Shy student Penny Taylor always follows the rules. At least, that’s how it appears to her classmates. But she has one illicit secret – she’s fallen hard for her professor. And she’s pretty sure he’s fallen for her too.Everyone loves Professor Hunter. He’s tall, dark, and handsome. And completely unobtainable. But it’s the secrets hiding behind his deep brown eyes that allures Penny. Secrets … Secrets darker than she could ever imagine.
James Hunter gave up his billionaire lifestyle in NYC last year to become a professor. The easiest new rule to follow: don’t fraternize with the students. It’s easy to follow because he’s become quite the recluse in his new town – the only way he knows how to keep his secrets buried.
But he never expected to be teaching such a beautiful student. He has to resist her. He needs to walk away. Penny deserves better than a man with his demons. But she’s daring him to cross the line. And he’s never been one to resist temptation.
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BY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR IVY SMOAK
★★★★★ “Professor Hunter is a total heartthrob.”
★★★★★ “SCORCHING HOT!”
★★★★★ “Holy sexiness that teacher is yummy.”
★★★★★ “Full of scandal!”
★★★★★ “The best series I have read in a while.”
★★★★★ “If you like Fifty Shades of Grey then this is the book for you!”
★★★★★ “OMG this book was amazing!”
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Ivy is a talented writer. This series has 4 books (the last one due to come out this month) and I’m in love with them. James Hunter is a professor who falls for his student, Penny. There’s just enough drama, romance, sex and love to make this a perfect book. Highly recommend all her books.
Penny was wondering how summer could have turned out so terrible. First day of class and clumsy Penny gets coffee spilled on her. But a handsome guy gives her his sweater. There is a web which is beginning and when she goes to class. Oh my it’s her professor he was in coffee shop. They began something but from the beginning Penny held the truth back. Then she found James holding back. Will the live they say they have break like their trust.
I admit I did like it at first… I like the writing style. But I didn’t saw that coming! This book is Infuriating !!! I should’ve been warned
Read this one years back but still in the corners of my brain.
I mean – let’s start with a hot professor – totally my catnip.
Sizzling chemistry.
And a WHOLE SERIES of this yumminess! Yes – please & thank you!
So yeah, it’s a series. Cliffhangers abound, but thank you to Kindle Unlimited, I read all 7 books in 2 and a half days of the combined series. The only reason it took me so long to get into this book is due to that crazy thing called a job! But once i really dove in, I couldn’t put this down. When I realized how many parts were of this series, i got them all on my Kindle and spent all my free time reading them. Of the 4 books, this is my favorite. You learn the characters and you define who you root for. Once you’re in, you should go 100%. Thoroughly enjoyed. So much so after reading it a week ago I felt drawn to read it again. Great book!
This is the kind of book that you can’t stop thinking. OMG Professor Hunter and Penny Story is one of my favorite series of IVY SMOAK. In this Book you’re going to fall in love, cry over and over, get angry but You’ll going to LOVE them together so much. I don’t know how many times I read this series and every time I get the same emotions. I totally love James Hunter.
This Steamy Story Is Dripping In Angst & Will Have You Reaching For The Next Book In The Series! James & Penny’s Romance Opens As They Meet At The Start Of Her Sophomore Year Of College. As Penny Balances The Three Men In Her Life – Austin, Professor James Hunter, and Tyler – Things Become Very Complicated. This Story Ends In An Explosive Cliffhanger! Don’t Forget To Download The Free Bonus Scenes In Professor Hunter’s POV Via The Link At The Back Of The Book.
This is the first of four books in The Hunted series, which is James and Penny’s story. Their story continues in the three book The Light to my Darkness series. See James as a teenager in the four book Empire High series (Matt’s story), which gives the backstory for James and his friends, the Untouchables. There are other standalones that are spinoffs to these books, including City of Sin (Mason and Bee’s story), Third Chances (Rob and Daphne’s story), and Missing Pieces (Tyler and Hailey’s story).
Penny Taylor, nineteen, is beginning her sophomore year of college at the University of Delaware in Newark. As she returns to campus after an uneventful summer, she is anxious about seeing Austin again. She had been surprised that she hadn’t heard from him after spending spring semester together. He had been her first. Austin had an aversion to labels, so they weren’t formally boyfriend and girlfriend. He seemed more interested in a physical relationship than anything else, and she had unfortunately allowed him to use her. Their relationship hadn’t exactly been romantic, but she had expected more from him. As the fall semester commences and Austin begins his senior year, Penny has apparently been ghosted. In the midst of her bitter disappointment, though, a chance encounter with a handsome and polite stranger makes her forget her pain and humiliation. She hadn’t caught the man’s name, but wondered if he might be a graduate student.
