Pros: Humorous, frothy writing; colorful characters; good setup for a story.
Cons: The author stays too close to the tried-and-true conventions of the romance genre.
The Bottom Line: Though it rarely strays from tried-and-true conventions, Rachel Gibson's True Confessions is a pleasant country-mouse-falls-for-city-mouse romance novel sure to please fans of the genre.
kknox0616's Full Review: Rachel Gibson - True Confessions
As a struggling writer in Los Angeles, I've taken a lot of freelance jobs. One of those jobs was reading scripts and books for a top talent agency in Beverly Hills, and I was often given some pretty heinous scripts to synopsize. (I'm telling you: you don't know bad writing until you've read a script written by some big actor's gardener. But I digress.) I was responsible for reading five scripts and one novel per week--a rather heavy load, to be sure, but I often came across some pretty darn good books here and there.
One of those books was Rachel Gibson's harmless romantic comedy True Confessions, an exceptionally light and frothy but nonetheless entertaining little book about finding a new purpose (and love) in the place you'd least expect it.
Although it bills itself as a romance novel, this whimsically entertaining and breezy book actually spins a rather comic and colorful tale of life in small-town Idaho, where the locals believe that "God did His best work when He created the Sawtooth Wilderness, and (that) every sin known to heaven and earth is all California's fault." While it hits all the right notes as far as romance novels are concerned, it also manages to hit all the right notes as far as a good story is concerned--though Gibson too often sells herself short by giving in to too many of the genre's conventions.
Escaping a persistent stalker and a nasty case of writer's block, Hollywood tabloid writer (it'd be a stretch to call her a journalist) Hope Spencer reluctantly agrees when her editor suggests she move to Gospel, Idaho for a much-needed rest--and to get inspiration for some new stories. Breezing into town in her Porsche, Hope is the proverbial city slicker who harbors an obvious contempt for the simple country life, a fact which becomes very apparent when she spars with sexy town sheriff Dylan Taber at the local diner. "Gospel has five bars and five gun-and-tackle stores," he tells her. "Now that should tell you something." Hope's reply: "What, that I've moved to town of alcoholic, gun-toting, sheep-loving Four H-ers?"
Later, Hope meets the town's other colorful denizens and learns of the sex scandal that drove the former Sheriff to kill himself, and eventually finds herself falling for Sheriff Taber (big surprise there!). Their attraction is classically antagonistic, with Dylan coming off as arrogant and condescending, and Hope playing the role of the strong but beguiling modern woman. Of course, despite their flirtatious hostility (or perhaps because of it), Hope and Sheriff Taber soon realize they are really meant for each other (again: big surprise!), and Hope eventually learns to appreciate the country life (duh!), though the story is not without its share of occasional surprises: When Hope's stalker arrives in town attempting to track her down, he ends up integrating himself into Gospel in his own uniquely humorous way.
Evoking the movie Doc Hollywood, the book is a fish-out-of-water story that hits all of the usual notes (You can virtually connect all the dots from the first sentence), but what the book lacks in unpredictability it makes up for with its attention to detail and character. Gibson has a flair for creating well-written, unique characters, and she fills Gospel with just the kind of people one would expect to find in such a small town, from local hair salon floozy Dixie Howe to twin sisters Edie and Edna, both of whom sport bright hair colors just this side of the rainbow.
When focusing on the central relationship between Dylan and Hope, Gibson scores high in keeping the momentum going. It's in her subplots that the author stumbles a bit. There's a very promising subplot dealing with the former sheriff's sexcapades, but unfortunately, Gibson abandons this storyline before it adequately plays itself out. (The opportunity to reveal the truth behind what really went on in her "haunted" house (which the former sheriff used to own) was a good one, and it's a shame Gibson didn't run with it.) Similarly, a subplot revolving around Hope's stalker isn't fleshed out as well as it should have been, and ends with a development that is far too easy, not to mention rather pat.
The opportunity to exploit her story for some genuine suspense is one that is sadly passed over, and points to an unfortunate complacency on the author's part to stick too closely to catering to her genre. Then again, most readers don't buy romance novels expecting to come across intricately woven subplots and suspense stories. Gibson knows her market and serves it well, though it would have been nice to have seen her transcend the usual staples of the genre.
That said, Gibson excels in basic storytelling, with compelling characters and sex scenes that are tastefully erotic, and should have quite a career paved out for her on the basis of this book alone. I'd like to see her begin to push the envelope a bit more, but fans of romance novels will find much (or is that mush?) to enjoy here, especially if you're looking for a bit of escapist entertainment.
Welcome to Gospel, Idaho, where everyone knows that there are two universal truths. First, God did His best work when He created the Sawtooth Wilderne...More at HotBookSale
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