What I Love About You by Rachel Gibson
| What I Love About You by Rachel Gibson | |
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| Category: Women's Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Page
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| Summary: The girl next door is playing hard to get but can Blake convince her to give him a shot, and should he? | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: August 2014 |
| Publisher: Corgi | |
| ISBN: 978-0552170550 | |
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Natalie is the girl next door when Blake moves to town but it’s neither love nor even friendship at first sight. Sure, her daughter might have taken a shine to the handsome stranger who likes to keep himself to himself but to Natalie he’s arrogant and obnoxious. Still, you can’t live next door to someone and never run into them, just as you can’t avoid your neighbours in a small town, and since Truly, Idaho fits the bill on both, they’re going to see each other.
The fact that Natalie was once a cheerleader got me to pick up this book, though it’s a fact that is rarely referenced within the pages, however much the blurb bigs it up. Her photography business, however, does make the promised appearance, and it’s a fun backdrop for a story if a little dated – I can’t remember when I last got photos printed in person, but if I were to do so, I’m sure I too would be a little curious about whether the person packaging them up had had a sneaky peek first.
If you like simple stories that do your thinking for you, this one might be a good choice. In many ways it’s an obvious love story and just like Natalie herself, it doesn't take much to get it going. I think my issue with this book is that it’s marketed for adults, and does contain adult themes, but the writing is verging more on young adult. Some of the descriptions that I think were supposed to be hot were instead quite unintentionally funny which is a happy outcome but perhaps not the desired effect. Phrases such as him wanting ..to part her thighs and shove himself into her hot body seemed a bit amateur, and although I’m not holding it up as a symbol of outstanding literature, it seemed laughable compared to the sort of descriptions found in Fifty Shades Of Grey by EL James.
I also couldn't quite tell what this book wanted to be – a pure and simple romance, or something a bit more. At times it felt like I was stepping into a script for 24, such was the action and danger of one of the overseas missions being described (kidnapping! Hostage negotiating! Storming complexes at dawn!) and this just felt so at odds with the day to day life back home. I understand Blake had a past but for me it either needed to be less extreme, or described in less detail, in order to keep the story flowing.
I finished this book easily enough but I could also have left it half way through and not been too bothered. It was easy to read but it didn’t have me hooked and, much like Blake at the start of the story, I was left frustrated and wanting more. The book ended as it was just beginning without even an epilogue set some months into the future to offer some sort of closure, which was a bit disappointing.
Thanks go to the publishers for supplying this book.
If this is your preferred genre, there are lots of recent releases we can recommend - check out out list of Newest Women's Fiction Reviews
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