TEMPING IS HELL
Necessary Evil, Book 1
by Cathy Yardley
Entangled Publishing
January 2013
E-Book
This is the story of twenty-nine year old Kate O’Hara, a “temp” extraordinaire with a long and varied job history, a reputation as the flaky “black sheep” of the family, and a woman just trying to pay the bills.
It’s also the story of her temporary boss — one Thomas Kestrel, the sexy magnate of Fiendish Enterprises, a conglomerate of corporations that cater to the rich and bored. He’s sexy as sin, but he’s got some problems. Like the pesky little detail of needing to kill thirteen people in the next year to get his soul back. And when Kate inadvertently signs her soul over to him, she finds out she’s signed up for one hell of an temp gig. If two wrongs make a right, then thirteen make a job. Cathy Yardley
MY TAKE
Right off the bat, let me say that Yardley so nails the feeling of being the family failure you would think she didn't have at least fourteen books already published, that her siblings were the President and possibly the Pope. You get the idea, she's got it down. And, yet it is related in a way that is empowering to the main character, Kate. She is saddened by it, but she moves on.
Somehow, Kate is branded as a loser, when she has succeeded at everything,, but the places she's worked had bad management, or nasty co-workers. Yet, everyone thinks these failures are her own.
So, when she asks for extra work and exceeds expectations because she was working for a deceitful idiot, her frustration is palpable through the page. It's then that her miracle happens. The boss she meets the night before walks in on her being fired. For all of us who are brilliant but down trodden it is the miracle of someone finding our light hid under the proverbial basket. The prince falls in love with you, you're long lost parents (the king and queen) find you, you've been under a spell, your blog post goes viral and you're offered a seven figure book deal. It's THE DREAM COME TRUE! Or is it?
There's lots of hot attraction to action in this story. The characters are well thought out, and the main characters are complex, and un-cookie cutter. Just when you think Thomas is going to be the perfect hero, he is caught up in betrayal. Same for Kate. They aren't always string where the archetypal hero or heroine should be. They aren't perfect together (except...) and they make the dumbest mistakes ever.
The situation and world building is a bit undefined.but, in general the structure isn't that important. I didn't understand Kate's past, but then again, it isn't that important. What matters is the decisions they make now. And, the decisions that are made for them. Both characters are good people who have made and continue to make catastrophically bad decisions. And, who continue to wrestle with ethics and decision making.
Maybe it's that "ooh this was a mistake" quality that makes the chemistry so awesome. As far as the evil female villain, I keep seeing her as Max Sheffield's socialite business partner CC Babcock on the 90's sitcom, THE NANNY.
But when you put them all together it's a smash hit, with a moral paradox and off the charts chemistry, hot souls bound for hell, and hotter sex. Don't forget the family relationships which are scarily accurate!
I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading TEMPING IS HELL. Highly Recommended!
Temping is Hell at Amazon
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