Review/Giveaway–Tempting Love - Haley & Eddie (Crossroads #5) by Melanie Shawn

                                                          Published April 2nd 2014 by Red Hot Reads Publishing

Independent, talented, and beautiful–inside and out–Haley Sloan knew exactly what she wanted out of life. With her designer lingerie business booming, her career was moving forward, but her heart stayed in the same place it had for four years…hopelessly in love with the single father across the street.

Former wild boy turned responsible adoring father, Eddie Thomas always made sure that the needs of his little girl Emily were his top priority. Being a single father meant sacrificing his wants and needs for that of his little girl and that meant sacrificing his want and need for Haley…no matter how tempting.

Will the oldest of the Sloan girls finally be able to break through to the heart of the man who has had hers prisoner for years? Will this single father finally realize that accepting his love for Haley may be just what his little girl needs to get the family they both deserve?

One choice. Three lives. All tempting.

As he moved into the doorway that led into the kitchen, he saw Haley standing at the sink, her back to him, suds up to her elbows, barefoot, and singing softly but with enthusiasm. His pants grew tight as he watched her hips swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music that was playing
through the headphones she wore.

Damn, she looked like a pinup girl from the ’50s. His blood was not just heated; it was also quickly headed down south. Arousal, like he’d never felt before, crashed through him. He needed to get her out of here. Now. While he could still think fairly straight and exercise some self-control.

“Hales.” He had heard the need in his voice as he spoke her name.

She, on the other hand, hadn’t. It seemed she hadn’t heard him at all. Singing into a large spoon, she whipped her head back and forth as she sang along with Prince...

I want to be your fantasy, maybe you could be mine.
You just leave it all up to me. We could have a good time.
You don’t have to be rich to be my girl.
Don’t have to be cool to rule my world.
Ain’t no particular sign I’m more compatible with
I just want your extra time and your…
Kiss

And with the word kiss, she rolled her body more seductively than any stripper he’d ever seen and Eddie thought he might explode in his pants. He was having trouble breathing. His thoughts were clouded with lust.

She had to go. Now.

Stepping forward, he hesitated. He was only a foot behind her, but he didn’t trust himself to touch her. He didn’t want to raise his voice to alert her to his presence because he might wake up Em and he didn’t want to scare Haley.
Before he had a chance to figure out a plan, Haley glanced up and caught his reflection in the window that sat above the sink. He saw the split second of panic in her eyes. Okay, so much for not scaring her.

“Haley, it’s me,” he said as she jumped about a foot off the ground and spun around, sucking in a terrified breath.

On instinct, his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close to him. For a moment she was tense and poised to fight, but then her eyes softened with recognition as her body molded against his.

She was clutching her hands to her chest, but he could still feel her full breasts pressed against his chest as he held her.

His hands spread out on the small of her back and his fingers rested against the delicate dip of her spine. For just a moment, Eddie closed his eyes and let himself feel.

Never before had they been this close. Body to body. Pressed up against each other. He’d made it a point never to touch her. Whenever she would hug him, he’d made sure that full-body contact had not occurred and he’d always done the one-arm pat move.

Now he knew for a fact that had been the right thing to do because the feel of her in his arms was…amazing. Right. Perfect.

“You scared me.” Her quiet voice drifted into his consciousness.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped as he opened his heavy-lidded eyes. Looking down, he was temporarily speechless at what he saw. Her huge baby blues were staring up at him through long, inky lashes. Her full, pink lips parted as she took in short pants of breath. The seductive line of her cleavage was heaving against him through labored breathing.

Need. Arousal. Desire. All of those things coursed through his veins like raging water in the rapids. His fingers tightened at the strength of it, pulling her body even closer to his. A groan ripped from his chest as a needy sigh escaped Haley’s perfect mouth.

Dammit. This had to stop.

This book reminded me of a fluffy pink cupcake and when you bit into it there was a luscious dollop of dark chocolate with just a tee-tiny speck of cayenne. MMMMMMmmmmm! Despite the fact that Haley designed lingerie, she was a fairly "good" girl. She was sweeeeeet, man, sugar ain't got jack on this woman. Then there was darling, just turning eight years old, Emily. She was the apple of her father's eye, well behaved with just a hint of precociousness. Now we come to Eddie, the target of Haley's illicit desires. He has put his life on hold for his daughter's sake, with the exception of an occasional booty call. (still sweet, but a little salty going on) And last but not least we have the entire extended Sloan brood with their love, warmth and abundant support for one another. Feel the need for that insulin shot yet? Hang on the spice, she is a coming!

Seems that Big Daddy Eddie has been having his own little fantasies about sweet Haley, he's just been fighting them like the very devil. When he breaks loose, lord have mercy and pass the ice water. It got all hot and steamy up in here. Of course true love is never a smooth road and there are hurt feelings, backward steps, and a delusional, horny ex to deal with, but fear not devoted readers. It would just too cruel for all this sweetness to turn bitter at the end.

No, Melanie Shawn has created an excellent example of the value of sweet and spicy. The characters were FUN. The tone for the most part was light sprinkled with humor and a goodly dose of heat, with just a smidge of drama to balance out the story. This is a great warm weather read and I definitely will be visiting the Sloan's bunch in the future. Excellent job ladies, brava.

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Melanie Shawn is the writing team of sister duo Melanie and Shawna. Originally from Northern California, they both migrated south and now call So Cal their home.

Growing up, Melanie constantly had her head in a book and was always working on short stories, manuscripts, plays and poetry. After graduating magna cum laude from Pepperdine University, she went on to teach grades 2nd through 8th for five years. She now spends her days writing and taking care of her furry baby, a Lhasa Apso named Hercules. In her free time, her favorite activity is to curl up on the couch with that stubborn, funny mutt and binge-watch cable TV shows on DVD (preferably of at least eight seasons in length – a girl’s gotta have her standards!).

Shawna always loved romance in any form – movie, song or literary. If it was a love story with a happy ending, Shawna was all about it! She proudly acknowledges that she is a romanceaholic. Her days are jam-packed with writing, being a wife, mom aka referee of two teens, and indulging in her second passion (dance!) as a Zumba instructor. In the little free time she has, she joins Melanie in marathon watching DVDs of their favorite TV programs.

They have joined forces to create a world where True Love and Happily Ever After always has a Sexy Twist!



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