Welcome to Temptation

Welcome to Temptation was lent to me by a friend who was looking for something along the lines of the Stephanie Plum series in terms of humor and engaging characters. We think we found it and then some. WtT is one of the best romance novels I've read in a long time. My favorite thing about this book is the main characters have friends and families who actually appear in the book regularly. These are not orphans who have "raised themselves" or friendless weirdos, and their best friends aren't on extended vacations during the novel. Crusie's characters are engaging. They banter among themselves and for a prolific reader of romances, such a welcome change of pace, that the interaction with supporting characters would be sufficient to keep me happy. Even more, no one seems to be able to keep a secret from their nearest and dearest, so one of romance's stupidest plot devices of secrets-leading-to-misunderstanding is firmly prevented.But wait, there's more! There are subplots, alternate romances, mystery, hilarity, and hot sex. Wow! The sex scenes are frequent, varied, and some are kinky, but not over the top weird. The murder plotline is hysterical. The porn producer is likeable. The perpetual Mayoral campaign is genius. In summary, I think Welcome to Tempation by Jennifer Crusie is the best of her books (of the 5 I've read), and in fact one of the best of the genre. Buy it. I also have high hopes for "Faking It"...I'm hoping it's more of the same.

I read this book yesterday(Thurs, 12th April 2001), after having an unbelievably bad week and thinking I could do with a little romance in my life. Jennifer Crusie brought it to me with a few hundred pages and a huge number of giggles. Immediately my life was brighter and things began to look shiny again.The tale of Sophie and Phin is fast and interesting, and beyond the inevitable conclusion of boy gets girl (or girl gets boy) it wasn't at all predictable. I enjoyed it immensely, they weren't stereotypical, they weren't one dimensional and they weren't boring. I loved them. In fact I already want to read the book again and am pretty much prepared to do so. It isn't amazingly deep and it doesn't make any unfathomable statements it's just a spectacularly good read and as long as that's all you're looking for then go for it.Anything that can turn your week around and put it back on the happy highway of life has to be good. Welcome to Temptation takes us into a world where the sex is great, the movie quotes keep on coming and the characters are all more than huggable. I don't think I can stress how much I'd like to thank Jennifer Crusie for making this book as good as it was meant to be. For now I think I'll settle for reading it again.

Poor Sophie Dempsey. She's the responsible sister who's always pulling her siblings' chestnuts out of the fire and never getting to have a good time - until the Dempsey sisters pull into Temptation, Ohio, and announce their presence in a fender bender with the conservative Pillar of the Community, Stephen Garvey, and his lovely wife Virginia. A cast of characters unfolds in the wake of broken sunglasses and an increasingly pornographic video, with speed and whacked-ness that would make Hunter Thompson proud. A murder mystery wrapped up in an unfolding but slightly cracked love story set in a Peyton-place village in middle America, where people aren't what they seem, water towers imitate phallic lipsticks, and if you don't lock your kitchen door, your neighbor may just walk in and find you having head banging sex on the table...you'll feel like you're hurtling through this story only half in control of your convertible! Watch Sophie's sister, Amy, push the edge of the envelope of her irresponsibility until it tears...see Phineas awaken from the mind numbing task of being a small town mayor trying to get the town council to make important decisions like what kind of street lights to install...thrill as Sophie, the professional caretaker, loses all her sexual inhibitions...and don't miss the fading porn queen who can still seduce little boys, her long-ago flame and his Coppertone-blonde-gone-crocodile-wrinkled wife, the thoughtful, but sexy police chief, the small-town girl who wants out, the neurotic porn producer who discovers a little late that he has standards after all, the middle-aged liberal war protester, the Dempsey brother with the heart of a Robin Hood and the mind of an ex-con, and the local matriarch (who else? Phin's mother) who reminds us all that you can't buy or sleep your way into privilege. Oh, I forgot - don't miss the lacquered news anchorman who, like everybody else in this little gem, gets exactly what's coming to him...I recommend this book, but fasten your seatbelt. You'd think a story set in a little town in Ohio would be slower, but, no, it's like petting a kitten and finding out that it's a tiger! I'll be reading her other stuff, because I liked what I found here. By the way, whoever designed the cover is a genius. Perfectly wrought symbolism.

A water tower that resembles a sex organ, former con artists shooting a documentary that turns into a soft porn movie, hot sex, and murder--what more could you cram into a novel? Try a terrific, sexy hero, a strong heroine, a wonderful secondary cast of characters that we've all met at some point in our lives, and a quaint little town. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie packs it all into its 341 pages. Not only is this a sharp looking book, it lives up to its appearance. Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. This is a delightful romp that captivates you from beginning until the end. If you're looking for pure entertainment--read this book. One word of caution for those who want a rating system on books, it's steamy not only for the sex but the language. Frankly, Temptation wouldn't have been Temptation without both.

Siblings Sophie and Amy Dempsey travel to Temptation, Ohio to film a video starring a has-been actress whom wants to return to her Hollywood glory days. Though the extended family DNA must include a gene for thievery and scams, in the case of Sophie it must have skipped a generation, as she is the most law-abiding person there is. Sophie has a premonition that Temptation will prove to be trouble. The town mayor Phin Tucker verifies her omen.He makes her feel things that she's never felt before. In spite of his brain's better judgment, he falls into lust with the town's visitor. The pair begins a passionate affair that earn them the contempt and disapproval of the local residents. However, things become ugly when their ecstasy turns into a much deeper relationship that forces one of the town's blue blooded residents to personally take action to break them apart. That could include killing Sophie.One thing about a Jennifer Crusie novel is that the book is filled with subtle and not so subtle types of humor. For instance, if the charming lead couple marries, her name becomes ... This offbeat jocularity found throughout the tale provides a counterpoint to the serious story line. The delightful but eccentric secondary cast amplifies the plot with their oddities that show why Ms. Crusie is considered a master of characterization. WELCOME TO TEMPTATION is filled with twists and turns that will give much pleasure to an adoring audience that will demand sequel after sequel from one of the better modern day authors of the new millenium.Harriet Klausner