Review: Welcome to Temptation

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There are some things in life that are guaranteed. The end of the semester is always a good day. (yay!) Taxes will always irritate a large portion of the population. Detroit will always have attitude (if nothing else). And I will always enjoy a Jennifer Crusie novel.

I listened to this title as an audiobook and enjoyed it immensely. It was my companion as I drove to and from the D for the last two weeks of classes, and I don't think I've ever blushed so much while driving. :-)

This is the story of Sophie Dempsey and her little sister Amy. The two sisters have come to Temptation, Ohio, to film an audition clip for their acquaintance Clea. The sisters normally film weddings, but Amy is ambitious and sees this as her opportunity to break into something better as they help Cleo restart her film career. Neither of them realize that Clea had done porn before her marriage and this audition tape is an attempt to reopen that part of her life. Their very arrival in town creates problems. As Amy films the drive into the city, Sophie gets into an accident with Stephen and Virginia Garvey--two upstanding members of the town council.

Phin Tucker is the local mayor, and he's caught in a reelection fight against that same Stephen Garvey. Phin's family has held the office for years, and he doesn't want it all that much. But he doesn't want Garvey to have it either, and when Garvey tries to use the "film people" as a wedge issue in the election, Phin realizes that he has to know what's happening at Clea's farm.

Sophie has spent her youth traveling all throughout the country; she comes from a family of confidence men (& women), and she's innately suspicious of "town boys." With is fourth generation mayoral office, Phin is the definition of a town boy. He, in turn, is wary of her. His father had warned him long ago about women he called the Devil's Candy, and Phin can recognize that Sophie is a danger to him and his way of life.

Their wariness is not enough to keep them apart, but their attraction may not be enough to keep them together, either. As the filming continues, and the election nears, the town will throw every obstacle possible in their way. They can only have a future together if they fight for it--but they're not used to fighting for themselves. Are they up to the challenge?

Oh, and who is the murderer terrorizing the town?

(OK, I admit it, that last line is not fair. But there is a murder, and it's important, and I don't want to tell you any more. So deal.)



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