Review: Temptation – Kathryn Barrett

Posted 6 May, 2013 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review: Temptation – Kathryn BarrettTemptation by Kathryn Barrett
Published by Entangled Publishing on 18 February 2013
Genres: Adult, Chick-lit
Pages: 322
Source: Netgalley
Buy on Amazon
5 Stars

Laura Hayes is a beautiful Hollywood actress, who has felt a little lost for a while. When she is playing the role of Amish Hannah, she buys a house in the quaint city the film is being shot. She meets Jacob, an Amish carpenter, widower with a young son. Laura starts to feel quite at home, even if not all of the community is very happy to have an outsider living amongst them.

*I received a free ARC of Temptation from Entangled Publishing via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

Temptation is a beautiful story, about temptation, courage and love. Laura arrives in Pennsylvania to film her next movie, and little does she know how much temptation she will find in Amish country. When she first meets Jacob, she only wants to order a crib for her niece, and she notices how much he is a man – even if he is very different from all the men she has met before.

Jacob’s mother, Rachel, is not impressed by Laura and the rest of the film crew, she feels that they are disturbing the Amish community. She also does not want a beautiful outsider to catch her only son’s eye, especially because she has her eye on a new wife for him already. An Amish woman who knows the faith, and who will be a good mother for Daniel.

As the movie progresses, so does the friendship between Laura and Jacob. They both realize the other is quite different from what they first thought – and they both had misconceptions about how people from different communities than their own would act, feel and think. Jacob is tempted by Laura, and he finds excuses to go to her house, at first it’s to set up her new kitchen cabinets, then to help her with the garden. And Laura takes every chance she has to tempt him – to show him what they could have together – if only he wasn’t Amish. Of course, Jacob has a lot of internal struggles, he has been doubting his faith, especially since the death of his wife. And the community does not always act the way he thinks is right for people who are supposed to believe in God, and put themselves last.

The writing is beautiful, so many things touched my heart, I could feel Jacobs doubts, and I could understand Laura’s insecurities. Temptation is such an apt title, and not only because Jacob was tempted, Laura went through a metamorphoses as well. From letting other people steer her life, she took control herself, and she wanted to grab happiness with both hands. At the same time, she showed respect for Jacob’s faith, and she tried to understand his ways, his thoughts and what he wanted from life.

I think that any person who is religious will deal with doubts at one point in their lives – it is almost impossible to always feel content with what we have, and this was very well portrayed in Temptation. I loved that I never felt preached to, even as the portrayal of the Amish felt quite accurate. Of course, I don’t know if it is accurate, but I believed in what I was reading. I could relate to both Jacob and Laura – even if both their lives are very different from my own.

Apart from the religion and the movie, there was also a mystery – someone was leaving notes on Laura’s door to try to make her leave. And there were small pranks being played on the movie set. Trying to figure out whether a stalker was following Laura from before, or if it was someone from town was difficult – both because the community seemed to be so close-knitted, and because Laura didn’t really think she had any stalkers – even with an ex-husband who called her every now and then to try to get money from her.

If you are looking for quiet and haunting read, you should pick up Temptation! I loved the character development, the way Jacob and Laura were yearning for each other, even with all their differences.

This time, Jacob let the fear grab hold. He prayed, silently, to a God he knew very well would as soon take a child as he had once taken the child’s mother.

But when she looked at the doll, she saw her own face, a blank stretch of muslin. Her own identity swallowed up by role after role, from the time she was an infant.

The women inside greeted her warmly, with the exception of Rachel Hostetler, who looked at her as if she suspected Laura was on the advance team from Gomorra.

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Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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0 responses to “Review: Temptation – Kathryn Barrett

    • I know, right? I don’t think I could survive without internet anymore, and my phone – it’s like attached to me 🙂

      The heroine is in a town with a big Amish community to film a movie, though, but she does ask herself those questions.

      Thanks for stopping by Becca 🙂

  1. I haven’t read any books with an Amish storyline. This one sounds really good. I am not cut out for Amish life at all! Besides my potty mouth and big love for high speed internet access, I’ve never found the right fit when it comes to religion. I think Zen would be good, then the next second I’m gleefully slaughtering a spider that made it’s way into my apartment.

    Robyn Jones recently posted: Road Trip Songs for the Kids
    • I stumbled upon my first Amish storyline a while back, and I really liked it. I am not really a religious person myself, though, but I thought it was interesting to read about lives so completely different from my own 🙂
      Thanks for stopping by, Robyn.

    • I really liked it – the character developent was really well done, as were the parts about religion and making important choices in life.

    • I hope you’ll like it as much as I did, Brandee! It was really enjoyable, and the inner conflicts seemed so very real!
      Thanks for stopping by.

  2. Thanks so much, Lexxie, for the nice review! I’m so glad you liked Temptation! Should I admit that I had never read an Amish romance either? When I started out to write Laura’s story, I had no idea she’d go to Amish country and fall in love…but later it just seemed like the right move for her. Sometimes characters know best what they need to “grow” 🙂

    Thanks again!

    Kathryn Barrett recently posted: Stop worrying and get writing
    • That’s funny, that you’d never actually read another Amish romance before, because I thought it was very well done. And I agree, it was totally the right move for Laura 🙂

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