July 29, 2011Small towns scare me!
http://www.jennycrusie.com/
I grew up in a small town and I still have nightmares! Jennifer Crusie seems to have her thumb on the pulse of small towns everywhere. And yes, I read another contemporary - it's a secret mission. And Tracy, I have to agree with you, I liked Welcome to Temptation - a lot - although I thought Bet Me was funnier.
What we have here is a story of Sophia, who comes from a family of grifters. She arrives at the small town of Temptation where she meets the town mayor, Phin Tucker. Ah, Phin Tucker, one of the most laid back guys I've ever run into. He is not ambitious; in fact he uses campaign posters from his forebears each time he runs for election. Of course, he is not so laid back when Sophia crosses his path. In fact, I think it would be fair to say that the sparks just fly off the pages of this book. I had to wear oven mitts just to turn the pages. Talk about combustive, sizzling hot sex! All over the place! And, for all you germaphobes, watch where you step, eat and drink. Now, while I don't mind lots and lots of sex in books, I also like to watch the couple fall in love. If there was a weak point to this story it would be the l-u-v part. Where was it?
Jennifer Crusie seems to excel in creating strong secondary characters in her books, or at least she did in the two I read. Welcome to Temptation is jammed-backed with interesting powerful characters. And not only that, but we have a little mayhem, some mystery and a comical murder. Yes, Ms. Crusie has written a funny movable corpse, in my opinion something hard to do.
Now, since I've only read two of Jennifer Crusie's books, I'm wondering if all the mothers in her books have escaped from the Mommie Dearest School of Parenting? Phin's mother has a little bit of Snow White/Cinderella step-mother going for her. She is totally unlikeable, and I really could not feel any kind of sympathy for her. In the real world, I don't believe this kind of family dynamics would exist in the same house.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I liked the dark humor and the murder-mystery keep me guessing till the end. If you haven't read this one, I'd say you should.
Time/Place: Current small town USA
Rating:
Sensuality Rating: Scorching!
1 comment:
Oh I'm so glad you loved it!
This was my first Crusie book and I think it's still my favorite.
I loved Phin and Sophia together. The sparks that flew off of that pair were awesome and they cracked me up.
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