Review: Tangled up in you by Rachel Gibson

Wow, it's been incredibly quiet on blogland... wonder what everyone is up to :D

Since I have nothing to say about my life, I'll write up another review :D I think this book just came out last week and so, my review might help out a couple of you :D


Tangled Up With You by Rachel Gibson
published by Avon in July 2007

Madeline Dupree is a true crime author who lost her mother at the age of 5 and went to live with a great-aunt in Boise. Actually, her mother along with her lover was murdered by the lover's wife who committed suicide afterwards. Maddie has very little memories of her mother, but after finding her mother's diaries, she needs answers and decides to write a book about the murder that has impacted her life. Thus she goes back to Truly and to Hennessy's, the bar where the murder occurred.

Hennessy's has been run by Hennessy men for generation. In Truly, everyone knows that the Hennessy men are irresistable and that includes the current owner, Mick. Growing up in Truly, where everyone knew about their mother's crime, Mick and his older sister Meg's lives have not been easy. Mick's way to deal with it is to shrug it off... At 35 y.o., his only aspirations are to run the bar, take care of his sister and nephew and find a willing sex partner with no strings attached... and it seems that Maddie Dupree fits the bill.

Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Writer Friends series, book #3

Why did I get this book? Hmm, cos I read the first two and they were all right. I know that many readers really like Rachel Gibson, but for me, most of her books have been so-so. I still got this book though because the back blurb sounded interesting. By the way, that's my summary up there, not the back blurb :P

My impressions: In my opinion, this book was better than her latest book, I'm In No Mood For Love and it started out really promising... and then, mid-way, it slipped away and became a so-so book. I don't know if it's the Avonization effect or what, but I thought that this book lacked a bit of substance.

The Heroine, Hero and Romance: Maddie is strong and doesn't let anyone run over her and I liked that. I think that Ms Gibson did a good job shaping her personality to suit the character and her job. I mean, I really thought that Maddie had what it took to be a true crime author. However, there was something missing for me to like the heroine. I didn't feel the connection with her. As for Mick, handsome guy who went in the army and then, came back in town to take care of the bar and his sister... Not interested in marrying and so far, that's why he's been staying away from the women in town... that and the fact that he's known them all his life... Again, I didn't feel the connection with Mick... perhaps it's because he guards his emotions very close to him and shrug off everything else. I didn't feel anything from him, except perhaps, lust ^^; The romance was okay, it's the lusting after each other at first glance with Maddie who knows that she shouldn't get involved with him. See, Maddie didn't tell anyone that she was actually Maddie Jones, daughter of the waitress who had an affair with his father... and so, of course, you can guess that when Mick learns about it, he is not happy-dopey and actually breaks thing off with her. Ms Gibson does save the romance at the end of the book when Mick came to woo Maddie back with his reasoning.

Secondary characters: There weren't many secondary characters and no or almost no secondary love subplot. We did see the other authors friends, but very briefly... Otherwise, you get the small-town, noisy ppl from most book. I thought that Meg, Mick's sister, was pretty annoying... especially the way she tried to make her parents appear happy and perfect. The nephew was a bit unnecessary... and Snowball, the cat that Maddie adopted despite hating cat, that was lacking too...

The Story: The plot started out really good, I was really interested in learning what actually happened at the bar that night and how Maddie asked questions to ppl and so on. That was the interesting part... then, the plot took a backseat to the romance which was only so-so... and everything was resolved was a bit anti-climatic :(

What I liked: Hmmm, the beginning. The parts and bits about Maddie investigating, trying to find the truth. The four authors getting together.

What I didn't like: Hmm, Meg and her weakness... and the fact that Maddie didn't tell Mick who she was. I mean, from that point, it was pretty obvious what the conflict in their relationship was going to be... I wouldn't have minded that if it would have been pulled off better, but it wasn't.

Grade: C

Yeah, basically, this book was pretty so-so for me. Didn't love it, but didn't hate it either. It was a fast read, because I skimmed through some parts, mostly the sex scenes. However, it's nice to pass time. If you loved Ms Gibson previous books, chances are, you are going to love this one too. If like me, you found Ms Gibson previous books so-so... this is not going to change your opinion of her.

