Dare to Be Tempted

Davis’s first of three erotic novels targeted to “grown and sexy women” features 52-year-old Aleesa Davis, whose husband, Walt, is about to return to New Jersey after an 18-month stint with the Army in Afghanistan. Aleesa has written a book of erotic fantasies to welcome him home, and she boldly hires handsome young photographer Josiah to take nude photos of her for the book’s cover. When her planned night of seduction is derailed by Walt’s drunkenness and impotence, she struggles to reconcile his aloof and guilt-ridden behavior with his claim that he still loves her. Aleesa travels to California with her cousin and best friend to give herself some space, but when Walt’s attempts to save their 16-year marriage push Aleesa into Josiah’s arms, she must decide what she really wants. Davis’s prose sometimes falters, but the tenderness and eroticism of Aleesa’s stories for Walt and the raw emotion of the struggling spouses will carry the reader through. (July)