Review: Because You Tempt Me by Beth Kery

Title: Because You Tempt Me
Series: Because You Are Mine, part 1
Author: Beth Kery
Published: July 31, 2012
Pages: 61 (estimated)
Genre: Erotic Romance
Source: Purchased
Rating: C
Reviewed by: Marq

summary from Goodreads
It starts with that first look, when you know you have to have him…


Francesca Arno has been commissioned to create a grand centerpiece painting for the lobby of Ian Noble’s new skyscraper. It’s at a cocktail party in her honor that she first meets him—and the attraction is immediate for Francesca. It’s also bewildering. She’s not used to such a wholesale sexual response to a stranger. Enigmatic, darkly intense, with a commanding presence, Ian completely unnerves her. And she likes it.

For Ian, she’s the kind of woman he can’t resist—one that comes all too rarely: a true innocent. But he can sense in her a desire to open up, to experiment, to give herself to the fantasies of a man in control. The first kiss, the first caress, the first challenge for a woman who craves what she’s never had—a man who gets what he wants

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Hmmmmm. I really don't know what to think about this being a serial, with a new part released every Tuesday for 7 weeks. Because You Tempt Me is super short, which I expected, but that's not my complaint. I was kinda pissed that the story ended at 69%. The rest was excerpts/previews of the author's other books. That annoyed me because I thought there was more to read. Because this is a serial, we get a cliff-hanger ending which of course makes you want to read the next installment.

Because You Tempt Me has been compared to Fifty Shades and Bared To You and I can see why. Ian is the older rich man. Francesca is a young, inexperienced grad student who is falling under Ian's spell. How? I have no idea because I don't feel like there's anything compelling or interesting about Ian other than being young and a billionaire. Maybe as the series progresses, Ian will grow on me. He comes off as kinda robotic; no personality. His sentences are very short, direct with no inflection or emotion - again like a robot. I guess because he is supposed to be a dominant (I'm assuming) this will be the manner in which he will speak.

I don't have a feel for the characters yet. I'm not sure why Ian and Francesca are attracted to each other. They were put in the same room and Bam! we're supposed to believe that  there's something so special about Francesca that Ian is beyond drawn to her. That he must keep his distance because being near her is too much. I'm not buying it. I hope that we learn more about these characters as the series progresses so that we can truly understand where they come from and what makes them come together.

The most entertaining part for me was when Ian masturbates using a specially made device. I think this is the first time I've read a m/f erotic romance where the guy uses a toy to help get himself off. I don't know why but that really stood out but it did. And it was kinda hot.

I'll probably read the next installment because I want to see where this relationship is headed. Hopefully, both Ian and Francesca grow in the personality department because right now, they are boring.