• Title  – Twelve Hours of Temptation
• Author – Shoma Narayanan
• Publisher – Harlequin India Pvt. Ltd.
• Genre – Romance (Fiction)
• Pages – 184
• ISBN – 978-93-5106-445-9
• Price – 150 INR

Blurb on the Book – The best mistake of his life?

Being chained to her desk is not how copywriter Melissa D’Cruz envisaged spending the night before her first major awards ceremony. No Cinderella moment for this award nominee–instead she’s facing a night of deadlines! But Melissa is determined to get to the event…she just has to work out how….

New boss Samir Razdan catches Melissa burning the midnight oil and offers to drive her to the event himself. But the minute they set off Samir knows he’s in trouble–because being this close to Melissa is already driving him crazy, and they’ve got twelve torturous hours of temptation ahead…!

Review – The Twelve hours of Temptation is a book of the Indian Mills & Boon series that has a pretty cover capturing the very essence of the plot in a very beautiful way. I particularly loved the title of the book that conveys the gist of the whole plot aptly.

I have read a number of Mills & Boon books in my teens and they have always made for my favorite travel companions. The one thing that disappointed me was that the very first page of the book has an untitled prologue (or you may call it the introduction as it isn’t titled) that starts off at a big (slightly distracting) font. It would have been better if it were placed at the second or third page.

The story is well presented with a lucid narration generously peppered with palpable passion. The plot is simple and predictable but the sensitive execution and lot of space given for the characters to evolve, makes it a delightful read.

I wish to congratulate the author on churning out a heartwarming romantic tale that though appears to be a typical Boss and employee affair in the start, but has sublime emotions basking in sound reasoning that made this simple story go up by notches.

I was particularly impressed at the way the protagonist, Sameer succeeds in putting aside his ego and comes across as a caring friend for Melissa at every point while they both struggled to seek answers about the future of their relationship.

Unlike all the Mills & Boon books this book has no scenes devoted to passionate love making relying completely in painting love and myriad emotions in words. The book delves into the intricacies of a relation without limiting itself to temptation alone.

I am sure many readers will be able to relate to Melissa and Sameer while still more will feel connected with the emotions that make this book a refreshing read.

The only point of weakness in the plot is while Melissa’s character and background has been thoroughly explored and explained, very little light has been thrown on the mysteries circling Sameer’s past. However, the author does answer most questions that cloud the reader’s mind the climax appeared uncannily ‘filmy’.

I recommend this book as a perfect travel companion and if you are a Mills & Boon fan you’ll enjoy this treat read as it fulfills most expectations of a romantic read.

About the Author – Shoma started reading romances at the age of eleven, borrowing them from neighbours so that her parents didn’t find out. At that time the thought of writing one herself never entered her head. But a couple of years ago Shoma took up writing and was amazed at how much she enjoyed it. Now she works grimly at her banking job through the week, and tries to balance writing with household chores during weekends.

Rating – 3.5/5