The Trouble with Valentine's Day

The opening sentence pulled me in – “Valentine’s Day sucked the big one.” Whether single or married, it can be an easily identifiable and relatable feeling by women and men. This is a “HOT” chick-lit novel with explicit descriptions of the smoking hot chemistry, sensuality, and fantasies of characters Kate (Katie) Hamilton, private investigator from Las Vegas, and Robert (Rob) Sutter, former National Hockey League (NHL) player nicknamed as the “Enforcer” at one point in his career. Katie and Rob have each had a life-changing experience which has shaken each to their inner core. They met by chance one night and said things to each other as they sat at the bar that were spontaneous to the evening, sharp and snappy show more responses that neither has forgotten but what did it matter if it was only a chance encounter with a stranger. But neither can forget what they said, what they wanted, what didn’t happen, and what they fantasized could have happened. Now they’re in a little town of Gospel, Idaho, being introduced to one another by Katie’s grandfather.

This is a story about two lives – evolving, recovering from life experiences that seem surreal, and trying to figure out the next steps. A man that needs to make a final decision about reconciliation with the mother of his daughter, and a woman who needs to make a final decision to stay or run. It also has sub-plots that are so true to everyday living – a man finding himself a widower after almost 50 years of marriage and a grandparent who isn’t ready to modernize his business; a widow who decides that maybe she should get a little more out of life than work and encourages her son to do the same; and adult bullies with prejudices against homosexuality.

This is a novel that would make the perfect companion for a Valentine’s evening alone or the perfect companion at any time of the year for anyone who needs to find a little solace in the midst of a broken heart, in the midst of a broken dream, or in the midst of a career change – whether their choice or decided for him/her. The story will perhaps also be a wonderful reminder that love isn’t just for the young but for anyone who can choose to be young at heart.

My only wish is that I could have found this novel in earlier years on some Valentine’s nights as the characters are wonderful company, the fantasies alluring to the soul, and the dialogue poignant to the core. show less

OMG, I loved this story so much of ex-NHL player, Rob Sutter, getting over some bad times and a divorce. He unexpectedly finds love in the unlikeliest of places - Gospel, Idaho, yet he's too stupid to recognize it. Great story with lots of heat, although I could kick him for being such a horse's ass after one particularly crucial moment in the book! Grr! Men! Otherwise I loved him. *grin* Lots of humor and plenty of loving and good old fashioned romance. He and Kate's courtship was a pleasure to read about. A keeper for me! Best in the series so far.

I really enjoyed this book. I wondered about the characters when I wasn't reading it, which is the mark of particularly good characterization for me. However, I feel like the ending was a little rushed, and I'm hoping that we see Rob and Kate in future books, just so we know how they're doing.

On second read, I changed my rating from 4 stars to 3. I don’t particularly care for books in which the hero’s redemption arc is entirely due to the heroine cutting him some slack. And in this case, Rob’s redemption arc is nonexistent. He doesn’t step up as a father, and he doesn’t do anything to improve his relationship with his ex (who is a very straw-woman character). Not keeping this one.

I liked this book quite a bit -- even more than I anticipated. I enjoy Gibson's work in general, but I have to admit that some of her books are better than others. I rather expected this one to be among those "others" when I bought it, simply because Rob Sutter never impressed me much in the other Chinooks books. However, I'm very happy to say I was wrong. Rob was a fun character with quite a bit of substance to him, as was Kate. The interactions between these two were very entertaining but also believable -- the perfect composition of a good love story. Moreover, this book was sexy and humorous.

Of course, for the sake of thoroughness I will point out some long-standing issues I have with Gibson writing, which are present in this book. show more First, she tends to overwrite scenes -- telling you about each step the character takes in making a pot of coffee, or pointing out that she threw a candy wrapper in the trash, or what have you. Overall, it's not a big deal, but sometimes this is distracting and slows down the pace.

Second, Gibson doesn't spend much time on the Big Conflict that inevitably takes place before the Big Resolution. She's fairly formulaic on this: the couple hooks up, the couple is happy on the surface, conflict occurs and the couple fights or separates, they're both miserable for a few pages, they reconnect and everything is perfect. Personally, I like a dose of angst with my romance, and I really wish Gibson wouldn't rush to the Happily Ever After -- especially since I otherwise love her writing.

But, yes, I liked this book and will continue to read novels by this author. show less

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.

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 show more 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. show less

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.