Tempting the Best Man (Gamble Brothers, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout and J. Lynn

Madison Daniels has worshipped 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 70's honeymoon suite and survive a multitude of "accidents" as the family tries to prove their "spark" can be used than for more than fighting. That is, if they don't strangle each other first...

• ISBN10: 1473615941
• ISBN13: 9781473615946
• Publish Date: 13 August 2015 (first published 23 April 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder Paperback
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[The Romantic Comedy Book Club]

Buried in my TBR list, I finally had a chance to read Tempting the Best Man and it was so worth the wait!

Maddie would rather run head first into a wall, have a root canal, quit her dream job at the Smithsonian, ANYTHING other than be stuck with Chase at her brother’s wedding for the weekend. Having avoided him since “the incident”, she is determined to hold her head high as she faces off with the her brother’s best friend, the man she has been in love with since she was ten years old. The plan is cut short when she blows a tire and Chase comes to her rescue. Thinking the worst is over, she discovers there is a mix-up with the wedding guest cabins and guess who she has to bunk with until the issue is resolved. Wonder why the cosmos have nothing better to do than to torture her, Maddie is determined to survive the weekend unscathed…until the past becomes the present, throwing her entire being into a tailspin.

Chase insists nothing is happening between him and Maddie. A brief slip in judgement, he just wants things to return to normal and there is no better place to start than at his best friend’s wedding. With his brothers by his side, he is ready to spend a relaxing weekend surround by friends, family, and bridesmaids…until the first desk clerk reveals his new sleeping arrangements. Briefing debating how comfortable he can get sleeping in a Porsche, Chase is forced to face the truth when the past refuses to stay where it belongs.

The first book in the Gamble Brother’s Series, I found myself laughing out loud more times than I had expected. J. Lynn packed laughs, sizzle, and romantic comedy worthy swoon moments in this quick read. Finishing in one sitting, the story brings you in “at the middle” instead of at the beginning. The reader is given glimpses into their time together as children and while it initially only hints at the friendship changing moment initially, it doesn’t wait long to tell you what happened. Maddie’s sarcasm is one for the ages and her internal monologue kept the giggles coming. The two sides of Chase made you fall in love with him as you got deeper and deeper into the story. Above all else, the build up between the two was electrifying and when they finally connected, I think I dropped the tablet! 

Full transparency - this is a fun, predictable, easy to read steamy romance. The back and forth between Maddie and Chase, the cliche reasons for keeping their distance, the inevitable hook up, and the misunderstanding to pull them apart is all there but I will definitely say the ending was unexpected. 

As the first book Jennifer Armentrout wrote under her pen name J. Lynn, Tempting the Best Man was a kick off to a series that, from what I have read, only gets better! I can’t wait to see what happens with the other Gamble boys - Chandler and Chad, you’re next!
 

[scarr]

I love Jennifer L. Armentrout and have enjoyed doing a deep dive into her earlier works. This novella is an enjoyable forced-proximity + angsty romance. I can see the potential for her future works. I will certainly be reading the rest of this series.

[Angie]

Tempting the Best Man is full of tension! Which is exactly what I've come to expect from this author's romances, so I was definitely not disappointed. Madison's brother is getting married over the weekend and she is the maid of honor. Of course, the best man is his best friend, Chase, who she has been in love with for years. The two had one moment four years ago where they crossed the friendship line, but since then, things have been tense. They bicker like crazy, and I loved it! Upon arriving at the wedding venue, they're informed there was a mix up with the room reservations, so now Madison and Chase are stuck in a room together. More specifically, it's the tacky, old honeymoon cabin, which was only available because it was due for renovations. How will they ever survive?

Madison and Chase's chemistry was through the roof! From the moment they step into their shag rug covered cabin, things get hot. Madison wants him badly, but knows he doesn't see her that way. She's just Mitch's little sister and nothing more. She couldn't be more wrong though. Chase wants her too, but doesn't think he's good enough for her. He's afraid he's going to turn out like his philandering father, and break her heart, and ruin his friendship with her brother. But thanks to some prodding from friends and family, he realizes that he isn't his father and maybe he can have Madison. There are some seriously hot scenes of them throughout, as they try to figure out what the heck they're doing. Of course, there's also a fight, but it's over a misunderstanding so I loved it! Although, they never talk about it. It's just "I love you!" and then happily ever after. Which I oddly didn't mind, because what else matters?

In the end, I really enjoyed Tempting the Best Man. I love couples who bicker and crank up the sexual tension. They were also friends-to-lovers which was great! The horrendous hotel room added a touch of humor, as did Madison's wacky parents (I wish there had been more of them!). A thoroughly enjoyable romance.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[nitzan_schwarz]

2.5 Stars
It made me smile in the first half of the story, but then all the misunderstanding and crossed signals kind of got on my nerves.
In terms of character development, Chase's were a bit too fast. One second he's sure he'll fuck everything up like his father did, the next he's reciting the words everyone's been telling him for so long - that's he's not that kind of man, that he doesn't have that in him...
Well, I did like this, it's just that half way through I got annoyed with the story and considered skipping parts.

[Cocktails and Books]

This was one of those novellas where you wish the story was much, much longer because you don't want to leave the characters. You need more angst, more love, more something so you can spend a few hundred more pages with them.

Madison Daniels has been in love with Chase Gamble, her brother's best friend, since practically the age of 5. Maddie practically wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to Chase, but she knows she has to move forward, especially given the way their last "encounter" ended. But the problem is that every time she's with Chase, she remembers all the reasons she feels the way she does about him.

Poor Chase doesn't know what to do with all the feelings he has stirring inside him anytime he's close to Chase. He always thought he was protective of her because she was his best friend's sister, but deep down he knows it's more than that. The problem is, Chase had a poor excuse for a role model in his father, a man who repeatedly cheated on their mother and flaunted it in front of her face. He's convinced he's just like his father and vows to never enter into any kind of relationship.

So you can imagine, with this baggage these two have what it would be like to be forced together at a wedding for Maddie's brother. To add insult to injury, a reservation snafu has them staying together in a 1970's Love Shack. Can you imagine the fireworks that go off when you have two people who are meant to be together pushing and pulling between fighting their attraction and going with it? It's fabulous.

For a short read of 129 pages, this story packs a punch. The author has created characters that are flawed and so loveable that you don't want to let go of them when you get to that last page.