better, there still was not enough time for Micah and Angelina to redeem themselves. IMO. But I would still like to read the others in this series because there were a few characters in this one that I was intrigued by. Wondering how they got together and their stories in general. But this story, I would not recommend.

This was a much darker, hardcore offering than some of the others in the series. Given Micah's core/true character shaped by his devastating personal history - which was only hinted at in the other books - that really wasn't a surprise. Nor, in my opinion, was it off-base. I personally did not find it at all inconsistent that the other women who were leads in the other books in the series got a "kinder, gentler" Micah. His deep emotions were never triggered with them. While he had grown to care about his friends/colleagues in the few years he'd lived in Houston, there was only so far he let them in.

Enter Angelina... who lowered his defenses and hit his core of pain. First, because she reminded him of the loss of his beloved wife and best friend. Then because she stoked the guilt he belatedly felt for essentially abandoning her... and finally because he began to see her and care about her deeply, in a very different light. And because of that, there were times when for him he felt his very survival depended on pushing her away, hitting back hard, trying to convince himself and her that they were never going to be a long-term, loving proposition.

Even so, again in my opinion, I think he gave himself away at almost every turn with gentle, tender moments. Sometimes these were just the merest flash of a moment in the midst of hardcore, seemingly impersonal kink. But those activities were not at all inconsistent with the lifestyle portrayed. Now, that lifestyle may not be most people's cup of tea, perhaps, but I do believe within the context of those sort of BDSM interludes that involved sharing, there was foundation of respect and concern on the part of all the men. I especially loved Cole in that regard.

It was somewhat glossed over, but nonetheless mentioned, that over the few weeks that Micah and Angelina were hanging out at The House, a routine evolved that had plenty of close, non-sexual moments where the bond between them grew. Those weeks were not shown, but Angelina thought about them so they were mentioned.

Sorry I'm getting long-winded. I understand all the reasons some had issues with this particular book, yet in the end - for me - it still worked as an ultimate love-story, taken in the context of the dark history, emotional pain/conflict and more hardcore BDSM nature of this pairing/book.

I have loved several of Maya Banks previous books, and was eagerly waiting for this one. However, there were some things about this book that weren't quite what I like to read about. I like menage stories, but I like that to be within a committed relationship. In this book it was more like partner sharing, sex with others who were not part of the committed relationship. I am also not into the whole bdsm thing, and this book had too much of that, and was a bit too extreme. Whipping someone until they bleed? Not my thing.

Okay, so I didn't like Sweet Temptation. I'm fussy about my BDSM novels. It's very difficult to portray extreme elements of BDSM well if you don't have first hand knowledge of the lifestyle.

The hero in this book treats the heroine more like a piece of property than someone he wants a relationship with and then decides later that he wants something more traditional. I get what the author was attempting to do, and objectification is a very real aspect of certain Master/slave relationships, but there was no relationship to speak of here. It was just a man using a woman and letting his friends use her. The trust building it takes to gain that kind devotion from a slave wasn't present in this book. The heroine threw herself at the hero and he took full advantage of the fact that she would do anything for him. He came across rather like a domineering manipulator who had a liking for very kinky sex instead of a Master Dominant.

The stalker plot line felt like an afterthought and there wasn't any romance, but there was PLENTY of sex -- pages and pages and pages of it. It felt kind like a vanilla person's version of BDSM porn. I'm talking multiple whippings, which didn't hurt as much as the candle wax by the way, paddling, bondage, nipple clamps with teeth, double penetration, lots of semen spraying, deep-throating to the point of gagging, oh and the anal virgin who can take it from four guys in one night and not really be sore the next day.

There was just too much about this book that felt forced and contrived. We did get glimpses of the secondary characters that I liked and I won't spoil it for anyone, but at least there was that