This will be a joint review of the first two books of J. Lynn's Gamble Brothers series - Tempting the Best Man and Tempting the Player. I decided to go for a joint review since the stories in the books are closely connected and it so happened that I read the books one right after the other.
I have to admit that I have a soft spot for romantic series about close relatives and brothers in particular. I really loved Jill Shalvis Wilder Adventures (stories about the three Wilder brothers) and the Kowalski Family series (brothers and cousins) by Shannon Stacey.
This said, I was excited when I came across the Tempting the Best Man and realised its the first book in a series about three brothers. I am glad to say that the books did not disappoint me.
Title: Tempting the Best Man (Gamble Brothers 1)
Author: J. Lynn, Jennifer L. Armentrout
Date of publication: 23 April 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance
More reviews: Goodreads
My rating: 4 stars
The book tells the story of Madison and Chase, her brother's best friend and childhood crush. It is the four-day celebration of her brother's wedding that finally forces them to act on their attraction to one another. The romance is rather straightforward and predictable without any twists and turns, yet there is enough witty banter and realistic interactions among the characters, coupled with a few misunderstandings and you have a light, fun read which reminds me of a cute romantic comedy. The characters are nothing deep or overly complicated, yet J. Lynn manages to create heart-warming story, peppered with some hot scenes and true laughs.All in all, it is a simple romance which I enjoyed a lot.
Title: Tempting the Player (Gamble Brothers 2)
Author: J. Lynn, Jennifer L. Armentrout
Date of publication: 23 October 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance
More reviews: Goodreads
My rating: 4 Stars
The second book in the series follows pretty much the same pattern as the first one. It tells the story of Chad, a pro baseball player and Bridget, who is Madison's assistant, so naturally Madison and Chase are present here. The third Gamble brother, Chandler, as well, Madison's family also make an appearance. J. Lynn follows the style writing from the first book, but here she adds more background to the characters, making them richer and ultimately more complex and thus more likeable, especially Bridget. She tries to take them away from the cliché roles of sports star and slightly overweight lonely assistant/secretary.
The chemistry between Bridget and Chase is quite strong and the sex scenes in this book are steamier than in the first one. There is a moment in the story where things almost go into dom/sub territory, which is definitely not my thing, but fortunately for me, this line is not followed through.
In short, I can honestly say that I loved both Gamble brothers so far and I can wait for Chandler to make his appearance. I am sure that he will not be a disappointment, either. His story is to be released in June 2013.
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