Rating: 
Summary: Wickedly Tempting
Review: Heroine: lush, voluptuous Temptation, Ohio, the tiny town that has it all: secrets, greed, blackmail, adultery, dirty politics, and a highly-phallic water tower. What better place for a filmmaker to shoot a documentary about a "porn star" returning to her roots? Wedding videographer Sophie Dempsey, the only straight-laced member of a family of felons, is determined to make a decent life for herself-- even if the sheer boredom kills her! Had she known the trials and tribulations which awaited her in Temptation, she might have fled the scene as soon as she arrived. Having once been emotionally scarred by a preppy "town boy", Sophie wants nothing to do with Temptation's Ivy League-type mayor, who insists on playing handyman around the farmhouse where they are filming. And the added headache of dealing with the actors' egos and her baby sister's antics is making Sophie absolutely crazy! Phineas T. Tucker, low-key politician who'd rather be playing pool, running his bookstore, and raising his daughter, is tired. Tired of living with his harridan of a mother. Tired of stepping into the breach between warring townsfolk. Tired of being tired. When Sophie Dempsey and her sister breeze into town to film an audition tape for Clea Whipple (a woman whose cleavage landed a much younger Phin in the emergency room for stitches in his chin), the mayor gets the feeling that the director is "devil's candy", bad trouble he should stay away from. But his best friend police chief Wes wants to put the moves on Amy Dempsey, Sophie's "ex-juvie" little sister, and the mayor finds himself tagging along on a double date just to keep big sister Sophie occupied and out of the way. What began as an altruistic gesture of friendship soon goes awry, and Phin finds he's drawn to this girl from the wrong side of the tracks-- and wants her bad. Bad enough to shirk his mayoral duties during election time. Bad enough to defy his "first-lady-of-the-town" mother's wishes. Bad enough to cover for Sophie when a dead body turns up and her name is on the short list of suspects! What worked for me: As always Ms. Crusie can be counted on to supply the reader with lots of romances to root for, witty one-liners, sizzling sex scenes (though they may not be lurid enough for romance readers who want the play-by-play), and an unusual cast of characters. This time around there's the nutty council of a dysfunctional town, washed-up thespians, a depressed porn king, and a seriously-dead corpse who knows the meaning of the phrase "overkill'. And, as always, there's the requisite ugly dog. Sophie had a strong sense of self and was, I thought, a very likeable gal. I loved the scene where she set Phin's frosty mother straight during their little chat together. And I adored how things turned out for her in the end! Size-wise, Sophie sounded like she was at the voluptuous end of average. What didn't work for me:
I read the sequel "Faking It" first, so my perception of "Welcome to Temptation" may be somewhat different than those of folks who read the two books in order. There were a lot of movie and music references in "Welcome to Temptation", but not quite so many as in "Faking It" where I thought it went overboard. It would have been nice if Sophie had broken things off with her boyfriend before getting involved with Phin. (Especially, I suppose, from the boyfriend's point-of-view.) I had to suspend my disbelief somewhat when it came to the murder investigation. And while it could be said that the killer was brought to some level of justice, it irked me that the police never became aware of what had truly taken place. As a side note: I can deal with a twenty year old girl getting involved with a rake in a Regency better than I can a twenty year old girl in a contemporary getting together with a porn king. Don't ask me why; I have no answer for this. Overall: Wickedly tempting with its moments of comic brilliance, sizzling sex, and (though it starts late in the game) an interesting mystery, "Welcome to Temptation" makes a great bubble bath book. Be sure to snag a copy of "Faking It" as well! Warning: There are some spicy love scenes and some coarse language in this story. If you liked "Welcome to Temptation", you might also enjoy "Faking It", "Fast Women", The "Stephanie Plum" mystery series, "Plum Girl", "Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs", "It Had to be You", "This Heart of Mine", or "Dear Cupid".
Rating: 
Summary: 5 Stars for Fun
Review: When I purchased this book, I had no idea it would have so much sex in it, and I felt like my literary tastes had accidently run me into the trashly land of Harlequin novels...but then I couldn't put the book down because I liked the heroine & hero too much! The sex scenes make sense thanks to Crusie's well-drawn, likable characters and their relationships. In the end I'd found that I'd had a really fun time with the quirky characters and the mysteries surrounding them. OK...so I'll buy another Jennifer Crusie book...and only feel a little silly doing so.
Rating: 
Summary: An OK read...
Review: Sophie Dempsey is a wedding videographer who has finally caught a break. She and her sister Amy are to film a has-been actress big come-back in that actress's hometown called Temptation. The mayor of Temptation is good looking enough to give straight laced Sophie heart palpitations. The mayor Phineas Ticker is not oblivious to Sophie's charms and decides to seduce her. Sophie knows that a rich boy like Phin can never be serious about the daughter of a con artist but a girl can still dream.. or can she. On top of this Sophie finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation and the victim of attempted murder. With the mayoral elections in the near future, can Phin afford to stay with such a notorious woman?
All in all this was a good read, however, I never felt anything for any of the characters and frankly trying to keep all the characters straight was a little difficult. This book has a cast of thousands and most of them, I felt, were under developed. For example, Sophie's sister Amy seems to play a prominent part in the story but as the book progresses she virtually dissappears. The rest of the supporting characters come across as card board cut-outs of quirky small town residents.Also, a murder takes place kinda late in the story and the investigation that ensued just seemed like an after thought, it really did not fit into the story correctly. Here they were in the middle of a seemingly terrible murder, the body has been moved (by Amy because the body was on the dock she wanted to film a scene on..Can anyone be that stupid?) and everyone is walking around like nothing is wrong. Even Sophie who seems to be the only character with a bit of sense starts acting like a moron at this point, covering up her sister's idiotic actions. It just did not seem realistic to me. So, I rate this book 3 stars because it has its moments, some funny and some a little romantic. However, to me a really good romance is one that leaves me smiling and sighing over it long after I turn the last page and this book simply did not do that for me. Recommended with reservations. :)
Rating:
Summary: Explicit, Funny, and Great!
