Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie (audio)

Book Description:
Turn left at small town secrets...

Sophie Dempsey is content living a quiet life filming wedding videos until an assignment brings her to Temptation, Ohio. From the moment she drive into town, she gets a bad feeling; Sophie is from the wrong side of the tracks and everything in Temptation is a little too right. And when she has a run-in with the town's unnervingly sexy mayor, Phineas Tucker, making a little movie turns out to be more than a little dangerous.

Yield to oncoming desire...

All Sophie wants to do is film the video and head home. All Phin wants to do is play pool with the police chief and keep things peaceful. They both get more than they bargained for when Sophie's video causes an uproar and the proper citizens of Temptation set out to shut them down.

Welcome to temptation...

As events spiral out of control, Sophie and Phin find themselves caught in a web of gossip, blackmail, adultery, murder, and really excellent sex. All hell breaks loose in Temptation as Sophie and Phin fall deeper and deeper in trouble...and in love.

This is one of the books that I've heard about over and over again, always talked up as being great, you've got to read it, blah, blah, blah. Well, I decided to listen to it on audio and tried listening to it two different times and both times I just couldn't get into it - or finish it. Finally, I gave it another shot recently, and the 3rd attempt was a charm. I can't say I was truly charmed by the book, but it wasn't bad. But I don't think it was all that good either. I don't see what all the fuss is about - I think partly, the narrator's voice was flat and just plain annoying. She made all the characters sound annoying too and frankly, I didn't really like anyone that much, though I did like the hero, Phin. I could just picture his town boy charm and good looks and crisp white shirts and khakis, but I couldn't understand what he saw in Sophie except for some kind of instant male lust he just couldn't get over.

I won't go into all the banal details of this book, since I just can't really bear to, except for a few observations:

- Poor Sophie, if she's going to marry Phin at the end, her name will be - Sophie Tucker! She thinks it sounds like "power" and political - isn't there some old singer name Sophie Tucker? "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas?" That's all I could think of!

- Liz Tucker, Phin's mother - a dead ringer for Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate as Crusie has Sophie observe (she's always comparing life to movies and movie scenes which I found kind of annoying).

- How can Phin rationalize and forgive Sophie so easily for using their lovemaking dialogue in her porno movie and writing it all down? So implausible, and I thought Phin's mother actually taking her ring off her finger to give to him as an engagement ring for Sophie was unlikely as well. What made her accept Sophie all of a sudden? And the ring is supposed to be the total extent of the Tucker wealth? What about the other big ring that Liz Tucker wears on her other hand that Sophie noticed the first time they met? What's that supposed to be worth? Not that I'm being nit picky, but the Tucker's are not supposed to have tons of money, just political clout - so what's with the jewelry?

- The whole Leo middle aged 40-something porn king marrying 20 year old Rachel Garvey - eww gross. Are we expected to believe they're going to live happily ever after in La-la Land? And we're supposed to be happy for Rachel? Certain divorce, she'll get a good settlement, I'm sure.

- I did kind of like Davy and am interested to know the sequel is about him, but I think if I read it - big if - I'll read it, rather than listen to it.

- Phin's proposal - what a let down! Geez, I really wanted him to be more romantic, I thought Sophie deserved better, it was like pulling teeth to get him to say "I love you" to her!

So, the book was okay, but the plot was just so convoluted with the making of a vanilla porn film, a murder (I'm still not even sure, just who really murdered Zane in the first place!) and then the whole wrap up, Rachel running off with Leo to LA, and then hearing Wes had gone off to LA with Amy! Oh and of course it's okay if Davy coerces Clea into giving him the deed to her farm so his sister can live there for nothing! I can't believe this book is so popular! Granted, the sex isn't bad, but it really didn't make up for the rest of the plotline.

Is it me? Or do I just not like this sort of chick lit romance with so many things going on and sidelines and smart allecky people? I think the tone of the book has worn off on me - hence the snarky review.

Gimme an historical - fast!

3/4

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