Death is easy, comedy is hardSo they say. I think "rom-com" -- romantic comedy-- can be especially hard to pull off; humor is really subjective and what you might find hilarious, I might... well... not. For instance, I totally can't stand Rachel Gibson, but I know she's a huge favorite. What can I say, her humor doesn't make me laugh.
This book had a couple of strikes against it for me. It's third in a series and I haven't read the first two. Overall, this didn't matter too much except for one fairly WTF moment regarding one of the former couples (she's pregnant):
... he tapped her cheek with a fingertip. "Don't start worrying, Lacy. You've got my kid to think about. I'll do all the worrying, okay?*"I mean, really?? "Don't worry your pretty little head about it!??" Although I threw up a little in my mouth right there, I managed to get past it because they weren't the main couple here and I could ignore them pretty easily.
The other thing, honestly? is the title. I don't mind divorced or deceived, but come on, there's nothing sexy about desperation. Really.
Fortunately, the two main characters really sparkled and they had great chemistry. I believed the romance, and that's the most important thing.
The story had great pacing and Craig powers you through a classic car-chase/road-romance set up. Now, the seriousness of the crime plot seemed really at odds with the "romp" style and it pretty much kept me from buying into the darker aspect of the plot at all. And I had some issues with the way a particular secondary character was written (ie, the fact that his internal dialog made him sound mentally challenged) but I ended up liking the role he played in the plot quite a lot.
Overall, I think this author has a certain style that appeals to a lot of people but just isn't for me. I'm confident that there's an audience for her work though, because I think she really nailed the main characters, and the spark between them.
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*Note: the quote is pulled from an uncorrected proof - there may be slight differences to the final published copy.
Disclaimer: A review copy was provided to me by Dorchester Publishing.
In stores now (pub date 11/24/09.)
5 comments:
I just snorted out loud at your throw up in the mouth comment!!!
P.S. Rahcel Gibson is an author I don't find funny, like maybe if I were in my 60's I'd like it...er maybe not. Susan Elizabeth Phillips does humor like no other. Even if I don't care for the story she'll make me laugh out loud fo sure.
I do like Rachel Gibson. Her books tend to run about 75 pages too long, but I like her humor.
Christie Craig's books are cute, but they have sort of an offbeat quality, and the heroines tend to border on ditzy. I read the first in this series a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it, but I can't say I absolutely *must* read the sequel (which is the one you reviewed, right?). I think it'll end up an "in the mood" type of thing for me. Great review. :)
I'm just starting on my first Gibson so I'll be interested to see if I have the same response as you.
My first try with this author was the second book in this series (the one with the big heart on it), and it turned into a DNF for me. Neither the hero nor heroine nor humor worked for me. But I'm always willing to give another another try - everyone can have an off day or an off book.
M, it will be interesting to see if there's a correlation between dis/likers of Gibson and Craig ;-)
Jen, see? I've done some meh reviews of authors that I really just thought were meh writers -- in this case I think it's mostly that I'm Just Not That Into Her.
Smokin', I do like SEP, though I haven't really read anything lately by her that blew me away. I liked the Sugar one about the woman who went back to her home town where she'd been the Mean Girl. Loved the premise.
I am really hard on humorous books, too! I don't like the feeling that I'm supposed to laugh when I don't feel like laughing, you know what I mean?
Though I do love sparkling chemistry!
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