Tempted at Every Turn (Ladies Amateur Sleuth Society, #3) by Robyn DeHart

Tempted at Every Turn (Ladies Amateur Sleuth Society, #3) Reviews

• 
  Kelly

  Full review (and charming cat video) available at
  Reading with Analysis
  
  I did not like this book, and I've summed up all my dislike into three reasons, two of which pretty much relate to poor characterization and one to some odd, latent misogyny.
  
  1. ”Intelligent” characters did not behave intelligently.
  
  Both the male and female leads in this one are set up as intelligent characters. Willow is described as being very clever and excellent at solving puzzles and mysteries. She is a member of the Ladies Amateur Sleuth Society (although the four members pretty much just gather to talk about boys, because that’s what women do when we get together, right?), and all of the expositional indications of her character focus on her intelligence, so you assume that she will act with intelligence throughout the book. James, meanwhile, is set up as an intelligent man and a stellar Investigator with Scotland Yard, so you assume, going into it, that he will act intelligently and that he will be good at his job (you know, as a stellar investigator). While it should be safe to assume that supposedly intelligent characters will use their noggins when making decisions, that’s not what happens in this book. Willow’s decisions have no logical basis at all (frankly, I can’t even figure them out from an emotional perspective), and I can’t think of a single instance of her intelligence in action throughout the book (even the two “Willow is so smart” snippets I highlight below (item # 3) aren’t examples of Willow actually being intelligent…). James approaches investigating the same way a person would if his entire occupational experience of investigation consisted of his having watched a few episodes of Columbo or Murder, She Wrote when he was a kid. So what was the point of describing them as intelligent people?
  
  2. Characters’ decisions (and characters’ character traits) did not make sense
  
  This one is sort of an elaboration on the first point. In general, the characters in this book did not make sense. Willow’s mom suffers from some sort of mental illness, so Willow decided, when she was about eighteen or nineteen years old, that she would never marry because it was her duty to take care of her mother. To that end, she discouraged all male attention and made it to age 29 without a single suitor. Then, she meets James, and it all kind of goes to hell. She still doesn’t want to marry, but her reasoning doesn’t really make sense in light of other, much more obvious reasons to avoid marrying. I mean, if your mom is all kinds of crazy, it makes sense to avoid marrying because you are afraid of passing mental illness on to your children. With that reason–perfectly logical–just hanging out there like an unacknowledged elephant in the room, it seems really bizarre that Willow is so hooked, so focused on the idea that she can’t marry because it would be impossible for her to care for both her mother and her family. If she’s so damn intelligent, why doesn’t it occur to her (until a man points it out) that a lot of folks end up caring for both their families and their ailing parents, and they manage to make it work just fine. Her decision just doesn’t make sense.
  
  James has spent his entire life bucking convention, and we’re given a reason for it, but it doesn’t really make sense. So his uncle got away with a crime because he was a peer (of the realm)… and that unfairness prompts James to turn his back on society and all of its stupid rules… OK, what does his uncle’s crime have to do with etiquette and polite behavior? And is James’ haircut (or lack thereof) seriously connected to his uncle’s perfidy? Really, like that’s his big character motivation?! And–-I love it–-he can’t even consider marrying Willow (until after they bump fuzzies) because she’s someone his mom would like, and his most compelling character trait is that he never does anything that would make his mom happy. Isn’t that romantic? I’ve always dreamed of marrying a man who still acts like a 13-year-old.
  
  3. She’s a clever girl, which means she’s almost as smart as a man of average intelligence
  
  I could have ignored the other things that irritated me about this book, but this one just pissed me off. Willow only really demonstrates her cleverness twice in the book (the rest of the time the author just tells you that she’s clever rather than showing you), and on both occasions, the author points out that the proof of Willow's intelligence lies in her having figured out something that James already figured out. When I figure something out right away and it takes someone else a few minutes, hours, or days to catch up, I don't usually assume that the other person is intelligent just for having finally joined me on planet comprende. In fact, I usually assume that the other person is a bit dim for taking so long to get there. But in this book, James figures things out days before Willow does, and when she finally susses it out, he's like, "OMG, U R so smart!" WTF?! What does that mean? It means that Willow, clever girl that she is, is almost as smart as James, and we are encouraged to believe that that is very smart, for a girl.
  
  
• 
  Diane Peterson

  Another very nice book from Robyn DeHart. Her style is light and fun, no heavy drama here, but it is enjoyable to read. Rather like eating a chocolate truffle. It is a shame that she has not yet been able to finish this series. I hope she can write Charlotte's story in the future.
• 
  Sandra Walker

  This was a goody, I loved trying to figure out who did it! Though it does not say who the Jack of hearts is, I think I know exactly who he is!
• 
  Jill B.

  Average writing. James being Inspector should be more complicated in society but the author never touched on it. Good enough to pass the time.
  
• 
  Wendy

  Very romantic and adventurous. Love the stories from this Author.
• 
  NatalyaVqs

  Mixed feelings about this one - language-wise it flows well, with good historical detail and original characters - but found plot lacking. It makes you expect more of a plot than it delivers, so all the detective stuff becomes silly. The hero is also a chauvinist with frankly insulting attitudes that she takes in stride, while herself somewhat of a hypocrite given all the good intentions that come to nothing, they both seem to think in circles about the same stuff, while its blatantly obvious something else entirely is happening, too frustrating for entirely too long! I found her rejection speech of his marriage proposal rather cute, she finally gets a backbone and lets it all out.
• 
  April Hollingworth

  Fabulous, entertaining and completely wonderful.
  What would you do to prove your family's innocence?
  Upon meeting Detective James Sterling, Willow can't help but inform him that she is the one sending him letters about how he is doing his detecting wrong by breaking the rules!
  So a wager is born, on his next case he and Willow will go head to head on trying to solve the case, granted James hadn't believed that Willow would actually agree to such a wager and then for a murder to happen the very next day and a member of her family to be the main suspect, well the bet is on!
  
  
• 
  Wendy

  This is a great book by this author. I have a couple of her books on my own shelf TBR. Looking forward to that. I closed this book with a smile - always a good indication that I enjoyed the book. Also it kept me engrossed so that I read it in one sitting.
• 
  Gemma

  I didn't like the hero. When he first meets the heroine, he thinks that she must be mentally unbalanced because she is unaffected by his charm. Seriously, buddy? You're that arrogant? The only reason a woman doesn't swoon over you is because she's insane?
• 
  Maggie Hesseling

  I was really disappointed in this novel. There was hardly a plot. The characters were fun, but it just didn't hold the story up for me. I usually love DeHart's novels. And hope the next one I come across will once again make me smile with delight.
• 
  Kathy

  Very good premise, but oh so many typos! Maybe it was the version I received, but it was frustrating reading through the spelling errors. If the story wasn’t so interesting I may have thrown in the towel.
• 
  ChloeLeeNH

  3rd in the series and a great one. I loved that there was the opposites attracted theme. I hope to see the Charlotte story soon but heard she might not complete it. :(
• 
  Gena

  Fast read. Plot to easy.
• 
  Linda

  Quite good. Was undecided at 1st but 1/3 thru it started getting better. Slightly above average & I'm keeping an eye out for this author.
• 
  Mary Vilarino

  
  
  A charming read but that is all I can say. It certainly looked promising but it did not deliver.
• 
  Angela

  9/10/2012: $0.99 on Kindle