Avoiding Temptation - Tracy Lorraine

Reading Challenge Category: Free ARC from Booksprout

Official Blurb:

First rule of teaching... don’t fall for a student.
Finally living the life of my dreams in a city I’d always wanted to experience was supposed to be a clean slate. Until him...
My prim and proper world is turned upside down when he walks into my college classroom, demanding attention with a single look, his braces and glasses at complete odds with his defined body and bad boy tattoos.
From the first moment we connect, it’s like he’s daring me to live the life I’ve always craved, a life on the edge...not caring what others think.
Breaking the rules to be with a student will be crossing the line, but life on the other side just might be what I’ve been looking for.

My Thoughts:

Oh wow, Tracy Lorraine has completely outdone herself with this instalment of the Forbidden series. It was absolutely perfect; it had just the right amount of story, intrigue, passion and impeccable writing.
We are finally getting Joe’s story. We first met him when he was pretending to be with Lauren to scare Ben off back in ‘Falling for the Forbidden’. He has been a presence in the previous five books, but we haven’t really gotten to know him, although we do know that he has been being secretive and has a mystery woman.
Quinn is running away from her past. She has moved to London, changed her image and is ready to live the life she wants. She has started a new job as a teacher at an adult college, but she isn’t prepared for the geeky bad boy at the back of her first class.
I was quite surprised that we get the whole story from the perspective and voice of Quinn. So, we still aren’t privy to what makes Joe tick. He is there, and he is swoonsome, but we don’t know what his deepest inner desires are. The intensity he was written with really came off the pages, and I found myself falling for him a little bit. I do usually manage to stay detached from the characters (I’m happily married), but Joe was certainly doing it for me (blush)!
I did find it hard to marry up this Joe with the one I’d previously pictured in the first five books. He just seemed so much suaver. I did keep reminding myself about how he squared up to Ben to keep the image of a bad boy in my mind. I’d always just had him as a bit of a weaker character; I think because he was always just in the background. There is nothing soft about the Joe in this book though; he could knock anyone’s socks off!
I really liked the intrigue that came with Quinn, I am dying to know what her full secret is and the ending was just brilliant. Tracy certainly knows how to write a cliffhanger and leave you wanting more. I think this story kept me more gripped than any of her previous ones, and I’m feeling very impatient waiting for the conclusion. I’ve just looked up the date for the next instalment, 23rd January, ah hopefully I can get an ARC, so I don’t have to wait that long! It’s still next year, though!
So, overall, I think this is the best Tracy Lorraine book I have read so far (and I’ve read them all!) A massive five stars (if I could give it more I would). Absolutely flipping brilliant!

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