I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
The Temptation
by
Cheyenne McCray
erotic romance, romantic suspense in eBook edition that was published by Pink Zebra Publishing L.L.C. on July 3, 2012 and has 222 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Chicks Kick Butt, The First Sin, The Second Betrayal, Legally Hot, Forbidden Fantasies
Third in the Lexi Steele romantic suspense series revolving around Lexi Steele, a guilt-ridden Special Agent in Boston.
My Take
I had been looking forward to reading this, but it didn’t take long before I just wanted to gag. It started with that too-easy dramatic bit and how annoying Lexi was with her overweening guilt about the men she killed as a sniper. Oh, woe, I don’t deserve to be happy…, but McCray simply didn’t want to work on this story, evident with every additional lame cliché from the shut-down of the investigation to the total lack of support and the freeze-out from Oxford; Georgina’s ignoring that her equipment isn’t working; the botched rescue; and, supposedly they’re a tight crew, and only Georgina steps up?
Then there were the clichéd comments tossed throughout. My eyeballs were so tired by the time I finished this story. They just kept rollin’ and rollin’ and…
On the plus side, there’s no end to the action. A lot of stupid action, but there’s plenty of shoot-outs, battles, and chases. I do like the homey atmosphere of the Steele family. And I also liked the protective stance the boys took with good ol’ Richard. Scumbag.
The Story
It’s RED’s success in Second Betrayal, 2, that leads to still further betrayals when Lexi’s sister, Rori, is kidnapped and RED steps down and away. There will be no support for Lexi.
The Characters
Special Agent Alexi “Lexi” Steele comes from a large Boston-Irish family who thinks she travels for an interpreting organization. There’s Mama who thinks she’s beaten the breast cancer; Daddy (Keegan); Zane who also works for RED is married to Willow, who has her doctorate in education; Troy is a firefighter; Evan, a detective with the Boston PD; Ryan, a former Marine, has signed on with RED; Rori, the stewardess with a jerky boyfriend, Richard Travis; and, Sean is the baby, entering the dark side of puberty.
Georgina Donatella is her best friend and helps Lexi with her makeup and fashions. She’s maneuvers an in through Jessica and Chelsea. Silly twit.
Special Agent Nick Donovan is her former boyfriend; he took off for Arizona to help his sister Kristen recover from events in First Sin, 1, but he’s back. Hoping that Lexi has come to her senses.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge Karen Oxford runs Recovery Enforcement Division (RED), a completely dark organization split off from the National Security Agency. Very few know of its existence: the President, a federal judge, a federal prosecutor, the head of the NSA, and Senator Jeanette Shelton. Darlene is Oxford’s assistant and doesn’t like Lexi. Technically, Special Agent in Charge Morris Charles Carter (guess he had a name change between one story and another) should be running things but he’s too busy playing computer games until he retires. Team Supervisors include Lee, Taylor, and Nick. Other agents include Karchner, Armistead, Blomstein, and Martinez, their props guy.
Karl Bachmann, a.k.a., Anders Hagstedt, is the over-the-top bad guy who lost a great deal of his criminal empire when RED almost took him down. Hans Johansen and Eric Dawson are some of his enforcers; Dominic is his bodyguard. Mia is the sister he mourns. He’s looking for payback, and he’s got the goods on a number of people, forcing them to do his bidding: John; Charles; Randolph Eckstrom, the head of the NSA; Senator Brent Mackie; Congressman Joseph Jones; John Maldonado, the President’s chief of staff; and, many more.
The Cover and Title
The cover is pink and gold — a pink background with a veil of pink over a couple kissing with a ragged slash of gold providing the background for the title.
The title mostly reflected The Temptation I had to put it down…
