TBR Challenge: Simply Irresistible

Simply Irresistible
Rachel Gibson
Contemporary Romance
Chinooks Hockey Team/Book 1
Avon/January 1, 1998

Georgeanne Howard leaves her fiancé at the altar when she realizes she can't marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, no matter how rich he is. Hockey superstar John Kowalsky unknowingly helps her escape, and only when it's too late does he realize that he's absconded with his boss's bride. This bad boy isn't looking to be anybody's savior but his own. Still, a long night stretches ahead of them—a night too sultry to resist temptation. 

Seven years later, Georgeanne and John meet again. She is on her way to becoming Seattle's domestic darling and he is past his hellraising days. Shocked to learn that he has a daughter, John's determined to be part of her life. Georgeanne has loved John since the moment she jumped into his car, but will he risk the wrath of his boss, and one final chance at glory, to prove that this time his love will be everlasting?

Another month gone and another book off the TBR pile. Yeah! At this rate ... well, I'll always have a TBR pile but it does give a false sense of accomplishment. :)

This month's theme was contemporary. While I have read a few of Rachel Gibson's books, I own more than I've read. Simply Irresistible, and the series as a whole have popped up as recommend numerous times, which no doubt is why I picked them up.

Now, I'm not much for watching sports. Mostly because I find them boring. Slow with lots of down time, except for hockey and soccer. Those I'll watch. Not necessarily a whole game but I've been know stop and watch a while when channel surfing. So I was happy to see the hero was a professional hockey player. Turns out the downside was there is little hockey playing going on. I would have liked to read more about the culture these often violent men live in.

At first, I found Georgeanne annoyingly southern. Nothing against southern women but Georgeanne seemed to exemplify all the southern female clichés. She played helpless and batted her eyelashes to emphasis her poor little me cliché. After her and John's night together, we jump forward seven years and Georgeanne has become more secure in who she is and her abilities to take care of herself. She was definitely more likable.

John was okay in the beginning. He had this gorgeous woman in distress practically begging him to save her. He's a guy so he helps her out. She drives him crazy with her incessant chatter but he decides to focus on her luscious body instead. He does point out her nonstop talking and how he doesn't care about the stories she tells about people he doesn't know. Georgie is a little offended but that doesn't stop her from having a one night stand with the hunky hockey player.

Seven years have past without any contact between John and Georgeanne but that is about to change. Georgeanne has done well for herself, becoming part owner of a catering business. John is captain of the Chinooks hockey team and has left his drunk and disorderly lifestyle behind. When John finds out he has a daughter he is determined to be in her life. He's also mad as hell at Georgeanne for not telling him. I don't blame him but he did leave Georgeanne with the distinct impression that he wanted nothing to do with her. So in her defense, I can see why she didn't tell John. Plus, he broke her heart.

So they come to an agreement to allow John to get to know Lexi, the little girl. Of course there are some bumps in the road as well as a few very large potholes before they get to their happy ending. The part before those big potholes was probably my favorite part, seeing them slowly becoming a family. But then everything gets messed up and John and Georgeanne are at odds with Lexi in the middle. I'd say Lexi is my favorite character in the book. I never did really warm up to John or Georgeanne.

There is a secondary romance which I would have liked to see more time spent on developing but it is secondary so no such luck. I have a feeling I might have liked the hero and heroine more than John and Georgeanne.

So, going on the blurb, it was a fairly predictable romance and while I liked some parts, it left me feeling a bit disappointed.

Side note: I did read the second book in the series, See Jane Score, over five years ago and liked it a heck of a lot better. Link to review is below.

Rating: C

Chinooks Hockey Team Series ~

Simply Irresistable
See Jane Score
The Trouble With Valentine's Day
True Love and Other Disasters
Nothing But Trouble
Any Man of Mine

Review: See Jane Score

Title: See Jane Score
Author: Rachel Gibson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: January 2003

Contemporary Romance Challenge

From the back cover ~

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 a misery, 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 shed 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!

