Tangled Up in You

Tangled Up in You
4 Stars

True Crime author, Maddie Dupre, travels to Truly, Idaho to confront the ghosts of her past. Determined to uncover the truth about the fateful night her mother was shot in Hennessey’s bar, Maddie finds herself face to face with the one person just as serious about forgetting what happened - sexy, irresistible Mick Hennessey.

Gibson is a wonderful story teller and this series is very entertaining. The characters are well defined, the romance sizzles and the plot premise is engaging. Nevertheless, the annoying keeping secrets trope puts a damper on the rest.

While the plot involving Maddie’s interest in her mother’s death has potential, it is not as compelling as it could have been if the hints at something show more beyond a simple murder/suicide had materialized into something more substantial. As it is, the case is apparently clear cut despite the innuendo and as such it sort of fizzles.

The focus, therefore, it on Maddie’s secret and its effect on her relationship with Mick. This inevitably leads to the despised keeping secrets theme, which is problematic for three reasons. First, situations constantly feel contrived to ensure that the secret remains hidden, such as forced interruptions or postponing the inevitable. Second, the reader is constantly on the alert waiting for the other shoe to drop, which results in irritation and annoyance rather than a productive build up and release of tension. Third, the secret keeper often comes across as dishonest and untrustworthy thereby undermining the romance, which is certainly the case with Maddie.

Despite these issues, Tangled Up in You is an enjoyable read mainly due to the wonderful characterization. Maddie is intelligent and resourceful and Mick is charming and sexy. Their chemistry is intense and the conflict between them is real.

The final book is about Adele, the fantasy writer and it will be interesting to see where Gibson takes it. show less

I have a confession to make.

I can't stop reading Rachel Gibson's books.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be an issue, except for the fact that I know that generally if I've read one of Gibson's novels I've read them all. Sure, there are always variations; different characters, different situations, different plots. But they follow a formula. Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl are attracted. Boy and girl fight attraction. Boy and girl sleep together. Boy and girl realize they're in love with each other. Big misunderstanding keeps boy and girl from being together. Boy and girl get over it and live happily ever after.

In all fairness, that's a pretty generic plot description for most romance novels. I guess what bothers me the most about Gibson's show more writing is that it's obvious that she's following the romance tropes, and the most obvious of those tropes is the Big Misunderstanding. I say that because usually it's something incredibly stupid keeping the hero and heroine apart, most likely a communication error or the heroine assuming something about the hero.

That being said, I have to give Gibson credit because her last two novels (this one, and I'm In No Mood For Love) have been much, much better where the Big Misunderstanding is concerned.

So, yes, Gibson's books are a lot like brain candy. They're fun. They read fast. The characters are almost always enjoyable. And I usually feel good after finishing one (kind of like a piece of good but not amazing chocolate).

Tangled Up In You is actually the third book in a loosely-related series about four close friends in Idaho. All four friends are writers (different genres) and provide a support system for each other when it comes to writing and dating.

Maddie Dupree writes true crime. As a result, she's by far the hardest of the four friends. She's cynical and skeptical and absolutely does not believe in love or happy endings. She has a habit of keeping people at arm's length--especially men.

Mick Hennessy is back home in Truly, Idaho, running the family bars and trying to make sure his sister doesn't fall completely into the deep end of the pool.

Maddie's in Truly determined to unearth the truth about the town's most sordid scandal--the night Mick's mother shot and killed both Maddie's mother and Mick's father. See, Mick's father was a philandering skirt-chaser. Maddie's mother was a young, starry-eyed woman who wanted desperately to believe in love and to believe that Mick's father really would leave his wife for her. Well, Mrs. Hennessy found out Mr. Hennessy was planning on leaving her for some poor young thing who lived in a trailer park, went a little crazy and shot them both in the middle of one of the family's bars before turning the gun on herself.

Mick, however, has no desire to let the past be dug up. Part of it is because he fears for his sister's mental health, and another part is because, well, who would really want something like that brought back into the limelight after so many years. So when he finds out the real reason Maddie's in town, Mick isn't exactly happy.

Even more conflict, though, comes from the fact that Maddie doesn't tell Mick (or anyone else in the town) her real connection to the past--that her life was also turned upside down as a result of that night.

Of course, though, the attraction between Mick and Maddie is irresistible. This is one of the areas where Gibson shines as a writer--conveying the attraction and building tension. Romance novels are a lot like real life in that part of the fun in the mating dance is the tension, the glances and kisses and touches that you know are building up to something big. Without the tension, the big bang is more like a medium pop, kind of like a bottle rocket that only gets about ten feet off the ground rather than shooting all the way up into the sky. So in this way Gibson totally delivers, which is probably one reason why I keep buying her books.

The other is her sense of humor. I almost always laugh out loud a minimum of five times while reading one of Gibson's books. This one was no exception. Maddie has a fantastic sense of humor, and is pretty darned snarky. Hell, for that matter so is Mick. And I do love snark.

Gibson's also gotten much better at the Big Misunderstanding. The one in I'm In No Mood for Love was much better than in her previous books, and the Big Misunderstanding in Tangled Up In You is a pretty darned good one.

Like I mentioned, Maddie keeps her true identity a secret (Dupree is her pen name) from everyone in the town--including Mick. There are several times throughout the novel when she thinks that she should tell him who she really is, but every time she comes up with an excuse not to. It isn't until after some fantastic sex--during which she shouts "I love you" and after which Mick admits he loves her too--that Maddie finally tells him who she really is. Considering they'd both just say the Big Three Words, the timing wasn't exactly ideal.

Needless to say, that's a pretty good reason for two people to remain apart. It was believable. And the hell of it was that I empathized with both Maddie and Mick.

