I have to admit that I was intrigued with Tryst when I first heard about it. Not only because it was the sequel to the much talked about Taint by S.L. Jennings, but also because of the content. The blurb immediately made me curious, even as it made me a little scared if I am honest. Cheating is one of those topics that defnitely brings out strong feelings in readers, and the fact that this book deals with sanctioned cheating and even a menage was really interesting to me. I knew going in that this one would probably bring out a ton of emotions and be rough at times, but I also knew that it was going to be super hot as well.
Heidi DuCane is known for being a pit-bull of a publicist, she is very successful and lives for her career. Her doctor husband Tucker DuCane is the exact opposite. Though they are committed and love each other more than ever, things have changed between them and most days they are going through the motions more than anything. The happiness they once had isn't as strong as it was, so when Heidi gets the chance to make rockstar Ransom Reed her client she jumps at the chance. Ransom is every woman's fantasy, and being on Heidi's hall-pass list allows her to indulge in everything that he is offering her. But what starts out as a sexy night together with Tucker watching, quickly becomes more personal as Ransom signs on to be Heidi's new client. The more Heidi and Ransom spend time together and get to know one another, the more the lines begin to blur. Though Heidi has never been unhappy with Tucker, she finds that Ransom is able to satisfy some of her needs that Tucker has never been able to. But now that Heidi, Tucker, and Ransom have gone down this road, the only thing that is certain is that nothing will ever be the same as it was before their tryst.
It is so hard for me to put into words what I am feeling about these characters. There were points throughout this book that I loved each of these characters and there were times that I pretty much hated each of them as well. While I was left still being on the fence about Heidi and Tucker, I have to say that the person I feel the most for here is Ransom. He had so much beneath the surface, and it was clear that he was struggling. I really wanted to dig deeper with him, and I found myself the most interested in Ransom out of anyone here. Heidi was a bit damaged as well, and she had needs that Tucker wasn't able to fulfill before Ransom entered the picture. I wish that she had dealt with them more here, as I feel like we never did see that. While she did make some progress and she was able to voice her needs to Tucker when she wasn't able to previously, I felt like the real reason behind those desires and the issues causing everything were never dealt with. Tucker was the character that I probably felt the most for during the majority of this story, at least that was the case until close to the end. Then there was something that happened that changed everything for me. I really thought that this guy was just doing whatever he could to make his wife happy and I honestly felt like he was the one being wronged here. But I have to say that when all was said and done, I felt like Heidi and Tucker really deserved each other and not necessarily in a good way. I was so upset with everything that had happened, and I just wanted Ransom to get as far away from these two as possible.
There was a ton of heat here and a lot of emotion. I will warn readers that if you have problems with cheating (even with permission from the cheater's spouse) or menage, that this book probably isn't for you. While this book is so much more than those things, they do play a huge part in this story and I think that readers need to make sure that is something they can handle before starting. While I did enjoy the sexy nature of this book, I feel really torn as far as the actual story went. I have so many mixed feelings here, but the one thing that I can't seem to shake is the feeling that Heidi and Tucker just flat out used Ransom. While he definitely wasn't forced into this situation by any means, it seemed as though he was manipulated into a lot here and ultimately he was the one that truly suffered the most. Fans of Taint will be glad to see familiar faces here, though this book is a complete standalone and you do not need to have read Taint in order to understand Tryst. While this book wasn't my favorite, I will read the next book in this series as I am really excited about where things were headed at the end of this book.
**ARC Provided by Publisher**
Great review!
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