We all know Jennifer L. Armentrout by now, and she is one of my autobuy authors. But did you know she also published several books under the pen name J. Lynn. She did this mainly at the start of her career. Under this pen name, she published (new) adult romance novels. One of these books is Tempting the Best Man, the first book in the “Gamble Brothers” series. Even though it’s originally published in 2012, did I still have an enjoyable time with it?

About the book

Tempting the Best Man by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Gamble Brothers #1
Published by Indulgence on April 23, 2012
Pages: 172
ISBN: 9781622669103
Genres: Contemporary, New adult, Romance

Madison Daniels has worshiped her brother’s best friend since they were kids. Everyone thinks she and Chase Gamble would make the perfect couple, but there are two major flaws in their logic. 1) Chase has sworn off relationships of any kind and 2) after blurring the line between friends and lovers for one night four years ago, they can’t stop bickering.

Forced together for her brother’s wedding getaway, Chase and Madison decide to call a truce for the happy couple. Except all bets are off when they’re forced to shack up in a tacky ’70s honeymoon suite and survive a multitude of “accidents” as the family tries to prove their “spark” can be used for more than fighting. That is, if they don’t strangle each other first…

My review

Quite frankly, my expectaations for this book were not that high anymore. As stated before, this book has been published in 2012, at the start of Armentrouts career. I have read nearly all of her books written as Jennifer L. Armentrout and also several as Jay Lynn. This one never sparked my curiosity however, until a Dutch book community was hosting a blind date online book club. I waited for the revalation before I decided to get myself a copy and tag along. And I’m glad it was just €0.99, because oh boy was I disappointed. Yes I know Armentrout has grown so much as an author and I know where she stands now, but I expected more from this novella – because that’s what it is – than what I just got.

We follow Madison who is spending the weekend at her brother’s wedding at a vineyard. She is one of the bridesmaids, but long time crush Chase Gamble is the best man. Maddie and Chase have history together, so she hopes to avoid him as much as possible. Of course, that turns out to be impossible. I was so disappointed with the characters. Madison annoyed me from the start, her character arc was not speaking to me. She’s super shaloow and never shows any depth or character growth. Chase on the other hand shows growth, because he’s really afraid to become like his absent father. Later on, after a huge amount of convincing from Madisons side, he finally sees that he is his own person with his own feelings and beliefs. Even though it is some growth, he can’t do it by himself and he needs others to push him in the right direction. I know this is an old book and the author can do so much better right now, but this annoyed me. Both characters fell flat for me, but Madison a bit more than chase.

The writing was okay. POVs re swithced between our mean characters, which was a bonus since this shows Chasé minimal character growth better. Also, the miscommunication trope works better this way. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate this trope. However, everything says super shallow and the writing is not spectacular. It’s just generic and just fine. For a starting author, it was actually pretty good.

The main problems with this book lie within the plot. Nothing much is happening, they spend three days at a vineyard and there’s just a lot of miscommunication. I totally hate this trope as said before, so therefore I couldn’t enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to do. Furthermore, there was just not much happening. Everything is so thin and so predictable, it was laughable. I was so glad when I finished this book, because what have I read? I have no idea. Okay I have, but it’s so forgetable it’s ridiculous. I don’t want to bash an author and their books, but I also want to be honest with you guys. And that’s what I am here, honest. I really have nothing to say about this plot because it’s just barely existent.

Tempting the Best Man by J. Lynn was probably a solid book back in 2012, but after reading so much of this authors other work, I know what she’s capable of. Therefore, this book is lacking so much depth. It’s not long, which is actually pretty good. However, I didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters and therefore this book definitely needs a lot of more pages. The plot is paper thin, the writing is just fine. However, I was not enjoying my reading experience because of the annoying character that is Madison. Furthermore, the characters are super white and super CIS gendered, which is just… not what I enjoy these days. Looking back, it’s understandable since there was not much attention for diversity in books – or art in general – a decade ago. Will I read the rest of the series? Absolutely not. Will I read more by this author? Absolutely! In fact, I am really curious for the next novel in the Blood and Ash series. Furthermore, the final books in the “Wait For You” series (also written as J. Lynn) are also still waiting for me. These ones are much much better! Much deeper characters and much more storyline.