Review: This was my first JC novel and I'll admit I was a little intimidated at first. Guess I didn't expect such explicit language or love scenes, although the water tower mentioned in the beginning should have been a huge clue.
Phin was great - handsome, funny, and very intelligent! At first he seemed preppy, but he was anything but in private. Sophie was a gem, but I didn't care much for her sister. She was extra baggage the story didn't need.
Phin's mother was classic! I love what the author did with her, and his daughter was wonderful. I especially liked the way Sophie didn't try to fake her way into the girl's life. It was a 'take me as I am' attitude.
The plot(s) was great! Not a dull moment anywhere and all the characters were very realistic, as if we've known these people in our own lives.
I could definitely read this one again and again. I hope all JC's books are this good. NOT an audio review.
Rating: 
Summary: Big let down !!!!
Review: Okay.For the most part,I like Jennifer Cruise's books.I appreciate her humor and that she is using situations that the reader can relate to. In general her books, though no brainer,are entertaining.
This book however is stupid. Sorry. I see the other reviews and know I will be the only one thinking this way. But that's okay. The characters are lame, the story is lame and the jokes are very lame. Her books are neat but the pattern repeats itself in all of them. With all her books I feel her afford goes into the research for fun or odd daily things that happen to the average person. She has those thoughts in her head and focuses so much on them that she never really pays attention to the story.Wondering if it is catchy, fun, exciting, does the reader have enough chance/lead to get into them.
This book was lame.I never thought it made sense what Jennifer was trying to say here. Sure I have laughed at times, but that is what she does well. But hello, there also needs to be story and it should be a good one. Almost each character got on my nerves after a short time.For pages she goes on and on with emotions, empty thoughts and moments and all the sudden bing bang bum there is a murder and everyone is somewhat involved and has a odd past and in the end the one person that hated the lead lady the most is there to save her. Hello, that shows me again,she spends most of her time on those odd funny moments and then she remembers she has to create a story and oh yeah, finish it too.This is not the first time I feel this way with her, but this is by far the book that I like the least. I like romance , suspence romance novels, especially those that have a good sense of humor in it. But come on, give the reader more credit and create some interesting stories and characters. I suggest for people who would like to try her books, read some of her earlier ones or one of the newer ones like Fast Women. Same idea but the stories are a bit stronger there.And just go with the float.
Rating:
Summary: I'm going down to Cowtown
Review: What am I looking for in a romance? Quite frankly, I'm looking for interesting characters, and I want to see them react with each other. I've read a decent amount of these books, and think I know what like, and what I don't like. I'm sick of plucky virgins, and I'm tired of emotionally repressed dukes, earls, and titans of industry. I want the characters to be noticeably different, not cut-outs from mythic templates. In this area, Jennifer Crusie never disappoints. In WELCOME TO TEMPTATION, we have Sophie Dempsey. She's been burned in love before, but that's the last thing on her mind while she tries to shepherd her sister's documentary project through its filming. The subject of the documentary, an aging starlet, wants her belated return to her tiny Ohio hometown filmed, along with any amorous reunions that would hopefully occur. The mayor of the town, single-father bookstore-owning Phineas Tucker, is the most recent in a long line of Phin Tuckers, and, for a guy who likes things to be routine, this video could end up changing everything. Phin, however, is not master of his domain. He doesn't have countless peons attending to his whim and putting his every plan into action. He's basically competent, basically decent, but the mayoral job isn't fun anymore. In fact, it really was never fun, but the alternative would be to watch some other fool really screw up the town. His friend Wes, though, is the police chief, which kind of makes up for the hassle. Likewise, Sophie is not some sort of media genius, the only person that could make the documentary fabulous, but she is good at managing her family, which is good, since they have a long history as con-artists. Sure, romance has its formula, but the point is to do something interesting within its framework. WELCOME TO TEMPTATION is witty, profane, sexy, relaxing, and thoughtful. It has the benefit of being a small-town satire, while dealing with family issues and personal history. Sure, it stumbles a bit when it also decides to be a murder mystery, and the Crusie formula dog is kind of a throwaway, but the overall good-feelings that this book projects are terrific. I have a strictly regimented to-be-read list, but this book was so good that I had to have another dose of the Dempsey family right away.
Rating:
Summary: A classic!!
Review: Although it took me a short while to get into it, it is a fantastic read. A classic!!
Rating:
Summary: Love This Book!
Review: This was my first Jennifer Crusie book and still one of my all time favorites. Ms. Crusie manages to write about compelling, imperfect and intriguing characters tangled up in extreme circumstances while maintaining her humor. I laughed out loud. One of the few romance novelists that can transcend the bad rap this genre often receives (sometime deservedly.)
Rating:
Summary: Amusing Escapism
Review: Welcome to Temptation is an amusing read, a fun piece of fluff with an engaging story. Two sisters come to a small town in Ohio to make a short movie and wind up finding love, sex and a murder mystery. The novel is humorous (not hilarious, though), but the characters are a little one-sided and predictable. Still this was enjoyable reading that I would recommend to anyone looking for a light read.
Rating:
Summary: Great characters, a bit confusing
Review: I loved the characters in this book; they are well-drawn and fun. The steamy sex scenes may not be to everyone's taste, but the people in the story are engaging. At the beginning, it was hard to sort out all the characters, but worth it. A very enjoyable read.
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