Books & Spoons Review: TEMPTING THE KNIGHT by Heidi Rice

Tempting the Knight is the second of a four book multi-author series, based around four women who went to boarding school together, and an old Irish pub in Brooklyn called Sully's. Each story riffs loosely off a fairy tale. The stories are tightly connected and it's best to read the series consecutively.

Once upon a time, poor little rich girl Zelda Madison wanted someone to love her, until she discovered being a badass was much more fun.

Ten years after getting kicked out of convent school and torn away from her three best friends, Zelda has worked hard to clean up her act, but her wild streak has never been completely tamed and — one midnight swim on Manhattan Beach later — she’s suddenly in urgent need of a knight in shining armor…

Hard-working legal aid attorney Tyrone Sullivan is the last guy she should call. Not only does he hold a grudge when it comes to Zelda leading his little sister astray all those years ago, he’s also supremely pissed about having to rescue a runaway supermodel from a Brooklyn police station at two am. But when Ty reluctantly agrees to bust Zel out of her ivory tower and let her hide out on his house barge for a few days, she shows him the wild side he didn’t know he had.

Zel discovers there’s nothing hotter than tarnishing a good guy’s armor… Until he starts to steal her bad girl’s battered heart…

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I'm really enjoying this series. The stories are hot, sensual, yet loving and tender. The characters have real life issues, they are strong, energetic, loyal, and family matters to them. The stories touch the emotions of the reader, are inspiring, heartening, and uplifting, like the old time fairy tales they remotely resembles.
Zelda lives behind a facade, that the circumstances of her life have built around her. She has been sober for five years, yet the tabloids are writing stories of the opposite, of her wild escapes around the world. Not everything as it seems, though. Zelda is committed to her sobriety, wants more out her life than the modeling career she has had. Life is not easy, the constant rejection from her brother, the only family she has left, has shattered her spirits, making it hard for her to believe in herself as a valuable person.
Ty has played the role of the big brother all his life. He is responsible, nurturing, and a planner. He has his own demons he is battling with, his mother's hard life, and her early death, that has left resentment in his mind towards the family pub, and his father.
The Labor Day weekend they spent together, is steaming, scorching hot. The chemistry between them is sizzling, and soon deeper feelings come into the picture.
The support, loyalty, faith, and devotion the family and the close circle of friends have for each other is admirable. There's a conversation between the two of the brothers, I wept when I read it, it is so honest, moving, and sincere. You can feel the agony and confusion life and love sometimes is. Cause life can be a mess, you can't plan everything, without having the awareness, that life doesn't always follow our plans, a fact this story brings home clearly. Yes, life is a struggle at times, and we fail, but with the love and support, and help from our loved ones, we can survive and prevail just about anything.
This story left me with a smile, joy in my mind and a deep sigh.   
Don't miss this amazing series this summer!
~ Four Spoons and a teaspoon on the side

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