An introvert, Penny is the type that prefers to sit in the back of the class and listen quietly. She is shy. Not one to procrastinate, she opts to get the dreaded Comm 212 – Oral Communication in Business – over with even though most marketing majors put it off until senior year. Public speaking is not something she looks forward to. When her handsome stranger walks into class on the first day and announces that he will be the professor this semester, she can hardly believe her good luck. She now knows his name – Professor Hunter – but having him as her professor is less than ideal. She intrinsically knows her attraction to him is taboo, but she cannot stop herself from seeking his attention. Comm 212 is certain to test her because she feels emboldened in Professor Hunter’s presence. She wants to push him, wants to see if he might be as attracted to her as she is to him. She has a stubborn streak, so forgetting about him and walking away doesn’t feel like an option to her. Still, there is very little opportunity to explore anything real with him when constrained to a few comments after class.
Penny is more inclined to stay in for the weekend than to find a party to attend. She tends to follow the rules and is rather straight laced. Her roommate Melissa, though, loves a good time and tries her best to pull Penny out of her comfort zone. She urges Penny to attend the Sigma Pi party that her Comm 212 classmate had invited her to. Tyler is friendly and seems sweet, and he lights up when Penny and Melissa arrive at the party. But Penny isn’t quite over Austin, and is too distracted by Professor Hunter to give much thought to anyone else. His interest doesn’t seem to wane with her rejection, and the pair develop a friendship. As Melissa begins to date Sigma Pi member Josh, she encourages the match. Tyler is handsome and charming – and isn’t lacking in female attention – but he seems quite content being Penny’s friend.
As Penny balances the three men in her life – Austin, Professor Hunter, and Tyler – things become very complicated. Her feelings for Professor Hunter, or James, must remain a secret if she has any hope of him returning them. His career could be on the line if word got out. But carrying on with the charade becomes challenging as the lies begin to build. And as she begins to suspect that James has secrets of his own, her feelings become more unstable. This story ends in an explosive cliffhanger.
Don’t forget to download the free bonus scenes in Professor Hunter’s POV via the link at the back of the book.
*Spoilers* Note that Penny’s behavior is rather uncharacteristic towards the end, and she soon finds herself in the middle of a drama that is spiraling out of control. Seven weeks into the semester, Penny is hardly recognizable. She is erratic. With her twentieth birthday just around the corner on October fifteenth, she has tested relationships and reacted emotionally. She has been dishonest with everyone, losing their trust in the process, and she suddenly finds herself feeling very alone. While reading you might be tempted to yell at her a little for some extreme reactions that are certain to be epic mistakes, but then again she is young, inexperienced, and hopefully learning from her mistakes.
This steamy story is dripping in angst and will have you reaching for the next book in the series! James and Penny’s romance opens as they meet at the beginning of her sophomore year of college. As Professor Hunter, James is taboo but that doesn’t deter Penny from pursuing him. He tries to do the right thing, but she doesn’t make it easy. As they get to know one another, his mysterious past terrifies her, and Penny has a feeling those secrets will destroy her. Their taboo professor-student relationship is wrong in many ways. They both know that, and yet they cannot deny their attraction to one another. This story is nicely written. The plot is somewhat complex. The characters are complex. The story is written in first person in Penny’s POV. I rate this book 4.5 stars.
Hands down I loved this book. Reading about James and Penny was so incredible. I couldn’t put the book down. So many twists and turns, right and wrong. I have read this series multiple times and never gets old! Thanks Ivy!!
Disappointed, let down, and stood up, again. After being ignored all summer Penny knew
reviewit was time to move on, so why was she still waiting in the coffee shop when she already knew he wasn’t going to show? Perhaps because fate had other things in mind. A chance encounter. He was tall, dark, handsome, and unfortunately the lecturer in her most despised class. She had always followed the rules, always. But there was something about Professor Hunter that made her want to be bad, made her want to make him notice her. He wants her, she wants him, it should be simple right? But he has his own secrets, demons still haunting him from the past that could destroy everything. It’s the best sex of her life, and the most confusing. She wants more, but she also needs to know him, to uncover the truth which seems to haunt his present.
Ivy Smoak’s Temptation is the first book in The Hunted series. I picked this up because I enjoyed the Made of Steel series so much I wanted to see what other majesty this author could weave and she does not disappoint. Steamy, sexy, forbidden, it is everything a reader wants from an adult romance. The sex is epic and leaves you yearning while Professor Hunter’s evident addiction to Penny will make your pulse quicken. With secrets, twists and turns, and a gripping narrative this is yet another book you’re not going to want to put down. Snuggle down for the night, have a cold glass of water to hand, and allow yourself to sink into heart-pounding, lust-filled, confusing, and contradictory romance. They both want what they know they shouldn’t, yet neither can look away, or at least not for long. That is, until the truth comes out.
Do you have that one series, that no matter what, you always come back to and you can read it over and over again, but it actually gets better the more you read it? The Hunted series is that for me. I don’t think I will ever get tired of Temptation – I find myself wanting to read it AGAIN, even with tons of other books on my tbr list lol!
