Welcome to Tempation by Jennifer Crusie

Welcome to Temptation.Population 2,158. And falling...

Sophie came to Temptation, Ohio, to help her sister make a movie.Now she's making trouble for the town council, love with the mayor, and lemonade for a murderer.

The Story:
All Sophie Dempsey wants to do is help her sister make a video of a washed-up actress and get out of town before they get into trouble. The daughter of generations of con men, Sophie's trying to walk the straight and narrow, but it's, well, difficult.

All Mayor Phineas Tucker wants to do is run Temptation with as little fuss as possible and win his upcoming election without cutting into the time he needs for his real passion: playing pool. The son of generations of mayors, Phin's trying to be an upstanding citizen, but it's, well, boring.

It only takes one look before Sophie knows that Phin's the kind of boy her mother used to warn her about-- a fast-talking town boy-- and Phin knows she's the kind of woman his father told him to stay away from-- the devil's candy.And in no time at all, boredom is the least of their difficulties. Gossip, adultery, and blackmail; pornography, politics, and murder; vehicular abuse of a corpse and slightly perverse but really excellent sex: all hell is breaking loose in Temptation, Ohio, while Sophie and Phin fall deeper and deeper in trouble… and in love.

It's taken me almost six months to finally feel "in the mood" to read this book, but luckily two days ago I decided to dig it out of the box Dylan graciously sent to me (bless her generous heart) and pop it into my bag to take to work. I started reading it on my lunch break and I could not put it down. I was in my office reading and grinning and laughing and trying not to laugh so much or hard, (which obviously didn't work because within minutes my co-workers were in my room asking if the work load had finally driven me mad) and to no avail. Suffice to say I was in a huge rush to get home to continue reading.

And there the grinning and laughing continued. It's been a very long time since I've literally laughed out loud because of a book, but Welcome to Temptation definitely had me laughing hysterically, cheeks and tummy hurting and all. For those that have read it, the part I'm specifically talking about is where Phin and Wes are talking about all the "injuries" and possible causes of death for one particular person. Oh gosh, I laughed soooooooooo hard!

Phin Tucker was an amazing hero. Shockingly gorgeous, down to earth, cocky and quick with his comebacks. I absolutely loved the banter between him and Sophie. And gosh, did the boy know how to make me blush.

I really liked Sophie and felt myself rooting for her the whole time. Her sister Amy though, got on my nerves a little. As did a fair number of the people in town, including Phin's mother, Liz. Although, I did change my mind about her in the end when she finally stood up for Sophie. Hoo-ray!

All in all, WTT was a great read and just the thing to pry me out of my reading slump. And more importantly, it has me very, very eager to read all about Sophie's ex-con brother, Davy Dempsey in Faking It. I can't wait! *grin*

4.5/5