Review: The Temptation of Lila and Ethan by Jessica Sorensen

Title: The Temptation of Lila and Ethan

Author: Jessica Sorensen

Series: The Secret #3

Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Forever

Publication Date: October 22nd, 2013

Edition: Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Source: Library

Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis

  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?

Review:

So, I wasn't expecting Lila to have that dark of a past. I mean, I assumed that it wasn't great based on how she talked about them in book one. But her home life was seriously messed up on a whole different level.

Ethan, while he has his own demons, seems more in control of them that Lila is, and I really love that he's not the trope of the overbearing jerk who is semi-abusive and the girl still falls for him. Sure he had moments of being kind of a jerk, but it's mostly because he is socially awkward in his own way and doesn't really know how to talk to people without pissing them off. Something I can kind of relate to.

I think at first when people read this book they might assume that Lila is a weak person. Due to the level of emotional manipulation she's faced, she's actually a very strong person. She was manipulated by an older man when she was a child of 14, then shamed for it instead of protected by her family. Mainly her mother, a mother who had told her for as long as she could remember to use her looks to get what she wants in life. Lila thought she was doing what she was supposed to do, and then got shamed for it by the people who should have protected her. I do hope that the legal aspect of that gets resolved at some point in their story.

I am really impressed with how much Lila will grow, the some-what downside to reading the series' out of order. Her kind heart made it easy for people to take advantage of her, and later that kind heart brought her to help children who needed what she didn't get at their age.

I kind of wish I had read this series first. It would have added suspense and uncertainty to things, but I know how things are going to end. I just don't know how they get there.