Contemporary
Forbidden Temptation
By tasha
Nov 9, 2007 - 11:53:52 AM

Forbidden Temptation by Donna Grant is the fourth installment of her Shields series.   Val and Gabriel are the two shields given the task of locating and protecting the fourth of seven Chosen females from an evil bent on her destruction.   The death of the Chosen could tip the balance between good and evil into evil’s favor, destroying the delicate balance of the present world.   The world will be plunged into darkness.   Val and Gabriel must protect the Chosen, a beautiful woman named Nicole, with their very lives.   Val and Gabriel rescue Nicole just as a horrible creature, a gryphon, is about to kill her.   They take her away to safety.

Val is a man who has spent much of his life trying to atone for his past mistakes.   Born to a roman senator father, he lived a life of debauchery and excess.   Enjoying the pleasures of life without taking his responsibilities seriously until a terrible tragedy befalls him and his family.   He sacrifices his time and if need be his life because of a promise he made and did not keep.   He holds himself to high standards and will not allow anyone or anything to distract him.   As he finds himself becoming more and more attracted to Nicole he tries very valiantly to push her away.   He wants her.   He wants to love her but thinks he is unworthy of love.   Will Val let go of the guilt of his past and move towards a future with Nicole, or allow himself to wallow in self-pity for past mistakes?

  Gabriel is a man on a quest.   He is desperately trying to remember who he is.   He suffers from total amnesia.   When the shields discovered him, he could not give any information about who he was or what he has done.   He has a hard time dealing with the fact that he does not know about himself or where he comes from-things most people take for granted.   The evil he is battling also knows that Gabriel does not know who he is and uses it to its advantage. Can Gabriel go on in life without having any more answers about his past?  

From the time she was an infant Nicole has been alone.   Except for the witch who raised her, she has been alone.   The village people treated her as if she was evil.   They did not speak to her or visit her.   They were just willing to sacrifice her to death at the hands of evil.   Nicole has accepted her fate and is willing to die, if, for no other reason than to ease her pain and loneliness.   Nicole has never spent time with people in such close proximity, especially men.   Sparks begin to fly between Val and Nicole. Will Nicole finally realize the love she has longed for her entire with Val?

As love begins to blossom between Val and Nicole, the evil they fight makes his move, plunging Val, Nicole and Gabriel into doubt of who they are and the feelings they share.   Will they be able to see through the plans and plots of the enemy to the love and friendship that has sustained them thus far?  

I enjoyed this story.   Ms. Grant has done an excellent job in creating the world Val, Gabriel, and Nicole live in.   I was completely drawn in by this complex story.   The fight between good and evil has always been an excellent basis for any story and Ms. Grant has capitalized on it.   The struggles all three characters faced were complex and engaging.   We are all often faced with things from our past we wish we could change or rejection from our peers.   It is wonderful to watch the various array of emotions they all go through.   I was glad they all faced the evil and good came out on top!   I believe a romance should always have a happy conclusion!   I now have to go back and read the first three books in this series.   I cannot wait for the next installment.