MIRA, $5.99, ISBN 1-55166-809-2
Contemporary Romance, 2001

Hmm, something must be wrong when I think the best thing about Tempting Janey is the skanky, foul-mouthed sex scene between the heroine’s ex, Keith, with some hussy. This story of small-town romance all-over again between two wounded, been-betrayed-before characters is as happening as a over-90’s senior citizen tug-of-war competition.

Then again, that tug-of-war be a more amusing, bizarre spectacle.

Janey Mansfield returns for some small town wholesome goodness after her divorce with Keith. She has a – *sigh* – teenaged rebellious daughter and she needs money. The token cute job heroines like her have in smalltowns this time around is running a candy store.

Dillon Reed, principal of the local high school, is the man whose wife Keith has an affair with years ago. Hey, small town – what can I say? He sees Janey, and bam! Attraction ensues.

That’s it. The story crawls into a speed slower than a dead turtle. Janey wants Dillon. Dillon wants Janey. They want each other. Janey lusts. Dillon lusts. They have sex. They have sex some more. They want each other. More lusting.

Of course, so much lusting can’t be too bad a situation. But that’s all that happens in this story. I would expect some story of healing and learning to trust again from a premise like this, but no. It’s all lust-on-a-crawl. Keith pops up to cause some trivial problems, as do some other minor, disposable characters, but the end of the day, everything boils down to slow-mo lusting.

Janey… wants… Dillon… Dillon… wants… J…a…n…e…y… J…a…n…e…y… w… … … a… … … n… … … t… … … s… … D… … … i… … … l… … … l… … … o… … … n… … … ….

S… n… o… r… e…