Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins
Your heart misleads you. That's what my friends and family say. But I love Noah. And he loves me. We met and fell in love in the sleepy farming community of Meadowview, while we rode our horses together through the grassy fields and in those moments in each other's arms. It should be ROSE & NOAH forever, easy. But it won't be. Because he's Amish. And I'm not.Publishes in US: June 26th
1st in series, can't find any info about the 2nd
Source: Netgalley
My Review:
Temptation was a great story about forbidden love and the lengths that those in love will go to be with the one they love.
I think that she did great job with research because everything with the Amish seemed authentic, and it felt like I was being immersed into another culture.
The dual perspective felt really well done, and I appreciated being able to see both sides of the story. The girl, the outsider, and the boy, the Amish who fell for the wild outsider.
There were moments where I wanted to slap their foreheads and make them see the light, but I guess you wouldn't be a teenager or someone in love without it being the forefront of your mind, and that you would do anything in order to be with that person. I totally understand where they were coming from, and it seems authentic that when you are that caught up in love, that you would abandon all else.
I connected with both characters, even when they were being idiots. Some of Noah's thoughts about Rose, on one hand not wanting her to change from the girl he fell in love with, strong and wild, but then the next he wants her to be tame and fit into the Amish box of what is expected of the women. But that made him genuine in that aspect, because you couldn't help but want those things with his upbringing.
At times, Rose didn't seem to live up to her stubborn and strong, how she fell apart and how she just tried to mold into what he wanted. But other times, standing up for herself and trying out things her own way, she did.
I was a little annoyed with how unbalanced it was at times, but I also understand where Noah was coming from not wanting to become English (non-Amish) because he wouldn't have any means of supporting himself much less Rose. But, still, asking the other person to give up their family and heritage without being willing to yourself is manipulative and controlling to a level that I wasn't very comfortable with.
I wasn't satisfied with the ending, I wanted more, I wanted to know more about what happens with their love story, but alas, this is a first book in a series and I will have to wait to know more. I think that it ended the only way it could, leaving so much more to explore in the next books.
