Search - True Love and Other Disasters (Chinooks Hockey Team, Bk 4)

Finally another book in Rachel Gibsons hockey series! I rushed right out and bought it the day it was released and read it in one night!
Ty is the leader of the hockey team that Faith inherits from her late husband, Virgil Duffy who was the man Georgie left at the altar in an earlier book. She knows nothing about the game or how to run a team. The most contact she had with atheletes was working the stage in 5 inch acrylic heels in Vegas. Ty instantly dislikes the new owner but is attracted to her at the same time. His only goal is to win Lord Stanley. But all is fair in True Love, and with these two, True Love could just mean Disaster.
Great, funny and sexy story with no secondary romances to take your attention away from the two characters. Even if you have not read the other books before this one, it can be read as a stand alone. Go grab this one! It is a winner!

Rating: Grade B-

Faith Duffy's husband and owner of the Seattle hockey team has recently died, leaving Faith as the owner. Faith is only 30 years old and has a stigma attached to her as a gold-digger since her former husband Virgil was 80 years old and a billionaire. With all the negative buzz surrounding her, the hockey team doesn't want to be caught in the middle of it, especially Captain of the team, Ty Savage. He wants to win the Stanley Cup and nothing is going to make him loose focus, not even a beautiful bimbo like Faith Duffy.

I had trouble relating to Faith. Faith being a former stripper and playboy bunny, I have very little in common with her. She is unashamedly a gold-digger. She totally owns up to the fact that she married her former husband because he was rich and would provide her with the security she has always longed for. I don't really agree with this kind of marriage and not knowing anything about her, I would probably be one of those people who would judge her. So I kept thinking there was going to be a catch as to why she married a man 50 years her senior, but there wasn't. Honestly, she was a gold-digger. Okay... so not exactly heroine material in my book.

Having said that however, there was an innate honesty and conviviality to Faith that does work. When interacting with Ty this playful side to her comes out. She rediscovers herself, because Virgil molded her into this polite, proper woman for the upper crust society she had to be around. That really wasn't who Faith is and so she is rediscovering herself. Occasionally, there were these odd references to Faith's wild side that she dubs "Layla". A few times the references bordered on creepy, like Faith has a multiple-personality disorder. I could have done without that part of it.

I did like Ty. He comes across as a man's man, but not overly so. I would say it's a good balance. He wants to focus on winning the Stanley Cup, but he keeps finding Faith distracting. Ty and Faith have some good interaction to build up the sexual tension. I love how the author shows the process of how he perceives Faith. She goes from being a hot body to have sex with, to a woman he cares about and enjoys spending time with. I felt that the pacing of Ty and Faith's relationship was appropriate and believable, but the ending came much to swiftly. I could have used a few more pages tacked onto the end of the book.

I really like Rachel Gibson's books. One of the reasons is that she doesn't make sex the payoff at the end. Love is the payoff. In this case, there's a lot of sex that starts fairly early on. A lot of very hot sex. The payoff comes when the hero professes his love, refusing to let her sacrifice to "take care" of him.

I also like that Gibson's men are real men and not women in hairy suits. Being a professional hockey player, the hero is all man and talks and thinks like a real man. As long as Gibson writes smart women and manly men, I'll keep reading her books.

This is a fun, easy read. Very cute series, I read them all in about a week. I hope she has more to come.

Fun story. Straight romance.

I read Book 5 first where Ty wasn't seen as the nicest character until the end, so it was kind of cool to see his character here. He was a total sweetheart here. Faith, being a gold-digger, I didn't think I would like her but I did. I think the other review was right, we could have done without the "Layla" insights. I didn't hate that but I didn't think it was necessary. Faith alone was enough. Works well as a stand-alone book.

Really looking forward to Bo's story with Faith's assistant.

Another great book by Rachel Gibson that I couldn't put down. This is my favorite out of See Jane Score and Nothing But Trouble mostly because of the characters!

Faith Duffy is wife to the late Virgil Duffy who owned the Chinooks hockey team in Seattle. Upon his death, he left his team to Faith, much to her (and the rest of the Duffys') surprise! She knows nothing about hockey and didn't care for it much before this turn of events, but she decides not to sell the team only to butt heads with the team captain Ty Savage. Their initial feelings soon turn into attraction and a relationship ensues just as the Chinooks take their run at getting the Stanley Cup.

My opinion? Gibson had substance and depth to her characters and plot and I couldn't read it fast enough! Although Faith was a former stripper and Playmate, the story of how she got there, her reasons, and how she changed endeared her to me when I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Ty is strong and belligerent but determined and I loved how Gibson showed hockey in this book. Mentions of Jane & Luc were also nice to see as well as some of the other familiar hockey players in the series. The rushed ending was expected as I've read two of her books before this one where the same thing happened, but it's still a negative point. Overall though loved this one!