Annoyingly, Grace and Noah can’t even straighten out their own relationship issues without a syrupy final chapter, in which Grandmother, realizing the error of her ways, helps them see beyond their differences.
Why she is fixated on the Noah/Kara wedding remains a mystery. She will try to bribe, manipulate, and coerce Noah into marrying Kara, all for no apparent reason – it’s not as though she doesn’t like Grace. This, unfortunately, is not the last we will see of Grandmother. My calendar says it’s 2002, which means that Grace should have been on the phone to her lawyer. Excuse me, ruined her? Which century is this again? Attempting to coerce Noah into getting back together with Kara, Grandmother says to Grace, “You’ve shown a distinct lack of morals, dear,” and fires her. “You’ve ruined Grace,” she says accusingly to Noah. But then, oh geez, here comes his grandma again. This is where I think it’s going to get good – the chemistry between Noah and Grace is steamy, and it’s kind of cute the way Noah is attracted to the not-model-slim Grace. He immediately proposes a no-strings-attached affair. Noah is touched by her loyalty, not to mention horny after all that unsatisfying sex with Kara.
Grace is virginal and sweet, and she has hopelessly adored Noah for years. Grandmother’s personal assistant, the plump but well-endowed Grace Jenkins, is the only one who stands up for Noah.
Neither Noah nor Kara tell anyone the reason they broke up, so everyone naturally attacks Noah for cruelly dumping her, and his grandmother – are you ready? – disowns him. I might possibly have bought this scenario if the book had been set in 1812, but a red-blooded, 21st century American man allowing his grandmother to pick his wife? I snorted with contempt – not an emotion I want to associate with my romance novel heroes. Apparently the fact that his grandmother approves of Kara is good enough for Noah. “Almost from the first time he’d met Kara, everyone assumed they’d eventually marry” – even though he doesn’t love Kara and doesn’t enjoy having sex with her. Noah Harper is a victim of that ancient Regency plot device, the assumed betrothal. The plot of Too Much Temptation isn’t quite as dumb as that of her last book, Wild. At times, though, she affixes them to contrived plots. Lori Foster is capable of writing good romance – The Winston Brothers was a solid B read for me (we didn’t post a review for this book since we’d reviewed each of the three short stories when they were published in earlier anthologies).
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