Taste of Temptation
by Cheryl Holt

USA Today bestselling author Cheryl Holt presents the second sizzling story in a bold new trilogy in which passion — and a few drops from a magical elixir — leads to the sensual education of an innocent governess...

Helen Hamilton is a twenty-five-year old spinster, with no income and no prospects, who struggles to care for her two orphaned sisters. Destitute and only a heartbeat away from the streets, Helen applies for a position as a governess to the younger siblings of Captain Tristan Odell, the oldest and illegitimate son of the notorious philanderer, Earl of Hastings. But when Tristan turns Helen away, her future seems as desperate as her options.

Determined to do whatever it takes to support her sisters, Helen ends up at a brothel, where she agrees to sell herself as a mistress to a client of wealth and prestige. She even drinks a potion to make men desire her — and is shocked when the man who buys her is none other than Tristan. He too is shocked — and aroused by the possibilities. He hires Helen, but offers her more than a position as governess. Enmeshed in an affair of unrestrained desire, their passion quickly grows, as does an unexpected danger that could soon destroy them both...

Cheryl Holt's Bio

Cheryl Holt is a New York Times best-selling novelist. She is one of the women’s fiction stars at two esteemed New York publishing houses, St. Martins Press and Berkley Books.

She’s also a lawyer and mom, and at age 40, with two babies at home, she started a new career as a commercial fiction writer. She’d hoped to be a suspense novelist, but couldn’t sell any of her manuscripts, so she ended up taking a detour into romance, where she was stunned to discover that she has an incredible knack for writing some of the world’s greatest love stories.

Her books have been released to wide acclaim, and she has won or been nominated for many national awards. She is particularly proud to have been named "Best Storyteller of the Year," by the trade magazine, Romantic Times BOOK Reviews.

Her hot, sexy, dramatic stories of passion and illicit love have captivated fans around the world, and she’s celebrated as the Queen of Erotic Romance, which is currently the fastest selling subgenre of women’s fiction. Due to the ferociousness of some of her characters, she’s also known as the International Queen of Villains.

She received degrees in music, languages, and education, from South Dakota State University, and her juris doctorate was obtained at the University of Wyoming. Her colorful and chaotic employment history includes such variety as public school teacher, cook, bartender, lobbyist, and political activist. She also did brief stints in metro-Denver as a deputy district attorney and administrative law judge.

She currently lives and writes in Los Angeles, where her teenage son, Sean Holt is pursuing his dream of becoming a Hollywood movie star.