Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Sex, Lies and Online Dating by Rachel Gibson

After reading several dark historicals and paranormals in a row I was in the mood for a lighter contemporary book. SLAOD filled the bill fairly well. Also Gibson always delivers something hot and sexy and I'm always in the mood for that.

My fav Gibsons are Truly, Madly Yours and See Jane Score but SLAOD didn't quite live up to those for me. I enjoyed it but it definitely had it's problems. Although a bit on the fluffy side with a completely implausible plot, the characters were well done and the humor was good. It was a fast easy read and I finished it quickly.

Lucy Rothchild, a murder mystery writer, is working on a new book that features a female serial killer who meets her victims online. In the name of research she decides to do some internet dating with guys with online names like "luvstick" and "bigdaddy182". Quinn McIntyre is a police detective working on a case involving a female serial killer who meets her victims online and kills them using erotic asphyxiation (what a coincidence - just like the plot of Lucy's unpubbed book!) and he creates a persona "hardluvnman" and trolls around picking up women searching for the killer. Quinn and Lucy meet online and agree to a date at the local Starbucks. Both Lucy and Quinn are pretending to be something they're not: she says she's a nurse, he says he's a plumber. But they are instantly attracted to each other.

Quinn is convinced Lucy is lying about being a nurse and she seems to know too much about the crime he is investigating. So she becomes his number one suspect. I had a bit of a problem with the scene where Quinn, still suspecting she's a serial killer, tries to lure her into trying to kill him. He has his house wired for sound and video. There was a lot of kissing, groping, sighing and moaning and he brings her to orgasm, all of it recorded on audio tape. He had maneuvered her into the hallway so not all is on video but still it bothered me that a guy would do all that in the name of catching a killer. Before they get to the bedroom, he is called away by a phone call. The real killer has struck again. Lucy is very hurt when Quinn reveals that he suspected her of being a killer. I had a real problem with the fact that Quinn did not GROVEL nearly enough to satisfy me. When Lucy's life is threatened by the real killer, she goes running back into his arms way to easily. Also Lucy had a TSTL moment near the end but I don't totally blame her.

However, I did enjoy the book over all. The sex scenes were yummy and the action was plentiful but did not take over the romance. Just not Gibson's best IMHO.

My grade: B-

9 comments:

CindyS said...

Crap. Wasn't this the book I just bought? No grovel? May have to move farther down on the TBR pile. Course that would suggest I have some sort of system - and I don't.

CindyS

Kristie (J) said...

I'm with you on your two favourites. They're mine too. And I'm with you on this one. It's not my favourite but it's OK - well - a little better than OK but not great. I'm a bit surprised she has another one due out so soon since she usually only writes one a year and I'm looking forward to seeing a return to the See Jane Score level. It's odd. I don't consider her an autobuy author, yet I buy everything she writes. Go figure :)

Tara Marie said...

I can't keep all her books straight, so I guess none are real keepers, but some are really fun reads. I liked this one, but had the same issues.

Quoting Kristie...I don't consider her an autobuy author, yet I buy everything she writes.

Ditto for me.

~ames~ said...

I read this one last week (no, I didn't review it yet. :P) and it was the first time I ever read Rachel Gibson. So I liked it enough to want to read more of her books. I bought See Jane Score on the weekend, and I'm glad it's one of your faves.
What about Daisy's Back in Town - is that any good? It's already in my TBR pile.

Rosario said...

I thought this one was very blah. It had some nice moments and it was a quick read, but nothing special.

Noneya said...

I've never read this author...do the books need to be read in any order?

I'm with you CindyS...no system to keep my TBR organized.sigh...another thing to work on...

Sandie

ReneeW said...

Cindy: No, you should read this soon. I want your opinion. Really, it's not bad.

Kristie & Tara: It's odd but ditto for me too. Looking for the next one too.

Ames: I read Daisy's Back in Town and gave it a B+. Love to hear your opinions on these.

Rosario: It wasn't blah for me. It was fun but the plot was implausible as hell.

Sandie: No, you don't need to read any of Gibson in order. I organized my TBR by author once but it's a mess again.

Anonymous said...

I think Gibson was doing a book spiral with Sex, Online... and the next two she has coming out, since they're all about that group of three friends. Kind of like the spiral Kasey Michaels is doing with the Romney Marsh trilogy.

ReneeW said...

I don't think I've heard the term 'book spiral' before. Does that mean series?

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