James and Penny are FIRE. The tension between them is palpable, and when they finally let go, it’s like a finale Fourth of July fireworks show! I love every second of this book, the angst, the forbidden romance, the annoying evil people you wish you could stab in the eye with a fork (cough*isabella*cough) – all of it!! Brilliant. Ivy Smoak has never let me down, not even a little bit, in anything she has written!
Loved this book and the supporting chararters as well.
I randomly stumbled upon this book and it was this book that led me to the world of Ivy Smoak! I since have read everything Ivy Smoak has written to date! Ivy’s writing style is utterly captivating!! <3
This is the first book in a series (The Hunted Series followed by the Light to my Darkness series).
This is a forbidden love story that will keep you turning the pages (get comfy)! I could not put this book down; in fact, I read it twice, right in a row b/c I didn't realize it was part of a series when I started reading it and I was left waiting for the remaining books to arrive.
After an interesting start to her first day of classes, rule-follower, Penny, quickly becomes tempted by her dangerously handsome & brilliant...professor! He's also completely unobtainable...(or is he?)!
This steamy and captivating first book in its series will have you laughing, crying, falling in love and will also leave you wanting more (thank goodness there is)!!!! <3
I really liked this debut by Ivy Smoak. I was a little thrown by one of the scenes – if you’ve read it, you’ll know which one I mean! – but once I figured it out I totally got it. It’s a super raunchy book with very likeable characters.
Book 2 was just as wild a ride as book 1 and yes, I read it eagerly in a couple of days. Penny and James’ drama continues with the ups and downs of their tumultuous relationship. Their secret blows up, Isabella gets nasty, and all kinds of consequences come raining down on them. Next up is their move to New York and I can’t wait to find out what roadblocks await them.
As soon as I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down, and of course, I had to buy the next book in the series, and the next, and the next! Ivy Smoak will make you laugh, cry, fan yourself, and want to come back for more! Such a great series!
A wonderful series!
And so it begins. With every word you’re drawn in
I kept waiting for the lust train to derail, and it did in such a way to set up for the next book in the series. Ivy said in her author’s note that she and Penny’s story are remarkably similar. Well, that makes all 3 of us a triad (Penny, Ivy, and me) of hopelessly, naive romantics at the time of our first and only loves. Because my story also had a train wreck moment, so I’m qualified to comment.
Ms. Smoak used the theme of authority effectively in the story, as Penny and Professor James Hunter have an almost creepy, but maybe unintended power exchange. Penny is a shy, unsure 19 year old, who keeps her age a secret. She’s not trying to be manipulative. She just doesn’t know how to approach correcting a misconception after the perfect time to say has already passed. She has no clue, other than through sex, about how to relate to a guy who is 8 years older than she. Trust me, that was a sticky-wick for me too. You’ll also see how wishy-washy Penny is, and how she swings around in her feelings. It could be quite annoying if you didn’t realize that’s completely normal behaviour for a 19 year old girl. My guy found it perturbing.
So on one hand there’s a naive girl, and on the other a self-possessed 27 year old professor, who is independently wealthy. The scales of authority are heavily weighted in his direction. Besides the fact that he is a dominate, assertive Type A person, he won’t talk about his past. There’s always the undercurrent of suspicion surrounding his failure to readily communicate. He only answers in short, clipped replies. Now, that could merely be normal man-speak, or it could be an indication that he has something to hide. I’ll have to wait to see if that plays out in the subsequent novels.
However, the most disturbing aspect of the power exchange is that Ivy intentionally had Penny call James Professor Hunter throughout the story, regardless of the setting. It reminded me of Jane Austin’s books when a matron kept calling her husband by his surname, instead of using his first name. It’s weird when Penny cries out, “F**k me, Professor Hunter!” Um, that’s not supposed to happen. That alone gave the story a creepy, stalker, dark vibe similar to all the current news stories about men in power using their positions to manipulate women for sex, just cause they can. And the book covers of #2 and #3 make James appear to be a creep, too.
I’m not sure if Ivy intended to write James this way, or if it was just an accident, but there are definitely some rip tides lurking below the surface of this story. I am in anticipation to see if she’s a brilliant author, who wrote more depth into this story than most readers recognized; or if what I read into is only a misconception of my perception.
I asked for a refund after a few chapters. Poorly written and needed major editing.
Not to mention the immature heroine.
So this book was a great student/teacher romance! Penny and Prof Hunter chemistry was off the charts!
This book has taboo written all over it. There was a little bit of angst because I was waiting for these two to get caught. James just could not stay away from Penny. You can literally feel the strings snapping the moment he let go. Penny is shy, but with James you really see her character transform and flourish!!
I am hooked and am ready for the rest of this series!!!