Age Gap Romance – dinipandareads

Tempt (Cloverleigh Farms #9)
Pub Date: 21 November 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

_{(4 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

Yes, I’m a single dad who needs a nanny for the summer.

But hire the stranded runaway bride who shows up on my doorstep in a wedding gown with no references, no skills, and no experience?

No one is that desperate.

Except within twenty-four hours, down-on-her-luck Veronica Sutton manages to charm my kids, my family, and half the population of Cherry Tree Harbor into believing she’s perfect for the job.

And for me.

It’s not that I can’t see the appeal–those baby blue eyes? The endless legs? That mouth made for trouble? But I’ve got enough on my plate, raising two kids on my own and keeping the family business alive. I don’t have the time or the inclination to fall for an outspoken city girl.

So I should have kept my hands to myself.

Holding her in my arms was a big mistake. Even worse? Spending the night together. She ignites a possessive fire in me that I’m finding hard to snuff out.

But the most unforgivable? Growing attached to the sound of her laugh, the scent of her skin, and the way her body wraps around mine in the dark.

At the end of the summer, she’ll be gone.
And if I’m not careful, she might run away with my heart.

TL;DR: Tempt was a lot of fun and I picked it up on a whim the other day and devoured it in one sitting. This was my first book by MH but I really enjoyed her writing and I can see why people love her books and why she’s an often-recommended romance author. The characters were fun to read about, the supporting cast is everything I love in a small-town setting, the physical connection and sexual chemistry were undeniable, and I loved the bit of angst and tension that came with the “forbidden” aspect of the romance. While I do feel the sneaking around dragged a bit by the end, I still found this really enjoyable overall.

Credence
Publisher: Penelope Douglas LLC
Pub Date: 13 January 2020
Genre: New Adult Dark Romance

Panda Rating:

_{(4.5 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

Three of them, one of her, and a remote cabin in the woods. Let the hot, winter nights ensue…

Tiernan de Haas doesn’t care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents’ fame followed her everywhere.

And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she?

Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore.

As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them. And as a part of them.
She also realizes that lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.
One of them has her.
The other one wants her.
But he…
He’s going to keep her.

*Credence is a full length, stand-alone romance suitable for readers 18+.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Dubious consent, bullying, violence, taboo relationships, death of parents (recounted), parental negelect (recounted), misogyny, domestic abuse & violence, suicide (recounted)

TL;DR: This book is not going to be for everyone but I’m glad I gave Penelope Douglas another try with this book. It’s taboo AF and there’s a lot of outrageous things that won’t sit well with many readers (I highly recommend viewing the content/trigger warnings before deciding to read this)! That said, I thought Penelope Douglas does a great job setting the scene in the remote mountains and it really does feel like anything can happen—and it obviously does. PD also does something with these characters that had me fully invested in their story that I literally stayed up all night to finish this almost 500-page book.