Customer Reviews

Tempted: Little Miss Innocent?\Annie, Get Your Guy\Messing Around with Max (Hqn)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This anthology is a reissue of a trilogy that is a personal favorite. It fast became a recommended read because of the close knit and truly convincing bond between siblings that Ms. Foster presents.

To begin with, you get a taste of the oldest and most mature of the three, Daniel Sawyers in, "Little Miss Innocent?". Daniel isn't real fond of Lace McGee. The way he figures it, she is the cause of his sister's sudden change from youthful tomboy to sexy femme fatale--not a terribly comforting persona for a big brother to have to swiftly become accustomed. Lace is much too brazen and entirely too liberal. However, when she is bitten in the derriere by one of her neighbor's dogs and ends up in the emergency room needing stitches, the physician in him takes a backseat to the hot-blooded man in him. For the first time in all his years, Daniel feels his professional detachment slip a few notches. And that rankles.

Still, being the upstanding guy that he is, Daniel not only stitches up Lace's bottom, but insists on driving her home as well. After all, she is his sister's friend and that makes her practically family. Of course, he refuses to admit that his helping Lace has anything to do with his attraction to her. Mainly because he's already decided not to act on his lusty feelings. So she was sexy. Alluring. And, absolutely every man's dream come to life. She was still all wrong for him. He didn't approve of her profession as Sex Therapist, nor did he care one wit for her forward and outspoken attitude. She talks entirely too candidly, and seems to not have a single modest bone in her lovely body.

But it's not long before Daniel finds himself offering to not only drive Lace home but to stay the night. Things get off track in a hurry and Daniel learns a few things about the blonde beauty he's tried so hard to avoid. For one, Lace McGee isn't the woman he thought she was. In fact, she's much, much more. And poor, struggling Daniel discovers that when he loosens up just the slightest bit, falling in love can be an exhilarating and passionate endeavor indeed!

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Second in this Trio of full-length love stories is, "Annie Get Your Guy". This one turned out to be my own personal favorite. Annie is so much like most of us women: intelligent, talented, and strong, but rather insecure underneath it all. I related to her story, as I think most women will, because of her sweetly tenacious attitude towards Guy Donovan. If you've ever been in love with a man who has never seen you as that of the female gender, then Annie will strike a cord. If you've ever felt desperate to attract a man's attention, even at the cost of your own pride, then Annie will certainly make you smile.

Annie Sawyers is in a struggle with her heart. She is wildly, passionately in love with Guy Donovan and has been ever since she began blossoming into a woman. He, however, sees her as nothing more than a surrogate kid sister. She is so tired of being invisible to the only man that has ever made her blood race and her body burn just by looking at him. And when he announces that he's going to propose to a woman that Annie is just positive he couldn't possibly love, she decides it's high time to get serious with her plans of seducing Guy.

What does a woman do when she wants to prove to a man that she can light his fire and curl his toes? She consults her sex therapist best friend for tips! With Lace McGee's help, Annie locates nearly every book on sex and intimacy that was ever written and starts her education.

Unfortunately, when she relates to Guy that she's trying to attract a man's attention Guy goes ballistic-not realizing that the man is him. Annie sees this as another of his brotherly moments and steps up her seduction attempts by making a few provocative suggestions to the handsome devil. Guy, fearing he's lost his mind for thinking lascivious thoughts about his best friend's sister, swiftly speeds away from Annie and out of temptations reach all together. As a result of his hasty retreat, Guy ends up in a very nasty car accident that lands him in the hospital, banged up from head to toe and high as a kite on pain medication.

Thankfully, Annie comes to his rescue by flitting him off to the family's secluded cabin, where he can both recover in peace and think twice about his silly notions of marriage. Annie, being the sneaky and rather desperate woman that she is, uses this as an opportunity to have Guy all to herself. A cabin out in the woods, no phones, no communication with the outside world. Just her, Guy, a warm fire, and a comfy bed. Oh yeah, baby!

When Guy finally comes to his senses and realizes where he is, he tries, once more, to retreat. Really he does! But, the sweetly innocent Annie, makes it pretty darned difficult when she asks him to please help her become seductive and alluring. In his mind he knows that if any man didn't already see Annie for the desirable woman that she is then he must be an idiot, thus not worthy of Annie anyway. But, he was loathe to let Annie practice her skills on any other man. The very thought makes him sick to his stomach. So, being the decent fellow, Guy gives in and helps Annie. He denies even to himself that it might have anything to do with how hot he is for her. Good lord, he nearly killed himself when he drove head long into a semi truck, because he was thinking of her smooth tight body instead of the road, as he should have been.

Guy's plans are shot when he gets a little too into `helping' Annie and realizes there's no way on God's green earth that she will ever touch another man the way she's touched him.

