Temporary Bliss

Bliss, Book 1

By: BJ Harvey

Narrated by: Lucy Rivers, Christian Fox

Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Makenna Lewis cringes at any mention of the word commitment. She doesn't want or need a relationship, but she does like sex (who doesn't?). That explains Noah, Sean, and Zander, her three "friends with benefits."

They know the score, they know they're not the only one, and each of them provide her with a different physical need that she craves and enjoys.

Until a late-night encounter with the delicious Daniel Winters turns her preconceived notion of no-commitment completely on its head.

Soon she finds herself feeling things she vowed never to feel again, and when Daniel pushes for more than she's willing to give, she falters.

What do you do when something that you've known to be so wrong in the past feels so damn right?

If you're Mac, you run and hide.

But is Daniel the type of man who takes no for an answer?

©2013 BJ Harvey (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"What do you get when you mix Sex and the City, Superman, and a hot x rated movie? You get an amazing sexy read filled with different guys to satisfy all of your needs and then some! What else do you need? As if the hot guys weren't enough, this book was full of angst, comedy and self-discovery. Plus it has a strong lead female, which is rare to find in books!" ( Morning After A Good Book)

Too much from the h

Since this was 99% the h POV, she was sooo annoying at times. We barely heard from the H POV.

A nice change of pace!

4.25 Stars
Published back in 2013, and on my kindle since then, I finally decided to get the audiobook of Temporary Bliss because BJ Harvey is coming to Wicked Book Weekend 2018. I’m so mad I waited 5 years! It was funny, dirty, angsty and different!

Mac was in a really bad relationship, and when she finally got out, she vowed never to get back in. With anyone.

"Walking away from this life, I make a vow to myself; never again will my life be dictated by a man, and never again will I let love lead me astray."

Flash forward a couple of years, and Mackenna is a strong, independent woman with not one, not two, but THREE sex buddies. (No, sadly not together, but that may have been fun). I really liked this for a change. She wasn’t really slutty. They all satisfied a different need for her. They were all casual, and they all knew the deal.

Then she met Daniel. Sigh…I loved 'Delicious Daniel'.

But Mac just kept pushing this great guy away. I wanted to climb into the book and smack her upside the head. But Daniel stood pretty firm, or at least he says he did. I wouldn’t have minded seeing him work for it a little more, I’m not a big fan of waiting it out.

"I'm in so deep, I'll take you however I can have you. I'll wait, however long it takes. If these last few months with you have shown me anything, it's that you're meant to be mine. I know that already, F***, I've known if for awhile now. I've just been waiting for you to catch up."

I think one of my favorite parts of Temporary Bliss was actually the friendship between Mac & Kate, and I really want to read Kate’s story.

"That is the beauty of having a best friend. They’ll walk over hot coals with you; they’ll tell you when you’re being dumb, and they bail you out of trouble, unless they’re sitting right beside you in the cell."

Likes:

•It’s a nice change to have a woman who has multiple partners (before hooking up with the hero).
•The friendship between Mac and her roommate.
•Made me laugh out loud.
•Holy hot! I wasn’t expecting it to be so sexy! BJ is a dirty girl.
•Loved all the side characters.

Dislikes:

•I loved the first half, but then she fought it too long, and she started to piss me off.
•I wasn’t thrilled with the flashbacks once she was with Daniel.
•I felt like I didn’t get to know Daniel enough to be super invested.

The Narration:
Lucy Rivers is an amazing narrator. Though Christian Fox is credited, he is just a small guest.

The Down & Dirty:
I loved the fact that the heroine wasn’t a virgin and was a normal, on-the-slutty-side city girl and proud of it. She is sexually free and makes no apologies, Good for her! I loved her relationship with her best friend, and can’t wait for Kate’s story. I started out loving Mac but I did get pretty frustrated with her after a while. I felt bad for Delicious Daniel and kind of started thinking she didn’t deserve him.

But I love BJ’s writing style. I loved the humor and friendship. This book is 5 years old, I can’t imagine how much better BJ has gotten since then, and I look forward to reading more.

Rating: 4.25 Stars, 4.5 Heat, 4.5 Narration

Worth the credit!!!

Loved this book so much that I wished the traffic was worse than usual.. Very entertaining!!

The roommate is much more interesting

Any additional comments?

First book in the Bliss series.

The book starts out interesting. The protagonist escapes from a bad relationship that she entered because of love and despite the warnings of her friends and family. The lesson she learns from this is to avoid love since it can't be trusted. Lust is okay but no love.

Several years later she meets a sexy man, saying all the right things, who wants love and is not interested in sharing her; however, she has three friends with benefits. The plot is predictable but the story contains a lot of gratuitous sex set in flashbacks which don't move the story forward. Also, there is a lot of aggravating repetition in the story.

I found the roommate's story much more interesting.

Funny

Funny Funny Funny and a great storyline too!!! The bantering and the quick come backs are hilarious!!🤣

Not my favorite

I listened to this audiobook, but I have to be honest- I could not make myself like the heroine. She was so self centered and such a user that I just wanted to smack her! I can't believe that someone would think this person is 'normal'. Finished it, but won't want to listen to it again as it was kind of disappointing.

Frustrating

I found Mac just frustrating and annoying. I know she was damaged from her past but i just found her beyond frustrating and honestly, Daniel deserves better.

Swearing overload

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No idea.

What was most disappointing about BJ Harvey’s story?

The woman had a really vulgar mouth. But it was the swearing (especially God damn it and Holy this and Holy that) that really offended me. That did not add anything to the story. I had no connection to the heroine.

What about Lucy Rivers and Christian Fox ’s performance did you like?

Pleasant voices.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. I like romance novels, but this one had no redeeming factor. The story was weak to begin with.

Any additional comments?

Can you imagine this foul mouthed person raising a child? Me neither.

I’m no prude but not for me

I’m no prude but this story is like being stuck in the mind of a horny immature teenage boys brain.