Welcome to Temptation

February 28, 2000
Crusie's saucy feminist romp stars a heroine who captures her man's heart, and then goes after his job, meanwhile enjoying "headbanging sex," filming soft porn and acquiring both a house and a dog named Lassie. A car crash welcomes Sophia Dempsey to Temptation, Ohio, as she arrives from Cincinnati to help her hot-tempered, smart-mouthed sister, Amy, film a video with a washed-up local actress. Sophie's misgivings about small-town Temptation increase when she sees the town's rusted welcome sign: "We Believe in Family Values." Yet unconventional Sophie soon ditches her boyfriend (who is also her ex-therapist) and falls for Phineas Tucker, Temptation's macho mayor, scion of the town's premier political family and single father. News of the Dempsey sisters' film prompts the prudish town council to institute an antiporn ordinance, which Phin is obligated to uphold while he inspires Sophie's experiments with sexy camerawork. Crusie adroitly mixes the outrageous and the practical, modern feminism and old-fashioned romance, and adds a liberal dose of razor-sharp humor. Sophie's effort to enact the mayor's favorite sexual fantasy is thwarted by interruptions by various townspeople confessing to murder, while, in one hilarious highlight, Sophie's costume for the evening falls victim to the laws of gravity. Minor characters offer more humor and romance: the police chief and the ex-juvenile delinquent, Sophie's scheming brother and his ex-wife, the porn king and the town debutante, Phin's daughter and his mother. Like a stand-up comic, Crusie (Crazy for You) charms with her brisk, edgy style, and the repartee between Sophie and Phin keeps energy and sexual tension high. A romantic comedy that adds luster to the genre, this effervescent tale will please readers who can relate to Sophie's undaunted exploration of all her desires. Agent, Meg Ruley. Author tour.

November 15, 1999
From a best-selling romance writer: the tale of Sophie, who's in Temptation, OH, to help her sister, and Mayor Phin Tucker, who just wants to keep the town quiet. Instead, he gets adultery, blackmail, murder, and a new lady love, of course.

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2000
Sophie Dempsey is the straightest arrow in her family of con artists and former juvenile offenders. She has taken care of her family her entire life, even raising her sister Amy and her brother Davy when their father lost interest in them. Now she runs a wedding-video business with Amy in Cincinnati; dates a dull, sexless therapist; and is eternally searching for comfort. When Sophie and Amy are invited by their old friend Clea, an aspiring actress and former porn star, to make a video showcasing her talents to use for her great comeback, Sophie is less than enthusiastic. But she soon finds herself in Clea's hometown of Temptation, Ohio, where the locals are immediately suspicious of them and their project. The plan is to shoot the video in a few days, but things keep getting in the way, like the town's sexy mayor, small-town politics, the parade of Clea's admirers, and a murder. Funny and inventive, this is sure to please Crusie's enthusiastic fans and attract new converts. ((Reviewed February 1, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)