JUST DESSERTS (Sweet Temptation #3) by Ashley Lister-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 24, 2015

Trudy McLaughlin was an ambitious culinary arts graduate. Nowadays, her success and reputation have made her a household name in fine dining. But what she really wants is to be Bill Hart’s lover.

Baking entrepreneur Trudy McLaughlin and celebrity chef Bill Hart have the perfect romance except for a sprinkling of small details: Bill’s remarried his ex-wife, Trudy’s dating a handsome doctor, and no one can know they’re still secretly seeing one another.

Trudy understands Bill needed to remarry his ex-wife. She also knows she has to go on dates so no one suspects she’s still seeing Bill. And she’s about to discover that the worst thing that could happen for all of them would be if her old business rival, Donny, discovered that she was still involved in a torrid sexual relationship with Bill.
Once again passion and betrayal season every serving in this final instalment of the gourmet dining romance.

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REVIEW: JUST DESSERTS is the third (and final?) installment in Ashley Lister’s contemporary adult Sweet Temptation erotic romance series focusing on executive chef Bill Hart, and baking entrepreneur/celebrity cooking judge Trudy McLaughlin. JUST DESSERTS should not be read as a stand alone as many of the events in the first two installments lead up to the events in Just Desserts.

Told from single, third person limited point of view (Trudy) JUST DESSERTS focuses on the turmoil of Trudy and Bill’s relationship upheaval due to the events in Bill’s personal and private life. Bill remarried his ex wife to keep the woman from being deported, and with it comes the heartbreak between two people whose love for one another must face another obstacle and road block on the path to their own happily ever after. Bill and Trudy’s relationship will become gossip between friends and the media, and the threats against Trudy and Bill will continue long after Bill’s marriage to appease his ex-wife.

JUST DESSERTS continues to focus on the erotic BDSM relationship between Trudy and Bill. Bill is a man who likes to punish Trudy for some perceived wrong, and spanking is Bill’s form of chosen discipline. I am not sure how I feel about the BDSM scenario throughout the series- it always felt unnecessary and voyeuristic as though it was an afterthought to the story. But while Bill and Trudy’s relationship must be kept secret from the public eye, their past will come full circle when their secrets are about to be exposed by a jealous ex-lover who wants Trudy all for himself.

The colorful secondary and supporting cast of players includes all of the previous storyline characters including Trudy’s co-workers and friends; Bill’s ex-wife Aliceon and their daughter Imogen, and grandson little Bill. Trudy’s ex business partner Donny continues as the requisite evil but this time he has brought along a couple of co-conspirators for the ride.

JUST DESSERTS is a fast paced, quick read that addresses the trials and tribulations between Trudy and Bill while Trudy’s former friend and business partner is wreaking havoc upon her and Bill’s lives; and Bill’s hasty wedding to his ex wife finds our heroine planning nightly rendezvous with the man that she loves. The premise is intriguing; the characters are animated and engaging; the conflict resolution was a bit scattered; I am not sure if the people responsible for the attacks against Trudy and Bill would be free to walk around until the final few pages of the story. Law enforcement should have been aware of the identity and whereabouts of the guilty parties.

JUST DESSERTS appears to be the end of Trudy and Bill’s story although it could also be the beginning of a new adventure. Thank you Ashley Lister for allowing me a ride on the roller coaster relationship between Trudy and Bill-if only we could have seen more than a happily ever after-for now.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

A TASTE OF PASSION
Sweet Temptation #1
by Ashley Lister
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance, BDSM
Release Date: June 26, 2014

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About the book: Release Date June 26, 2014

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of A TASTE OF PASSION

When baking entrepreneur Trudy Cole falls for celebrity chef Bill Hart, all is far from sweetness and light. Instead passion, betrayal and ambition makes for an explosive mix in the high stakes game of gourmet dining.

Trudy Cole is an aspiring chef with ambitions to own her own patisserie. When she encounters celebrity chef Bill Hart she finds the older man antagonistic but disconcertingly attractive. Sexual chemistry soon boils to an unbearable temperature and they become lovers.

But Trudy’s affair and ambitions for her own business become too hot to handle when she discovers that Bill has a wife. To make matters worse, her business partner and ardent admirer, Donny, threatens to destroy her patisserie and Bill Hart’s reputation.

At a stately home where Trudy wants to woo investors with her culinary masterpieces, the paths of all three players cross again and the heat is turned up to a much higher setting…

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TURNING UP THE HEAT
Sweet Temptation #2
by Ashley Lister
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance, BDSM
Release Date: October 30, 2014

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 30, 2014

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of TURNING UP THE HEAT

The second book in the passionate Sweet Temptation trilogy.

Bill and Trudy’s tempestuous relationship veers from hurling insults in the kitchen to intense passion in the bedroom. The love/hate rollercoaster is made worse by a new revelation:

Bill also has an ex-wife whom he neglected to mention. To throw oil onto the flames Donny is back and more determined than ever to hammer a wedge between the couple and ruin their business.