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Book Review: Her Favorite Temptation by Sarah Mayberry (Book one of the Matthews Sisters series)

I reviewed book two in the series, Her Favorite Rival, here. Yep, read them out of order. Lived to tell the tale. 😉

Title: Her Favorite Temptation
Author: Sarah Mayberry
Series: Matthews sisters
Genre: contemporary romance
Published: 2013
Length: novella
Format read: ebook
Rating: A

Sarah Mayberry has done it again. I *might* even like Leah’s story better than Audrey’s–which almost seems like sacrilege. I didn’t really want to like Leah all that much, given how she’s been the favorite of their parents practically since she could talk, and Audrey has been paying the price ever since. Out of reader/character solidarity with Audrey, I was bound and determined to keep Leah at an arm’s distance.

Yeah–didn’t happen.

Because even though Leah’s a doctor, and she’s always been the “good one” and the successful sister, she’s got just as many insecurities and problems as Audrey. And she’s trying–she’s trying to fix her life, her messed-up family situation, and her relationship with her sister.

I kind of had to love her for that.

Then there was Will.

Will is another character whose life looks golden from the outside. He loves his work. He’s half of an award-winning musical duo, and his star is still on the rise. He has a loving, close family and awesome friends.

But he has a secret, a secret that could mean the end of his life…or possibly just his life as he knows it.

For a novella, this story had a lot of depth. Both Leah and Will’s characters were well fleshed out, and their problems, reactions, and solutions felt realistic. I could really feel Leah’s uncertainty and insecurity, and was rooting for her to finally turn her life into the one she wanted. As for Will, even though I really wanted him to tell Leah what was going on earlier than he did, Mayberry had me agreeing with his reasons for not doing so.

They do fall in love in a relatively short amount of time, but it definitely isn’t insta-love. Given the situation they both go through in the course of the novella, it felt like a natural progression. I especially liked the fact that everything isn’t magically better at the end; with what Will goes through, a miracle fix wouldn’t have been believable. There is hope, though; and that’s definitely enough for now.

I was nearly reduced to tears no fewer than three times–angsty tears once, happy ones twice.

Tearing up. In a novella.

That Sarah Mayberry; I tell you.

Two words: auto and buy.

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