Of course, in the end, they end up together. And there's even a pretty good secondary romance between Mick's sister and his best friend.

Needless to say, I really liked this book. I loved the characters, and the fact that Maddie was a somewhat more curvaceous heroine (she's not quite plus-sized, but I think she's like a size 12 or so, which is pretty damned cool). Both Mick and Maddie are deeply scarred from the actions of their parents, so as unlikely as it is that they would end up together considering the parental connections, it also makes perfect sense because, really, who would better understand just how badly the actions of one's parents can scar you for life.

Of course, the fourth--and last single--friend has her own book coming out in 2008. And of course, I'll buy it, too. Like I said, Gibson's like brain candy. Fun. Tasty. Goes down easy. And luckily she seems to be getting better and better with each new release. show less

This is the third in the Writer Friends series I've read - each has been exactly as good as the other - very consistent. Not great, and a little unsatisfying, despite the fact that they are good reads and easy entertainment.

This is the story of Maddie and Mick in the small town of Truly, Idaho. She is a writer returned to the town where her mother was murdered when she was 4. Mick is the son of the woman who murdered her. It's a reasonable back story but it doesn't go very deep so a missed opportunity to make this more interesting.

There are good scenes between Mick and Maddie, but a lot more could have been done with their relationship. I'm thinking of Turn and Burn by Lorelei James which I"m reading now. James really works at show more developing that relationship.

Neither of these books have any comedy, but Tangled Up In You could have benefited from it. show less

True crime writer, Maddie Dupree, has come back to Truly, Idaho to write about the death of her mother at the hands of her married lover's wife. Maddie knows that her presence will stir up trouble, so she doesn't tell anyone who she is or what she is doing in town, especially the Meg and Mick Hennessy, daughter and son of her mother's lover. However, it isn't long before her research leads to everyone in the small town knowing about the book Maddie is writing, but she has one more secret that she isn't ready to share with anyone, including Mick with whom she shares an undeniable attraction.

Tangled Up In You is the first book that I've read by Rachel Gibson in many years. I was hoping it would have more to offer but it just didn't show more deliver the emotional punch or humor that I was looking for. The characters of Maddie and Mick are minimally developed and the secondary characters of Mick's sister, Meg and his friend, Steve are hardly developed at all. The big story that Maddie is writing seems like it should hold some kind of surprise or twist, but unfortunately, it doesn't. Also, I have trouble believing that Maddie and Mick could ever have a real relationship after what their parents had done. Overall, I found Tangled Up In You to be a disappointment. show less

Love it. : I put this book down before after reading the first three pages. The first time I read it, it put me to sleep. Maybe because I was just tired that day or maybe because another book was calling to me. It definitely wasn't because the book was such a bore. It was far from boring after I decided to pick it up again and it's a good thing that I did too. I would hate to miss such a good book and such a talented author. It's was always hard for me to like contemporaries but when I find an author that writes one that I rate as 4 stars and up, I know that I must read more. That what Rachel Gibson did for me and 5 of her books are sitting in my "to be read" pile at this moment. I'm happy to add another contemporary author to my list show more under Susan E Phillips and Catherine Coulter.

Tangled Up With You is a story about Maddie whose mother was murdered when she was only but 5 years old. Ironically, Maddie grew up to become a writer who writes about murder, mostly serial killers. Finally after many many years, she decided it was time to write about one close to her heart, her mothers'. In order to do that, she decided to go back to the scene of the crime. If she were to write about this then she definitely have to include the person or persons involved with the crime. That's where Mick comes in. Mick turns out to be the son of the woman who killed her mom. Why did his mom killed hers? Because her mom was his father's mistress. So Maddie must come face to face with Mick.

I seriously enjoyed this book even if there is no suspense at all. At first it was kind of hard for me to imagine Maddie falling in love with the son of the family who caused her grief but then again Maddie wasn't close or grieving for her mother while growing up. She didn't seem to dwell on the lost but instead accept it. Reason being that I didn't give this a 5 star as I should was because I felt that there were something missing. I wanted to know a little bit more about the relationship of their parents but then again I understand the author reason for not elaborating it. Some things are better buried in the past especially if a new future is in the making.

So all in all, this is a book worth picking it back up after putting it down and read. Hmm, but I'm not sure if I want to read the last book of the 4 friends though. Maybe I'll change my mind again when I read the back cover. show less

I know I read 3 excellent books in a row and was worried about the next one, so I reread a couple of favoritesi n between, but still I was shocked at how poorly written this book was. The language was clunky, the backstory over told, everything was overwritten, there was no subtly or cleverness to the writing at all. I've read Rachel Gibson before and I remember her as better than this.
The plot was complex - Maddie, a true crime writer, is returning to the scene of her mother's true crime - her mother was having an affair with a married man and was shot and killed by that man's wife who then shot and killed her husband and herself. Maddie is aware that she shouldn't but starts to have a relationship with the adult son of her mother's show more ex-lover, Mick. There's so much that could be done with this scenario, its so inherently interesting, but Gibson manages to make it boring and flat. I read the first 100 or so pages and then skimmed to the end. C- show less

True crime writer, Maddie Jones is determined to find out the details about the death of her mother. She buys a home in small-town Truly, Idaho, and proceeds to write a book about the details of the murder which took place in Truly. The last person she expects to meet and fall in love with is Mick Hennessy, son of the man her mother loved and of the mother who killed Maddie's mother and Mick'sfather and then turned the gun on herself. Gibson writes a story full of unique characters, a suspenseful plot and humor. Maddie is a feisty heroine and Mick is tough and their romance is hot. A great read. I'd like to read more by Rachel Gibson.