oof. that was rough. Skipped a lot of the middle. ( )

The Trouble with Valentine's Day
3.5 Stars

Series Note: This is book #2 in Gospel, Idaho and book #3 in Chinooks Hockey Team. That said, the connection to both of these series is rather superficial in that the setting is Gospel and the hero is a former team member. Consequently, the book can easily be read as a standalone.

The small town setting is charming and the couple is likable enough with solid chemistry. Unfortunately, the book contains several less than enjoyable tropes.

To begin with, Rob's past as a serial womanizer who cheated on his one again/off again wife/girlfriend does not make him the most appealing of heroes. Moreover, he has a daughter with his ex, and even considers getting back together with her, which undermines the romance.

Kate has hang ups of her own particularly when it comes to trusting men and her past experiences as a private investigator are woefully underutilized in the story.

All in all, an entertaining enough read overall, but this is not the best example of Gibson's storytelling skills and it is not recommended to those who are new to her writing.

( )

I originally picked this up because it was billed to me as a chubby heroine book, but really, she is just tall. I appreciated some of the angst in the beginning (I like books where there hero initially rejects the heroine) but really, the hero was just kind of an ass to her. He's not a bad person, just a jerk, with a little bit of a lean towards misogyny. I like alpha heroes and angsty storylines, but with this one, I just wanted to say to the heroine, "Honey, please. Stop."

It's tales like this that make women believe that a jerk man will come around if they just put up with his crap long enough. ( )

Really liked the beginning and first half of the story. A couple things were getting on my nerves as the story progressed: Rob drives a HUMMER. Ok, I get the author is plugging HUMMER for some reason. After you read about the HUMMER 55 times and it is all in capital letters, it starts to bug a person. HUMMER, HUMMER, HUMMER! The story started to slow in the middle but I did enjoy the romance of Rob's mother and Kate's grandfather. It was very sweet. When the hero finally starts admitting his feelings to himself and the heroine, it is very reminiscent of the 80's movie When Harry Met Sally where Harry is admitting to Sally at the end why he loves her. It still was a good declaration, but it did seem similar to me. I still give it 3.5/5 ( )

Oh man, I hope the soul patch the lead male (Rob Sutter) is sporting gets shaved or something, because I just can't handle a guy with a soul patch.
 
Rachel Gibson does such a great job of balancing humor with serious issues. Plus there is no other author I have ever read who writes about hockey in such an incredibly fantastic way as she does; hands down.
 
I don't know what it says about me but if I was known around town as the woman who men thought wanted their ball sacks as chain purses I would be delighted. Go Kate Hamilton!!! (that's the lead female characters name by the way)
 
Right, so I'll never be able to be in a grocery store without blushing again. Whoooeeee…..Their first booty scene is caliente!
 
Is it weird to say I felt like at times this book was to grown up for me? Rob dealing with an ex-wife wanting to get back together and missing his daughter just seemed like really heavy adult stuff. Ms. Gibson never flushed this part of the story out enough though, and left it sort of hanging with no real resolution.
 
There were so many moments in this story that made me smile, not quite laugh out loud. I felt like I smiled the whole time I was reading it, even though I had to wait until the last thirty pages or so until the soul patch was shaved.
 
Rob and Kate's relationship never felt completely put together. They liked to have sex together and had witty repartee; apparently a couple months of this equaled marriage for them. I just needed to see more connection between the two.
 
The epilogue was cute, but once again this was an okay book, not great. Rob and Kate's relationship didn't have the emotional depth which makes other couples so memorable. Gibson's other two books "Simply Irresistible" and "See Jane Score" have lead characters who completely immerse you into the story. I felt those couples troubles and tribulations, not so with this book. There are plenty of other chik-lit books out there which are better, so I would suggest passing this one right on by. Well, unless you are a hockey fan and crave stories with any mention of hockey in them (which is sorely lacking in the romance genre world if you ask me). There was some great Teemu Selanne talk in this one.
 
Oh and as much as I liked Rob's python tattoo, Luc's (See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson) horseshoe tattoo is still tops in my book. Damn…sigh.......ok back, sorry went somewhere for a second. ( )