2 reviews for one

So, the long week-end is almost over... in about 2 hours, which means I have two hours to deliever the review I promise :D and as a bonus, you get an extra review :P anyway, here it is:

Golden Threads by Kay Hooper: 3.5/5

Lara Mason isn't really Lara Mason... her real last name is something else (sorreh, can't remember and can't find it again in the book). A year ago, her father got murdered while he was investigating an organization that was stealing plans and information of some governmental projects and so, for the past year, she's been part of the Witness Protection program and has hiding in this little town. However, she's been feeling jailed up and so have decided to participate into the town theater production of Rapunzel. At the same time, appears Devon, a new stranger in town who gets the Prince role and some incidents have been happening to Lara (almost being hit by a car, her house being broken in, etc.)... Turns out more information and plans have been disappearing and two groups are after Lara: the bad guys and the FBI because Lara's father had some important proofs that are still hidden and figure that Lara would know where it is...

I actually quite enjoyed the book... However, it is quite out-dated ^^; My big issue with this book was that Devon and Lara got together too fast, but aside from that, it was nice. Two major things that I liked? The reappearance of Cyrus Fortune, who is the main character of The Matchmaker and Ching, Lara's cat. I have to say, I'm not an animal lover (not dog or cat or any other animals), but esp. not cat cos I don't find them as affectionated as dogs... Anyway, I don't love the real version, but I do enjoy their antics in books... but that's usually dogs. I mean, cat don't usually do much, even in books. Kay Hooper's cats are different and so I really liked Lara's cat, Ching. I guess, it's mostly because he didn't act like a cat.

So would I recommend this book? I'd say if you're a fan of Kay Hooper and you've never read this book, go ahead... if you're not, well you can skip as it is not earth shattering... a nice romance novels, but there's probably newer books that you'd like to read :P

I'm in no Mood for Love by Rachel Gibson: 3.5/5

I'm in no Mood for Love is the second book of a series of 4, I guess, featuring Claresta Wingate, a historical romance author. Just before her friend's wedding ceremony, Clare discovers her fiancé having sex in her closet... with the Sears repairMAN. So of course, she's shocked... goes to the ceremony, acts as one of the bridemaids, manages to get drunk and wakes up with in a hotel room with a man... and not any man, but Sebatien Vaughan, the gardener's son and boy that played so many tricks on her when she was younger. Turns out they didn't have sex, altho she believed so for awhile. However, both are definitively attracted to each other... and what are they going to do with this attraction?

So, I did enjoy this book, but I did have some problems with it too. I like the tone, the pace and the writing... The characters were all right, but I guess what I didn't like is that almost nothing happened ^^; I don't have problems with characters-focus books... but in this case, it seems to me that the book could have been cut in half and it would have changed nothing, i.e. nothing would have been cut out of the storyline. I thought that the some parts were made more important than necessary. Eg: safe sex, while important, the author didn't have to dwell on it (the whole scene where Clare had to call to set the appointment and then, tell Sebastien to test himself too.) Also, the whole part about Clare having loved Lonny (the gay boyfriend) and then, missing him and later, being okay, no longer heart-broken. I mean, usually, in characters-focus books, the story will focus on relationship... but in this case, you get the occasional get-together with her friends, which was nice, cos that was pretty much lacking in the previous book, Sex, Lies and Online Dating, and although Sebastien and his father's relationship gets better... that's it. Hmmm... not a whole lot of relationship happening here... and Clare and her mother's relationship still remain quite crappy... However, MY biggest problem with this book was Clare at the end... I've never been fond of characters, esp. female main characters, having sex with the main male lead and thinking: it was just sex. First time, okay.. but when it becomes obvious that they're having a relationship and they still believe it's just sex, it's just stupid too me. Otherwise, the book is good... although I'm not sure I'm interested in the next one of the series.


So there were my reviews :D By the way, my TBR pile has increased as I've acquired new books (4: Taken by Barbara Freethy, A Season to be Sinful by Jo Goodman, Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare and Retrieval by Jeanie London) and I've also spent the week-end re-reading the Black Jewels trilogy.