Sunday, January 17, 2010

Recent Read

See! Told you I’ve been reading lots!! And I have 3 more to do!!


True Love and Other Disasters by Rachel Gibson


Why this one: Rachel Gibson’s books either work very, very well for me or I don’t care for them at all. But since there are a lot more that work very, very well and I was in the mood for a contemporary, this was the book I picked.


Steam Level: Not too hot, not too cold


Blurb: Disaster Number One: MEN
Hard knocks and hunger taught Faith Duffy not to believe in love. Still, when she married her very wealthy--and very old--husband, she became the perfect wife. And then he went to that big bank in the sky, leaving Faith with lonely nights, a pile of money, and a total mess of a pro hockey team. Heck, Faith doesn't even watch hockey!

Disaster Number Two: PASSION
But most of America and half of Canada is watching Ty Savage. His lethal sex appeal and deadly right hook make him the favorite of fans. For most of Ty's life, he's dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup. The last thing he needs is a bimbo messing up his plans.

Disaster Number Three: LOVE
Faith loathes Ty on sight, but she can't stop thinking about him all day . . . and night. Then a moment of temptation ends with Faith in Ty's bed, and she begins to see there's more to him than sex appeal. Ty discovers there's far more to Faith than beauty and billions. But a relationship with Faith is impossible, and falling in love--that would be a disaster.


My Thoughts: I held off a bit on reading this one as it sounded quite a bit like SEP’s It Had To Be You and as I’ve been turned off on SEP books, I didn’t really want to read a book similar to any of her books. But this was Rachel Gibson who I like much more and it was a “hockey” book and See Jane Score is my all time sports romance and it was a “hockey” book too so I took a chance.


First off, I thought the back blurb misleading. I didn’t get the impression that Faith loathed Ty. She was that impressed with him though she did find him attractive, but I wouldn’t say loathing.


I couldn’t help comparing this one to See Jane Score seeing as they both were about the same hockey team. I didn’t like Faith quite as much as Jane – but still I liked her quite a bit. She was former stripper whose mother was a stripper and so she kind of knew the lifestyle. And while she married her much older husband for his money – not unlike in an Anna Nicole Smith kind of way, she did love him in a grandfather/granddaughter kind of way. And while she started out as a bit of a sugar daddy kind of girl, she grew and changed through the book and that’s what counts for me in an otherwise less than stellar kind of heroine. Once she decided to keep the hockey team, she really invested a lot of time and energy in learning all she could about it so Faith gets major points for that.


And as for Ty Savage – he was quite a good hero. And I will confess I did a real squeal when I was reading along about his hockey history!!!!! So much so that after reading that little bit I simply had to send a message to Rachel Gibson. You see – in the book he played his junior hockey for the Knights in London Ontario!!!! Now that just happens to be the real team in London here (see – in case one didn’t already know this – this is the city I live in) and I listen to the Knights game on the radio quite a bit. In fact – I was listening to the game on the radio when I read this so it was very Twilight Zone-ish way.


And a couple of other things I must point out. We do not pronounce about like aboat ;-). And when we use the word eh after a sentence – something I didn’t realize I said a lot myself until someone pointed it out in Washington – we don’t pause after so there was no need for a comma to indicate a pause *g*. And I got a kick out of his annoyance with people pronouncing his name as Savage – rather than Sauvage. I knew right away the proper way to pronounce his name – but that’s because I follow hockey here in Canada, the Great White North.


All in all this was one of her books I quite enjoyed and if you’re a fan of sports romance and/or of Rachel Gibson, this is a good one to read.


Grade: 4.25 out of 5

6 comments:

Patti (@TheLoveJunkee) said...

I've got this one in my TBR. Although I know nothing "aboat" hockey I'm still hoping I'll like it - sounds like a fun read.

Mary G said...

Good call on this one Kristie. I read this one before See Jane Score so I didn't have to compare.
Funny about the "aboat". I'm must be dense. I thought it meant Ty said it with a bit of a French accent.duh.

Carolyn said...

I still get southerners teasing me, not about 'aboat', but about 'aboot'. Been gone so long I don't know how it's pronounced anymore, lol.

What put you off SEPs books, Kristy? I've never read this author, but I have to admit I'd try this book if only because I remember Phoebe. :-)

Kristie (J) said...

Carolyn: I started off really liking her books, but things started changing with This Heart of Mine. I had a very negative reaction to something the heroine did and I found it such a double standard. If the hero had done the same thing, he very easily could have been accused of being a rapist. I still kept reading her though. I read First Lady and didn't care for it at all. I gave her one more chance with Breathing Room and loathed that book. So I haven't been the least bit tempted to try her books since then.

Mary: Have you read See Jane Score since them?? You really are going to have to start yourself a blog so we can keep up on the books you've read *g* And if so - what did you think of it?

Patti: I think even if you don't know much about hockey, one would enjoy this one.
I'm pretty tough on sports books since even though my sons don't give me credit for it - I do know quite a bit about sports - hockey and baseball in particular - and if an author doesn't 'get' the sport, the book gets a real bad grade and I may not read any more by that author (that's what happened with Dierdre Martin and her hockey books). But Ms. Gibson 'knows' hockey - even about Junior A Teams *g*

Mary G said...

Did I love See Jane Score? Two words. Luc's Tattoo - Yummy. Ok 3 words. After I read that I went on a sports novel reading jag. Kate Angell, Deirdre Martin & waiting for Slow Heat by Jill Shalvis.
My own blog? I have some guest posts to do & I'm done not done. I still owe you a Pamela Clare & Judith James. BTW Pamela is a dear.
For SEP - read Dream A Little Dream. My fave & so emotional.

Julia said...

I have only managed to read 1 or 2 of Rachel Gibson books and like it. I do have the rest of her books on TBR pile. I admit, I like SEP's Chicago Star much better than her stand alone one. But I have read most of her books :)

Great review by the way :)