Oh my, I just love it when the Hero struggles, kicks and screams against the love he feels and then once he comes to terms with it, he doesn't just embrace it, he hugs it close and never lets it go. Guy is the perfect Hero to me because he comes so close to making a huge mistake, but luckily for him he comes to his senses just in the knick of time.

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Last of these three breathtaking stories is the nomadic Max Sawyers in, "Messing Around With Max". Like most middle children, Max is totally misunderstood. Oh sure he's every bit the Lothario his reputation boasts. His sexual prowess has never once been questioned.

Then again, that's before he had decided to swear off casual sex in favor of finding a bride. You see, Max needs a stable home environment for his fat and scruffy dog, Cleo. The poor thing deserves it after all she's gone through.

Then Maddie Montgomery lands at his feet, literally. She sorely tests his resolve. He tries to keep her at arm's length once she admits to not wanting anything to do with marriage, but he's only human for crying out loud!

Maddie wishes to only gain a little sexual experience; to notch her bedpost. Her ex-fiance had hurt her badly when she caught him with another woman and now she's got Max in her apartment and all to herself. Only one problem, he isn't exactly leaping at the chance to have sex with her. He explains-very clearly-that for him, another relationship based solely on sex is not what he's after. So, Maddie decides to hit below the belt. She tells him that she doesn't believe that he's as good in bed as she's heard. Max being 100% male sets out to prove just how good he can be.

Max can't quite seem to get enough of the intriguing woman and he swiftly comes to the conclusion that she's `the one'. Now he just needs to show her that he has more to offer than a good time in the sack.

These two were sweet and hilarious together. Max will surprise you with the depth of his character, and his gentle way with Cleo, his dog, will have you sighing. My favorite scene is when Maddie, who works at a woman's shelter, gets Max to come and talk to the `girls' about satisfying alternatives to sex. What a great scene!

**This story marks a delightful ending to a fabulous trio of stories...**

Dr. Daniel Sawyers is tired and ready to go home when the unthinkable happens; Lace McGee walks into his emergency room . . . injured. She drives him crazy with her sexually open attitude, and the way she seems to have turned his baby sister from a tomboy into a femme fetal. His instincts as a doctor demand that he care for her injury and his instincts as a man demand that he not let any other doctor, or any other man, touch her. Lace is mortified to have Daniel be the one to take care of her injury and then terrified when he offers to take her home. She has been careful to foster Daniel's misconceptions about her, but her home reveals her true self and allowing Daniel to see that would make her too vulnerable to him. Daniel and Lace are such opposites it was very amusing to watch as they each got to know the "real" person. LITTLE MISS INNOCENT is a textbook case of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Annie Sawyers has been in love with her brother's best friend Guy Donovan since she was a teen, but Guy only sees her as a tomboy and the pesky little sister; that is about to change. Annie is changing her image and Guy will finally notice her as a woman. His announcement that he plans to ask another woman to marry him throws her for a loop and she is afraid that she will lose him before she gets a chance to implement her plan. Fate intervenes and offers Annie the perfect opportunity to get his attention and she intends to do just that. ANNIE, GET YOUR GUY is sweet and laugh-out-loud-funny. There were times that Annie threw Guy for so much of a loop that I ALMOST felt sorry for him.

After her engagement ends in disaster and humiliation, Maddie Montgomery is looking for someone to help her put notches in her bedpost. Ladies man, Max Sawyers is looking for someone to settle down and help him raise Cleo, his dog. Maddie thinks that Max is perfect she just has to talk him into a FLING. Max thinks that Maddie is perfect he just has to talk her into a COMMITMENT. How can you not love a man who is sweet, sexy and loves his dog? MESSING AROUND WITH MAX is the type of story that can be read again and again and never lose its charm.

I absolutely love connecting stories and NOBODY does them better than Lori Foster. The stories of these three siblings were previously released as category titles and as they are all on the very hard to find list, and some of Ms. Foster's earliest work, it is a real treat to have them all together in one book.

I must admit, I'm a sucker for trilogies.... it's always nice to see continuity with characters and for them to be further developed than in just one story. Although "Little Miss Innocent?" is really good, by the time you get to "Messing Around with Max" you're left wondering why your wasting your time.

An earlier offering by Lori Foster. I never get enough of her enticing stories. I love to see the difference in the later novels compared with the
earlier ones. The later ones characters are more involved, and
sophisticated.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a fun romance, and Lori Foster's written several that I've very much enjoyed. In Tempted: Little Miss Innocent?/Annie, Get Your Guy/Messing Around with Max, we get three connected stories as two brothers and a sister stumble through the murky and dangerous quagmire of love and relationships.

