Sweet Temptation
Sweet Temptation tells the story of three women who all meet at a slimming class. Maddie has an awful boss who takes delight in criticising her on air at her local radio station, in her new segment, her mum is on her case about needing to drop a few pounds and she has just made a fool out of herself at the school mum's race.
She meets Lauren- a dating agency a manger who can’t find love after her divorce and Jess, the beautician who is looking to fit into a size 10 dress to marry the guy that is really wrong for her. They become ‘buddies’ for one another in times of edible temptation and so their unlikely friendship begins.
I thought following three women that there would not be enough character and story development in this book and how wrong I was. I felt for each and every woman and their struggles not only with their weight but also in some of their personal dilemmas too. I think that because this book fixates on three women rather than one, it has more universal appeal. Every women will have gone through at least one of the crises in the book- a bad date, ditching the pounds, a break up, an overbearing boss, confidence issues- there are so many themes in this novel that are accessible to all female readers out there.
Each chapter delves into the life of one of the women, so just when your are left hanging at the end of one chapter you have to wait another two before you find out what happens to each of the ladies- I think that is why it’s so addictive.
The characters are all strong in their own way but it takes them to work together to realise just how much worth they each have. These are the kind of women you want in your life- those who bring you back up when you are down, who stand by you in the good and the bad and give whatever they can to the situation to help you. The genuinely all cared for each other by the end and their joint friendship was inspiring.
For anyone who has ever had body hang ups, an embarrassing gym session, kissed someone they shouldn’t have, or been taken for granted- this is the book for you. If you don’t have friends like this in your life now- it will make you go out and find new ones.
My temptation is not longer for cakes and chocolate- it’s for more of Lucy Diamond’s books.