Another enjoyable read from Bowen. Mayberry is new to me, but their styles meshed together seamlessly.

Temporary features hard-working Grace Kerrington, who’s unofficially taking care of her fifteen-year-old sister because their mom is a drug addict. She has a degree but has struggled to find a lucrative job. She’s temping and landed a gopher-type job at an Australia-based corporation called Walker Holdings. Just as the book opens, she’s given a weird assignment: catalog the belongings of the recently-deceased brother (Jack) of the company’s CEO. As soon as she’s in his condo, she’s in heaven because he was an art collector of sorts, and although she got a business degree out of necessity, art is her true passion.

However, the condo is also where she first meets Callan Walker, the son of the CEO. He’s also an internationally known philanderer with websites dedicated to admiring his body and money. He’s got self-confidence to match his bank balance. But he was really close to his uncle and only found out he’d died when he was hanging out on some yacht. He immediately returned to New York City and let himself into Jack’s condo.

So he’s sitting there when she comes in and she doesn’t expect anyone to be there and says a few things that make everything a tad awkward going forward. Or it would be if not for the steaming tension between them. Grace doesn’t even know who he is, but her sister does, which makes for some amusing conversations.

Callan got screwed over by his first real love and hasn’t gotten over it. And Grace is hoping her temp position will turn into a permanent one, so she knows not to risk it by getting involved with Callan. But it’s difficult since they’re basically working side-by-side in Jack’s condo—and that accent. It’s a struggle for her. What she doesn’t know is that Callan’s hiding the real reason he’s there—he’s looking for a more recent version of Jack’s will that he’s convinced exists. She also doesn’t know that getting involved with him could put her guardianship of her sister at risk and that Callan’s not quite the shallow playboy we think he is.

It takes them a little while to see that they’re the real deal, and there’s lots of fun to be had along the way. On the couch. In the closet. You get the idea.

This book has great emotional depth in addition to the amazing tension between Grace and Callan, which persists even after they first hook up. Dialogue is realistic and distinct among the characters. Grace regularly reminds us of Callan’s accent without it being intrusive or weird. Callan definitely grows in the book. Grace’s arc isn’t as strong to me, as most of the things that she reacts to are external, but she does have to learn to trust Callan. Still, I didn’t find the book lacking for this.

Check it out if you’re a fan of either author, or even if you just like well-written steamy reads, as the book delivers an excellent romantic journey.