* * * 1/2
On the surface, Lila Summers is flawless: good looks,
expensive clothes, and a big, beautiful smile. But a dark past and even darker
secrets are threatening to bubble over her perfect façade. She'll do anything
to keep the emptiness inside hidden-which leads her into situations that always
end badly. Whenever she hits bottom, there's only one person who's there to
pull her out: Ethan Gregory.
Ethan set the rules a long time ago: he and Lila are just
friends. He doesn't do relationships. Although his tattooed, bad boy exterior
is a far cry from Lila's pretty princess image, Ethan can't deny they have a
deeper connection than he's used to. If he's not careful, he could be in
serious danger of becoming attached-and he's learned the hard way that
attachment only leads to heartbreak.
When Lila falls farther than she ever has before, can Ethan
continue to help as a friend? Or is he also getting close to falling . . . for
her?
My first thought as I read Temptation was that I had no idea
how screwed up Lila was. There was no real indication of this in either of the
Secret books. We knew she had a strained relationship with her family but what
is revealed here is horrifying. Mommie
and Daddy Dearest are not warm and fuzzy people, not to Lila, and not to each
other. They are the ultimate dysfunctional family. Ethan is faring no better
with his own problems. His abrasive
manner and womanizing mask his guilt from a previous relationship that he can’t
let go of.
Lila repeats her cycle of abusing pills, sleeping around
and calling Ethan to bail her out of trouble. For two people who try so hard to
avoid close attachments, they have become somewhat co-dependent on one other.
They don’t like to admit out loud how much they want each other because it
would confuse their already bizarre friendship. Besides, they’re too screwed up
to know exactly what they want.
When Ethan recognizes that Lila is headed down a bad and dangerous path,
he has her move in with him so she can get well and he can keep an eye on her. It’s surprising behavior coming from someone
who is normally so abrasive and elusive. But he can’t stand by and watch Lila destroy herself. He helps her come off her pills and teaches her how to become
more independent. As their friendship
line gets blurry, he also has to look to his past and make peace with it. That’s
it. No more running away from what needs to get done for these two.
Of all Sorensen's books so far featuring troubled teens, Temptation was harder to get through because of how heavy it is. Aside from featuring the worst kind of parenting imaginable – so not my favorite - Lila's self-destructive behavior is hard to endure and Ethan's guilt over his past has held him back for so long. Still,
things do manage to turn around after a lot of painstaking steps forward and back. That's one reason I always return to Jessica Sorensen – she always manages to give her characters hope.
~ Bel
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