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allingoodtime's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
It’s really amazing how much I thoroughly enjoy this series when the hockey player featured is not actively playing hockey. Then I don’t have to deal with the annoying hockey inaccuracies. This story is about injured team captain Mark Bressler and takes place after the season ended, so although it deals with hockey it doesn’t deal with any play by plays. Bonus: my favorite Red Wing seems to be someone Rachel Gibson admires since Darren McCartey is mentioned more than once as a sort of nemesis of Mark’s.
Chelsea is exactly what Mark needs exactly when he needs her. Unlike a lot of the other heroes throughout this series, Mark isn’t really portrayed as a jerk who later finds his heart. Sure, he is a jerk to Chelsea and his home health aids that came before her. But that’s not because he is actually a jerk…it’s because he doesn’t know how to handle what has happened to him. What he’s lost. He can’t see a future yet and that scares him, but he’s a huge jock superstar and cannot be seen as weak, at least in his mind. Because Chelsea really needs this job, she puts up with a lot more than she should and that’s enough to throw Mark off-balance. Not only is it fun to watch them spar, but it’s somehow sweet to see them resist each other while growing more and more attached.
My full review can be found at https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/__trashed/
It’s really amazing how much I thoroughly enjoy this series when the hockey player featured is not actively playing hockey. Then I don’t have to deal with the annoying hockey inaccuracies. This story is about injured team captain Mark Bressler and takes place after the season ended, so although it deals with hockey it doesn’t deal with any play by plays. Bonus: my favorite Red Wing seems to be someone Rachel Gibson admires since Darren McCartey is mentioned more than once as a sort of nemesis of Mark’s.
Chelsea is exactly what Mark needs exactly when he needs her. Unlike a lot of the other heroes throughout this series, Mark isn’t really portrayed as a jerk who later finds his heart. Sure, he is a jerk to Chelsea and his home health aids that came before her. But that’s not because he is actually a jerk…it’s because he doesn’t know how to handle what has happened to him. What he’s lost. He can’t see a future yet and that scares him, but he’s a huge jock superstar and cannot be seen as weak, at least in his mind. Because Chelsea really needs this job, she puts up with a lot more than she should and that’s enough to throw Mark off-balance. Not only is it fun to watch them spar, but it’s somehow sweet to see them resist each other while growing more and more attached.
My full review can be found at https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/__trashed/
pluralise's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly close-to-accurate portrayal of twinship!
mfred's review against another edition
3.0
I felt like Gibson wrote herself into a corner with this book.
The book's tone keeps reaching for light-hearted contemporary, but the hero Mark Bressler is a destroyed man. How do you write a comedic romance novel about a man whose hopes and dreams were shattered, along with his body, in a terrible car accident?
There is a lot a lot of telling in this book. Stuff like "Mark knew he wasn't an addict, he was just in pain" or "Chelsea had to re-evaluate her dreams and decide her future." I've read one or two of the other Chinook books, but don't remember such blatant exposition. These are pretty big deals in a person's life -- addiction, self worth-- you could spend years in therapy talking this shizz out. A better novel explores these issues through plot and characterization, not just states them baldly on the page.
Three stars for pretty decent sexual tension and a few very genuine laugh out loud moments that were a true delight. Gibson is so good at these moments! But I think if Gibson was willing to truly explore her characters more, allow herself to loosen up on the "sassy" and embrace their difficulties, this would have been a much better book.
The book's tone keeps reaching for light-hearted contemporary, but the hero Mark Bressler is a destroyed man. How do you write a comedic romance novel about a man whose hopes and dreams were shattered, along with his body, in a terrible car accident?
There is a lot a lot of telling in this book. Stuff like "Mark knew he wasn't an addict, he was just in pain" or "Chelsea had to re-evaluate her dreams and decide her future." I've read one or two of the other Chinook books, but don't remember such blatant exposition. These are pretty big deals in a person's life -- addiction, self worth-- you could spend years in therapy talking this shizz out. A better novel explores these issues through plot and characterization, not just states them baldly on the page.
Three stars for pretty decent sexual tension and a few very genuine laugh out loud moments that were a true delight. Gibson is so good at these moments! But I think if Gibson was willing to truly explore her characters more, allow herself to loosen up on the "sassy" and embrace their difficulties, this would have been a much better book.
shannonmcewen's review against another edition
4.0
It's kind of embarrassing to admit how much I love these books. Also, I was bored in between events at my son's karate tournament and reading this on my Kindle, with people all around, and I was afraid someone was going to peek over my shoulder and see what kind of smut I was reading. But whatever. It's awesome smut. This one's really three and a half stars if Any Man of Mine is four, but Goodreads won't let me give a half star...
musicalmuppet's review against another edition
5.0
Without a doubt the Chinooks series is one of my favourites and this installment did not disappoint. Chelsea was the perfect character for Mark and the dynamics between the two of them were hilarious yet realistic. I love that Gibson updates the reader on the process of previous Chinooks throughout the series so it's best to read them in order otherwise you get spoilers!
kiwicoral's review against another edition
3.0
Delivered on what it promised, nothing more. I liked the characters in general and they had some fun banter. The poor hero needs a therapist though. I felt the ending was definitely too rushed.
jessthemess222's review against another edition
2.0
This is random, I know, but the use of the word retard in this book really bothered me. Choose another word. Otherwise I liked the story, although it wasn't as strong as earlier Gibson books.
rapunzel's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't dislike this book, but it's not my favorite of the Chinooks series so far. I had no real qualms with the characters and their personalities. Much of the novel seemed to be establishing the hero & heroine's distaste for each other, but I thought that their relationship lacked development and really blew through to the end.