Review: Surrounded by Temptation
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2013
REVIEW:  Surrounded by Temptation is the third storyline in the Woods Family series by Mandy Harbin.  Like the previous storylines, the Woods are a family of mountain lion shifters-all male- who are not in control of their animal side whenever an unmated female is present.Surrounded by Temptation focuses on Rob Woods and Ariel-Krista's sister-and a research scientist.  On the request of her sister, Ariel has agreed to develop a serum that will help the male shifter control the aggression and their baser instincts to mate.  But things go horribly wrong when Ariel is asked to focus on one brother more than the other.  When the brothers struggle for power and control, it will be Ariel who loses-both her heart and her pride.This particular storyline was different from the previous in that the heroine was aggressive to the point of domination and sadistic-all in the name of research-in this, I did not feel the connection between the couple-it was too clinical and too forced.  There was no relationship building to speak-everything was justified as part of the experiment.  As well, I did not relate to Ariel's research methods-as far as I was concerned she was cruel and overstepped her position.  I like to put myself into the story line and I could not make a connection-I did not understand or agree with her justifications (all in the name of research) and this too, had me hoping for a different direction in the storyline.  This series is an erotic romance look at shifter life, but I found nothing erotic or romantic.  And in the end, everyone involved lost a little piece of themselves and the family dynamics fractured because of one woman's need for control.  The story also ended on a cliffhanger and one that I had guessed back in the early stages of book one.