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A Taste of Temptation
When Élodie Martel’s motorbike leaves her stranded on the side of a Tuscan backroad—on the way to her only remaining relative’s funeral, no less—the last thing she’s looking for is a hookup. But how can she resist sexy farmhand Vico Fierli when he offers her a ride? And the best gnocchi she’s ever tasted. And comfort—sweet, tempting comfort—in trying times.
But life gets complicated when it turns out Vico is intimately tied to an old Martel family scandal. Though El finds herself more and more attracted to Vico’s hidden charms, the drama threatens to tear them apart. But could a con man’s attempts to steal El’s inheritance be just the thing to bring them back together?
But life gets complicated when it turns out Vico is intimately tied to an old Martel family scandal. Though El finds herself more and more attracted to Vico’s hidden charms, the drama threatens to tear them apart. But could a con man’s attempts to steal El’s inheritance be just the thing to bring them back together?
114 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 8, 2019
About the author
Saskia Laine
4 books3 followersSaskia Laine hides out on a not-so-remote island in Canada, hoarding chocolate, alter egos, and sexy story ideas.
She is the author of the Layovers series of spicy contemporary romance short reads.
She is the author of the Layovers series of spicy contemporary romance short reads.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 17, 2019
The third tale in the Layovers series takes us to the Tuscan countryside.
There Élodie Martel’s life keeps getting more and more complicated when a visit to her aunt lands her in the middle of a contested estate and an attraction to the hired help, Vico Fierli, who may or may not be able to help her sort out the problems of the present as well as the betrayals of the past.
This novella packs more story than I originally expected. It’s not simply the attraction between El and Vico. There’s intrigue that fuels the plot and kept me turning pages to find out how all the pieces fit together. In fact, I think it could really be fleshed out into a full length novel. At places, I craved a little more development to make it reach its full potential.
For example, I would have loved some chapters from Vico. (This is told soley by El’s first person POV.) While he exhibited that sexy but slightly mysterious vibe, I also wanted to learn more about him. A little more build-up would have been welcome. None the less, that first pool scene was hot!
Plus, it’s always refreshing when the heroine is an accomplished, capable women, and El (or Elodia as Vico calls her) fits that bill. The romance market sorely needs more presentations of women in highly educated professions like El. Not only that, but points for the places where the gender roles seem to reverse and for the presentation of their relationship as teamwork rather than El needing Vico to save the day.
All in all, for an afternoon read, this is one to check out. Be forewarned though, you might want to have an Italian translation app handy. I’ll freely admit, I was lost on some lines of dialogue.
Safety Recap:
*I volunteered to review this ARC. All reviews written by Book-Bosomed Book Blog are honest opinions. In the interest of providing unbiased book reviews and to avoid misleading other readers, it is the blog’s policy not to withhold or delay any reviews no matter the star rating. To the best of my knowledge, this title was presented to the blog without any conditions or stipulations.
There Élodie Martel’s life keeps getting more and more complicated when a visit to her aunt lands her in the middle of a contested estate and an attraction to the hired help, Vico Fierli, who may or may not be able to help her sort out the problems of the present as well as the betrayals of the past.
“‘It would only be wrong if the attention is not welcome. And you have seen the proof that I welcome your attentions.’”
This novella packs more story than I originally expected. It’s not simply the attraction between El and Vico. There’s intrigue that fuels the plot and kept me turning pages to find out how all the pieces fit together. In fact, I think it could really be fleshed out into a full length novel. At places, I craved a little more development to make it reach its full potential.
For example, I would have loved some chapters from Vico. (This is told soley by El’s first person POV.) While he exhibited that sexy but slightly mysterious vibe, I also wanted to learn more about him. A little more build-up would have been welcome. None the less, that first pool scene was hot!
Plus, it’s always refreshing when the heroine is an accomplished, capable women, and El (or Elodia as Vico calls her) fits that bill. The romance market sorely needs more presentations of women in highly educated professions like El. Not only that, but points for the places where the gender roles seem to reverse and for the presentation of their relationship as teamwork rather than El needing Vico to save the day.
“‘It is you, straniera, who is going down. Onto this bed, right now.’”
All in all, for an afternoon read, this is one to check out. Be forewarned though, you might want to have an Italian translation app handy. I’ll freely admit, I was lost on some lines of dialogue.
Safety Recap:
*I volunteered to review this ARC. All reviews written by Book-Bosomed Book Blog are honest opinions. In the interest of providing unbiased book reviews and to avoid misleading other readers, it is the blog’s policy not to withhold or delay any reviews no matter the star rating. To the best of my knowledge, this title was presented to the blog without any conditions or stipulations.
February 21, 2020
Saskia Laine, ‘A Taste of Temptation’
(Layovers #3)
As a Hidden Gems ARC reader I received a free copy and promised an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 4 stars (of 5).
In general: Space engineer finds an Italian Lover.
