
Temptation on Ocean Drive by Jennifer Probst
ASIN: B08435M98G
ISBN: 1542018641
Series: The Sunshine Sisters #2
Published by Montlake on August 25, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 304
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A heart-stirring novel of unrequited love and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.
Young widow Bella Sunshine-Caldwell is focused only on raising her daughter and running the family business, Sunshine Bridal. There’s no time for romance—especially with her fellow wedding planner, Gabe, whom she’s growing increasingly attracted to. He’s too enterprising to stay in Cape May for long, anyway. And too tall, dark, and handsome to be anything but a heartbreaker.
Every woman in town has her sights on Gabe Garcia. The only woman he has eyes for doesn’t seem interested. All he wants is to fall in love, be a father, and settle down. As he and Bella work together on a magical winter wedding, the distance between them closes, the nights grow warmer, and Bella might be seeing Gabe for who he really is: a man worth the effort.
But all it takes is a single rumor for these two hearts’ fragile love story to shatter. And now the happy ending Bella and Gabe hoped for is something they’re going to have to fight for.
“I’ve always been listening. And I’ve always been here, waiting until you needed me”
Excerpt:
He repeated the question. “I need to know. Why was it easier not to believe me?”
This time, she didn’t hesitate. “Because then I could pretend you weren’t the man I really wanted.”
“And do you? Want me?”
She jerked back. Her tongue slipped out to wet her bottom lip. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Yes.”
He muttered a curse. Then leaned forward, his hand cupping her chin. “I want to kiss you, Bella. I’ve been wanting to kiss you forever, but I need to know it’s okay.”
She stared at him, pupils dilated, ragged breaths panting from her lips, and he knew this moment would be carved out in his mind—the first time he saw her face reflect her open want for him. She gave a tiny nod.
He moved closer. His lips stopped an inch from hers. “No. You need to say it.”
“Yes. Kiss me, Gabe.”
His mouth covered hers.
Review:
I’ve been following Jennifer’s career since her Marriage To A Billionaire series, which is also one of my favorites of all time. It’s my “marriage of convenience” (fake marriage) gold standard series. It’s what made me fall in love with the way they fake their relationship but then he goes and realizes he loves her, and then tries to win over his wife. I just eat that shit up now. Most of that trope falls in the historical romance genre. It’s hard to find a good book with that theme these days. Jennifer just nailed it with each book in that series. I’ve loved her ever since.
There has been a few books that have been just ok from her. This is probably one of them. I do truly enjoy all of her work, please believe that. Sometimes, for me though, she doesn’t hit that level of amazing that she had in the MTAB series. Her work is still great, but it’s just not the same from my point of view. I do recommend you picking these books up, she is always worth it.
I love Jennifer, and I’ll always “one click” her work. I do look forward to the next book in this series, and anything else she has coming out.