Tempting
Grade : F

Tempting was my first Susan Johnson novel. I had heard differing opinions on her work, and I admit I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Well, you know what they say about curiosity - it killed the cat. At least the cat didn't have to read Tempting. Lucky cat.

The plot, and I use the term loosely, centers around Princess Christina Grey and the Marquis of Vale, Max. Princess Christina is trapped in a loveless marriage to the German prince Hans, who is a philanderer and doesn't really care how his wife feels about it. She feels pretty bad but she's resigned to her lot in life, and she has two sons whom she loves dearly. Her best friend Lulu tries to convince her she should take a lover, but Christina is not interested - at least not until she meets Max at a friend's country house party. The first time Max and Christina see each other is when Christina inadvertently walks into the wrong room and catches Max in the act with her best friend, Lulu. This was my first major turn off, followed shortly by my second major turn-off, which occurs when Lulu tells Christina she'd willingly let her have Max. Can I just say ick?

Christina is seated next to Max at dinner and begins to think he is very kind. She also begins to have some very heated thoughts about him. After a fight with the nasty Hans, she decides she would like Max to make love to her. Fortuitously, the two are going riding the next morning. There is some back and forth, some "should we, shouldn't we?," before they decide in the affirmative, for many pages. Then they do it some more, for many more pages. They eventually go off to his home where they do it some more, for about two weeks. Max and Christina apparently love each other by this time, although since most of their talk is of a sexual nature, how they actually got to know each other completely escapes me. By this time, all that fornicating did me in - I like a good love scene as much as the next person, but the sex here is utterly gratuitous and does nothing to further the plot.

Christina returns to Hans because of her sons. Her husband is an evil man who feels free to fool around but it is completely unacceptable to him that Christina do the same. Hans then endangers Christina in some nefarious plotting. Will Max save her? And more importantly, will the two have more sex?

The answer is obvious - this is a Susan Johnson novel, after all. Having never read her in the past, it's hard for me to know whether or not all her lead characters are like Christina and Max, and while they were not wholly unlikable, they were incredibly annoying. Although Christina's husband is a bad and evil man, she is married, and his behavior doesn't make her unfaithfulness any less unfaithful. And, Christina's transformation from repressed Victorian wife to sex-pot seems more than a little unbelievable. After one bout of sex with Max and her first orgasm, she's spouting sex talk like the demimonde.

The language is also a potential hurdle. I do not mind the F-word; I use it myself. But I do mind the C-word and it is used far too liberally here. Even the F-word loses its punch because it's used so often. And I think that is the thing with the sex in the book for me as well - it is so gratuitous and frequent that loses its punch and its meaning. I read romances because I really like reading about people falling love, and part of that can include sex. In this book, it meant nothing to me because it was overdone. I didn't care about these two people because everything else in the book completely put me off. I approached the book both as a romance and as erotica, which I also happen to read. The book failed for me on both planes; it was neither romantic nor erotic.

Fans of Johnson already know what to expect and if they like all her books, they'll most assuredly like Tempting more than I. This is not a book for the faint of heart or those who do not like strong sex or language. As for me, I cannot recommend this book at all, and I can certainly think of better ways to spend the $15 pricetag.

Reviewed by Lori-Anne Cohen
Grade : F

Sensuality: Burning

Review Date : March 12, 2001

Publication Date: 2002

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Lori-Anne Cohen

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