I've never read a book by Rachel Gibson. Don't really know why not but I would guess because I don't read that much contemporary romances. Thanks to Brie's challenge I have been reading more and trying some new authors. I have a few favorites that I read: Brockmann, SEP, Julia Harper, Linda Howard etc. So why Gibson? And why this book in particular? I blame nath, Monroe and Kristie. You see, nath and Monroe did a wonderful review of Jill Shalvis' Double Play over at Breezing Through . And that's where See Jane Score was mentioned by nath in the review and then again by Kristie in the comments. Sold! And in case you're wondering why I didn't read Double Play, the library didn't have it in yet but they had See Jane Score just sitting there waiting for me. :)

So we've got Jane, a very likable heroine. She's the type of heroine that you'd want as a friend. She practical and loyal. She's also funny and easy to talk to. She's a reporter that writes a monthly column, Single Girl in the City, for the Seattle Times. She also supplements her income writing very explicit stories for the men's magazine, Him. Those explicit stories star Jane's alter ego Honey Pie - the woman who loves men so much she puts them into comas. :)

No one but Jane's editor and her best friend Caroline know that Jane is the author of the Honey Pie serials. The last thing Jane wants is for that information to get out. When she's offered a job as the traveling sports reporter for the Seattle hockey team, the Chinooks, she takes it even though she knows nothing about hockey. Jane has a dream of someday owning her own home and taking the sports reporter job will get her that much closer to fulfilling her dream.

Luc Martineau is the star goalie for the Chinooks. He's not only talented, he's also got the looks to go with all that talent. He suffered an injury two years ago that lead to surgery and recovery. Now he's back playing the sport he loves. What did I think of Luc? I could have just gobbled him up. :) When Luc says the word 'about' he pronounces it 'aboot'. So cute! He is definitely sigh worthy. His relationship with his teammates and his 1/2 sister were just part of what made up this wonderful hero. While he's far from perfect, he has such heart for the sport he loves. Gibson has Luc's heart coming through so vividly in this story in how he treats others. He's very protective of his privacy and his teammates. Hockey is his life but that starts to change when he becomes the guardian for his 1/2 sister Marie and then Jane enters the picture.

Luc + Jane = perfect couple. I just loved these two. It's not that they're perfect people but that they are perfect for each other. It doesn't start out that way. Jane is sooo not Luc's type. Luc's type is the super model, Barbie doll type. Jane, ummm... isn't. There's a scene where the team and Jane are on the road and they're at the hotel. Luc leaves his room to get ice for his knee when he spots Jane at the vending machine. Jane, in need of a late night snack, decided to make a quick trip to the vending machine in her pjs, thinking that the players were already in their rooms.

She bent over, and that's when he noticed her nicely rounded butt with cows on it. In fact, she had cows all over her blue flannel pajamas. The thing was one piece and from the back looked like long johns. She turned and he was confronted by a horror worse than those pajamas. A pair of black-rimmed glasses sat on her face. The lenses were small and square, and he supposed they were in style with militant women's groups. They were just plain ugly.

Seeing him, her eyes widened and she sucked in a startled breath. "I though you guys were supposed to be in bed by now," she said.

Damn, he didn't think a woman could look any more sexless. "What is this?" he asked and pointed the bucket at her. "The I-don't-ever-want-to-get-laid-again look?" page 47

So to say that Luc wasn't attracted to Jane at first would be accurate. But he was intrigued by her. Also annoyed by her. :) And as he slowly started to noticed little things that he found attractive about Jane, he still couldn't believe that he was attracted to her. Poor, confused Luc. LOL And I'll briefly mention the sex scenes - hot, funny, hot, tender and yeah, hot. Trust me, these two work very well together, once they get together. ;)

Jane can't help but notice that Luc is good looking. She gets to go into the locker room after the games, seeing a whole lot a Luc before she even gets to know him. He's not her type either but he's the star and she needs his cooperation. They're both stubborn and aggressive when they need to be. Luc wants nothing to do with Jane the reporter. He has a reputation for not giving interviews and Jane wants an interview. They butt heads a lot and finally come to an agreement.

On the whole hockey aspect ~ I don't watch hockey but I did as a kid growing up in the burbs of Chicago where everyone rooted for the Blackhawks. I even played some hockey at at the neighborhood rink. Usually because the boys took over the rink and if we girls wanted to skate we had to play. We were good too! :) The first game in See Jane Score has the Chinooks traveling to Phoenix to play the Coyotes. The way Gibson describes the games gives the reader enough info to understand what's happening on the ice but it's more about what the players, in particular Luc, are feeling and thinking. She also has the fans reactions, specifically Jane. I totally got into the hockey aspect and even had the crazy thought of going to a Coyotes game. LOL

The secondary characters and the overall plot had a good, even flow to them. Luc's teammates were real characters. LOL There's some real guy talk going on in this book. Had me laughing and thinking that yes, guys really do talk like that. Their superstitions with regards to the game were both interesting and amusing. When I did have to put the book down I had no problem getting back into the story. See Jane Score scored high with this reader. Now my question is, which Rachel Gibson book should I read next?

Rachel Gibson and her books can be found here at the author's website.

Rating: A