Review: See Jane Score

See Jane Score

Rachel Gibson

384 pages

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This is Jane
A little subdued. A little stubborn. A little tired of going out on blind dates with men who drive vans with sofas in the back, Jane Alcott is living the Single Girl existence in the big city. She is also leading a double life. By day, she's a reporter covering the raucous Seattle Chinooks hockey team -- especially their notorious goalie Luc Martineau. By night, she's a writer, secretly creating the scandalous adventures of "Honey Pie" ... the magazine series that has all the men talking.
See Jane Spar
Luc has made his feelings about parasite reporters -- and Jane -- perfectly clear. But if he thinks he's going to make her life miserable, he'd better think again.
See Jane Attract
For as long as he can remember, Luc has been single-minded about his career. The last thing he needs is a smart-mouthed, pain-in-the-backside reporter digging into his past and getting in his way. But once the little reporter sheds her black and gray clothes in favor of a sexy red dress, Luc sees that there is more to Jane than originally meets the eye.
Maybe it's time to take a risk. Maybe it's time to live out fantasies. Maybe it's time to ... see Jane score.

My Review:

First of all, let me say that I could not really find a cover that I really liked to post with this review.  So I went with the best I could find.  Just don't judge this book by it's cover.

Perhaps it takes reading some bad romance to truly appreciate a talented romance author, but I can definitely say that I have lots of appreciation for Ms. Gibson and her ability to write a fun romance.  I definitely enjoyed this novel.  It was fun, with enough depth to add a realistic touch to it.  

 

This book is the second in the Chinooks Hockey Team series.  I like the way that Ms. Gibson constructed the series so far, in that she did not write about each player on the team in a certain year.  She spaced out the novels so that though the former characters were seen, each novel was different enough that it could stand alone.

So far, this book is my favorite of Ms. Gibson's work.  Perhaps it is that I related most to the main character, Jane, but I truly enjoyed reading about both main characters.  I liked that Jane was not the perfect heroine.  I related to her perfectly, being a fellow short female that is intimidated by tall people in general.  But I also liked that she was not the cookie cutter idea of the perfect woman.  And Ms. Gibson perfectly highlighted her insecurities.  It made me related well to her, and I cheered her on as the not-so-perfect-looking woman found love.

Luc.  Ok, definitely super swoon worthy.  Though he was the perfect, beautiful sounding hero, I loved that Gibson added depth to his character.  She includes parts of his personal life that made him more than something to drool at.  She did an excellent job creating a lovable, sigh-able, and cheer-worthy character.

I think the thing I enjoy most about Rachel Gibson's books is her incredible ability to make me laugh.  She takes a typical romance plot and adds some depth and many laughs to make it very enjoyable.  I laughed out loud several times, and I can't even count the number of times I smiled to myself.  It made for the perfect combination for a Sunday afternoon read.

As most of you can probably tell, my reading tendencies have leaned toward fluff reading lately.  But I can say that Ms. Gibson definitely delivers on the fun romance front.  I read her entire novel in an afternoon, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  For someone who has been battling migraines of late, her book took me out of my room into a world full of fun and romance.  And I forgot that I had a headache for a couple of hours.  It was exactly what I needed, and I would recommend this novel to any fan of chick lit.  It's wonderful in that it delivers on laughs and romance, but it does not simply focus on the boy-meets-girl plot in a way that would make it boring.  Ms. Gibson takes an age-old concept of romance and made it completely worth reading.

Review: Simply Irresistible

Simply Irresistible

Rachel Gibson

384 pages

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Georgeanne Howard can't marry the wealthy older man who's waiting for her at the altar. But her only route to freedom is with John Kawalsky, one of the bad-boy hockey players from the team her wealthy fiance owns. The two spend one night together, but John is at the height of his career and isn't looking to settle down. When their paths collide again years later, John discovers there is a reminder of the time they spent together: a daughter!

My Thoughts:

If you have been following my Twitter (which everyone should do :) ), you will know that I have been in a bit of serious reading funk.  It also explains my lack of posting.  I realized yesterday that I have become one of those bloggers who only posts giveaways and memes.  However, I am determined to have that only be a phase.  My reading funk mostly derives from the fact that work has been super stressful, and I've brought home worries.  So, I have spent my time reading some serious fluff.  Though there have been those who have looked down on chick lit, I have to say that I disagree with those who say that it is worthless nonsense.   There are times when we need fun, romance, and comedy.  I have needed nothing more than to laugh and escape for a while.  My chick lit has provided that.  I simply cannot handle any more stress right now.  So the reason I am saying this is that the next couple of reviews I will write are all about the romance, fun, and romantic comedy books.  And since this is my outlet to share and discuss what I am reading, I'm doing to do that.  And sharing my chick lit with you.  

That being said, Rachel Gibson is a new author that I have found in my search for fun books.  I have been impressed with her ability to write sweet romance and funny one-liners.  She writes characters that I could connect with and picture perfectly in my mind.  I really enjoyed this novel.

Simply Irresistible is the first book in the Chinooks Hockey Team series.  For those of you who are not into hockey, the Chinooks are from Seattle.   It's a professional hockey team, but this novel does not include a whole lot of hockey references.  It's more of a background to the story instead of the major setting.

The novel follows the story of Georgeanne and John.  At first, I thought I would not like Georgeanne because she seemed (from the description of the novel) to be an airhead gold-digger.  However, Ms. Gibson takes what was Georgeanne's former life to show how much she grows.  She's not a gold-digger, so don't be put off by that impression.  And watching Georgeanne struggle and grow into something she wants to be proud of truly helped me connect with the character.  Ms. Gibson did not write a perfect character.  She wrote one with flaws, like all of us.  And it made Georgeanne more loveable.

The main story of this novel is that after a one-night stand, Georgeanne and John have a daughter - Lexie.  Can I just say that I loved the six-year-old characterization?  Lexie was hilarious.  She just jumped out of the novel at me.  She reminded me a lot of the little girl in the movie No Reservations played by Abigail Breslin.  Abigail Breslin is exactly who I pictured as Lexie.  But the little six-year-old provides most of the comic relief.  She just cracked me up.  I love kids, and Lexie definitely made this book.

I rate chick lit a little differently, more harshly you could say.  Because chick lit, by it's nature, is made to have you escape and stop thinking.  And part of my rating system is books that make an impression, make you think days after you've read it.  So, just realize that a 3 or 3.5 star rating is not bad.  It means that I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I'll probably forget the plot by next year.  Which means I can enjoy it again next year.  

I gave this book a 3.5 rating because I really enjoyed it.  I laughed a lot, and I had fun getting to know the characters.  Each character was complete, and I could see who each one was.  It's a great, fun book.  I would definitely recommend it to any lover of chick lit.  And anyone who needs a good laugh.  It was a perfect escape for an afternoon.