Book Review: Nothing but Trouble by Rachel Gibson

At First Sight: Hockey legend Mark Bressler's career is over. He knows he's lucky to be alive after the the car crash that shattered half of the bones in his body and ended his career. And he is sort of glad to be alive, if it weren't because seeing his team win the Stanley Cup without him is a bit too hurtful. But he is getting along fine, and he would be better, if only his former bosses - who are still paying his medical bills - would stop sending home care workers to his door. 

The latest of such workers is Chelsea Ross, a failed actress who ran out of L.A. after one bad job too many and sought refuge with her sister Bo, who happens to work for the hockey team that used to employ Mark. Chelsea knows little of health care, but she has worked for her fair share of difficult characters and thinks she can stick it out for 3 months with Mark - in which case she gets a 10 thousand dollar bonus. 

None of them is happy with the situation, but they can't seem to resist the kind of trouble the other represents.

Second Glance:  Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson is another story revolving around the Seattle Chinooks. Mark and Chelsea are both very likable characters. Mark is having a hard time looking at the bright side of things, he remains a strong character who wants to live the rest of his life with as much dignity as possible, even though playing hockey was the thing he loved the most before the accident. Chelsea has big plans, and I just generally liked her, she was vulnerable and resilient.

I did have a couple of hang ups with the book. One was that I never liked Chelsea's sister, even though Chelsea herself loved her. There was this part where Chelsea reveals why she wants the bonus and on what she's planning on using it, and Bo's reaction was just... let's just say that all I kept thinking was: "Really? You love your sister and this is all the compassion you have for her?". Which leads to my second hang up: everyone's reactions were way out of proportion. Mostly Bo's and Marks -once he finds out something - but really, it's like. Come on already! And I felt the ending came too quickly.

Bottom Line: Though, for me, Nothing But Trouble it's not up to par with Simply Irresistible or See Jane Score, it does have some of Gibson's trademark awesome writing. It feels very contemporary and it's just a nice book to read on any random afternoon.

1/2