In LITTLE MISS INNOCENT? we meet Dr. Daniel Sawyers, the eldest of the Sawyers siblings. His mother died when his brother and sister were just young kids and his father's grief at her loss robbed the children of both their parents. No matter that Daniel himself was far from an adult, he stepped into the parental role. He took care of them, became the father figure, and that responsibility at such a young age changed him. It made him very rigid. Very responsible. Very staid and respectable. Everything that Lace McGee, sex therapist, isn't, and Daniel positively loathes that about her. The fact that he can't catch his breath and his pulse pounds whenever she's around, and he has hot dreams that feature her in exquisite detail doesn't mean she's right for him, though...does it? 4 Stars.

ANNIE, GET YOUR GUY brings us the story of the baby of the family and the Sawyers siblings' only girl. Annie has been desperately in love with family friend Guy Donovan for years, but he's just as bad as her brothers when it comes to being overprotective, and despite all her best efforts, he hasn't seemed to notice that Annie's now an adult. In fact, she's a sexy, sensual woman out to seduce the only man she's ever wanted. Guy's convinced that any moves on Annie would be a heinous breach of the Sawyers family's trust...but how can he forget just how fantastic she is? Can Annie convince Guy that loving her is the only thing right for both of them? 3 Stars.

As the middle child and confirmed Lothario, Max Sawyers has been around the world and more than knows his way around the female mind and body. You could say it's been a life study for him. Known as the family reprobate, Max is in the process of turning his life around. He's got new responsibilities and a damaged dog that desperately needs some love. In MESSING AROUND WITH MAX, though, Maddie Montgomery slams - quite literally - into the bookstore Max is watching for his sister and storms Max's heart and soul with little more than a wet tee shirt, torn pants, and affection for his irascible dog. Only problem is, Maddie's not interested in a relationship, just a notch on her bedpost. How can Max, the reformed rake, convince Maddie, the determined sexpot, that together forever is what they both deserve? 3.5 Stars.

These are three charming contemporary romances from one of the paramount romance authors, and each story is light, fun, and easy to read. I felt Dan and Lace's story, LITTLE MISS INNOCENT? was the most thorough, providing the strongest plot with the most character definition and most attention to conflict and resolution. All three stories had a healthy dose of humor with one or two serious issues threaded throughout, like the abandonment of their father and the very real sense of responsibility these siblings have for each other.

ANNIE, GET YOUR GUY was the shortest of the three stories, I believe, and also suffered from the least amount of character definition and plot. It tread the line in the matter of story complexity, but in truth, there was also a bit of Annie and Guy's character and relationship development in Little Miss Innocent, so at least some of that could be forgiven. This particular story, though, focused too much on the sexual chemistry and not enough on the emotional and mental connection, I think. It seemed quite a bit more superficial a relationship than Dan and Lace's in parts.

MESSING AROUND WITH MAX was just a whole lot of lighthearted, silly fun. I didn't take it too seriously, and as a reader, if you don't either, you'll enjoy it just fine. It was very light on substance and plot development, though it tried with the addition of some of Maddie's friends who have a checkered past and with the conclusion to the arc of the Sawyers siblings father issues. The idea of Maddie trying to rebuild her self esteem by throwing herself at Max to get some hands on Sex Ed experience following a humiliating break up seemed less than noble, but Maddie was a sweetheart that quickly fell for Max's soft side and Max was endearing, so I forgave the cotton candy coating on the story and just appreciated it for what it was.

Individually these stories were fun to read, together Tempted: Little Miss Innocent?/Annie, Get Your Guy/Messing Around with Max is a nice compilation and worth the time and money if you're like me, and every once in a while just love a healthy dose of brain candy. 3.5 Stars overall.

Originally reviewed on One Good Book Deserves Another.

I'm a fan of Lori Foster and have enjoyed reading almost all of her books, but this one was disappointing. I agree with the reviewer who says that it starts strong but fizzles out. I don't understand all the 5 star rattings.

I'm a huge Lori Foster fan so there were no doubts in my mind that I would enjoy the book. BUT I had no idea just how much I would love it.

It consists of 3 stories and I couldn't tell you which one I liked the most, they were just amazing.

Lori does it again, she manages to make you feel like you are RIGHT there with the characters, you feel their passion, their sadness, their anger and every emotion they go through. It's romantic, it's sweet, it's everything a PERFECT romance book should be.
You will NOT be disappointed.

The book had a nice pace, and really fun to read when you come home after stressfull day. Loved the characters, and how all three stories entwine. Ms. Foster did a great job.

The characterizations overlapped a little, but the stories were cute and ended happily. It was a nice rainy day read.

I don't get it, I was amped up to read Tempted, I dig Lori Foster, I actually checked out the ratings before I bought it. I was suckered into Back in Black and it was a total fail. Tempted, TOTAL FAIL!