Main characters:
- Elodie (El) Martel.
She’s a Canadian aerospace engineer who’s temporary transferred to Varese in Italy working on an Airbus project. She takes this opportunity to visit her aunt Fran who - a long time ago - went to live in Italy at an estate, Fiera Vista di Cortine. But before she meets the aunt she only knew from letters and postcards, aunt Fran dies.
- Lodovico (Vico) Fierli.
He has a Master’s degree in Italian Cuisine. His old Nonna (grandma) was aunt Fran’s housekeeper and he helped her at the estate as caretaker for his Nonna and aunt Fran (who he liked too) were too old to manage the large estate with its farms and vineyards.
El and Vico meet when her motorbike had an engine breakdown. Vico takes the bike to the home of him and Nonna. El likes the gorgeous Vico and, being single, tries to seduce him. But he’s afraid to get involved with her because of problems between his Nonna’s and aunt Fran’s Italian families.
The author, Saskia Laine, in a not so very original plot, then describes how the relationship between both develops. It’s complicated: the family problems, El’s difficulties with her work and quarrels for aunt Fran’s inheritance make commitment not obvious. But it’s a sweet, well written love story with wonderful characters and interesting info about an estate in beautiful Tuscany.
For me the novella was a pleasure to read.
R. Huiszoon.
(Layovers #3)
As a Hidden Gems ARC reader I received a free copy and promised an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 4 stars (of 5).
In general: Space engineer finds an Italian Lover.
Main characters:
- Elodie (El) Martel.
She’s a Canadian aerospace engineer who’s temporary transferred to Varese in Italy working on an Airbus project. She takes this opportunity to visit her aunt Fran who - a long time ago - went to live in Italy at an estate, Fiera Vista di Cortine. But before she meets the aunt she only knew from letters and postcards, aunt Fran dies.
- Lodovico (Vico) Fierli.
He has a Master’s degree in Italian Cuisine. His old Nonna (grandma) was aunt Fran’s housekeeper and he helped her at the estate as caretaker for his Nonna and aunt Fran (who he liked too) were too old to manage the large estate with its farms and vineyards.
El and Vico meet when her motorbike had an engine breakdown. Vico takes the bike to the home of him and Nonna. El likes the gorgeous Vico and, being single, tries to seduce him. But he’s afraid to get involved with her because of problems between his Nonna’s and aunt Fran’s Italian families.
The author, Saskia Laine, in a not so very original plot, then describes how the relationship between both develops. It’s complicated: the family problems, El’s difficulties with her work and quarrels for aunt Fran’s inheritance make commitment not obvious. But it’s a sweet, well written love story with wonderful characters and interesting info about an estate in beautiful Tuscany.
For me the novella was a pleasure to read.
R. Huiszoon.
February 23, 2020
🍷Liked the story, surfeit of intimate clinches notwithstanding🌄
👍For me the best parts that made the story enjoyable were:
Irascible 👵Nonna, hero Vico's stroppy grandmother;
🍇The Italian rural setting;
The 📃 will/estate complications subplot; and
Heroine Elodie's can-do spirit, intelligence, business acumen and competence
Although I liked Elodie and Vico together, I felt the ending of the story was just too focused on the 🔥steam. If hot clinches are something you are looking for in a romance, you'll probably count this on the plus side.
I understood the Italian lines, including Nonna's zingers, sprinkled throughout the story but there was no attempt to translate.
Overall, a good though brief standalone read with a positive conclusion.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the story; this is my voluntary and honest review.
👍For me the best parts that made the story enjoyable were:
Irascible 👵Nonna, hero Vico's stroppy grandmother;
🍇The Italian rural setting;
The 📃 will/estate complications subplot; and
Heroine Elodie's can-do spirit, intelligence, business acumen and competence
Although I liked Elodie and Vico together, I felt the ending of the story was just too focused on the 🔥steam. If hot clinches are something you are looking for in a romance, you'll probably count this on the plus side.
I understood the Italian lines, including Nonna's zingers, sprinkled throughout the story but there was no attempt to translate.
Overall, a good though brief standalone read with a positive conclusion.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the story; this is my voluntary and honest review.
February 21, 2020
I loved this book! It’s the first I’ve read from this author but I wasn’t disappointed at all. You can’t beat a bit of steamy romance, El falls for a hot Italian man that turns out to be more than just an instant attraction. It’s a fairly short book which I liked as it didn’t drag on for too long and the characters were great, especially Nonna! I’ll definitely be checking out other books from Saskia. The book is steamy, romantic and has a hea, what more could you want? I read this book as an ARC.
December 21, 2020
This was a sexy fun read. It had a fast paced plot with just enough intrigue to keep it going. The sex scenes were hot although not terribly detailed. You really got the sense of place the Italian countryside, the local culture, the history. I absolutely loved that part. Overall I thought A Taste of Temptation was just about as perfect as a novella like this could be.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews