As exasperating as Bobby Tom is, he's also the most generous and colorful person Gracie has ever come across. He plays down his smarts by acting the part of good ole boy, and hides his hurts behind a dazzling smile and armloads of women. Gracie can see past all the glitzy showmanship Bobby Tom displays to the world straight into the heart of a decent, caring man who can't say no. Gracie doesn't want to be just another person Bobby Tom gives money to, so instead of letting him do her any favors, she pays her own way. She wants him to know that there's at least one person out there who's not asking him for a hand-out. Though wait until she finds out about the secret B.T.'s been keeping from her....

My thoughts:

At first I didn't think I was going to like this book, mainly because of Bobby Tom. I figured he was going to be a total pig while Gracie had to sit back and watch him sleep with a bunch of women while he treated her like crap. But he wasn't like that, and then he grew on me, and soon I could understand why Gracie fell so hard for him. He was a star, whether he knew it or not, and people gravitated towards him, women especially. Gracie saw this, and though a part of her was intimidated, she also saw how the only one he paid attention to was her. She made him laugh, and got him angry, and didn't put up with his bullshit. Even still, Bobby Tom thought he could manage Gracie, and when he realized he couldn't, things started to change for him. His feelings for Gracie became real to him, more real than anything he's ever known, and he finally figures this out and still almost loses the best thing that's ever happened to him. The guy deserved a good smack upside the head. I think Gracie was just the woman for the job.

In addition to Bobby Tom's & Gracie's budding romance, I also pretty much liked the developing relationship between Bobby Tom's mother and a man whom B.T. absolutely hated. It was not an easy one; there's a lot of history there, anger and hurt as well, and even some deception in the beginning that got my back up. But it was a complicated situation, and while it wasn't completely pretty at times, the way it played out was believable, and soon I was rooting for them just as much as I was for Bobby Tom and Gracie.

The few things that I didn't like about this book were the obligatory make-over scene for Gracie, although I was relieved it wasn't more dramatic than it ended up being. I'll admit, she really didn't know how to play up her assets and make the most of her hair and slim body. So yeah, I kinda justified that one.

The other thing that drove me nuts is how everything was on Bobby Tom's schedule. So what if a whole movie crew was waiting on him? Let 'em. That attitude bothered the hell out of me. I just felt he would never have been so disrespectful to his football coach, so what gave him the right to to so while working on this movie he signed on to do? A job's a job, and I didn't always like how he blew things off like that. I got that making movies wasn't a passion of his, and that his career ended sooner than expected because of a serious injury. But he was 33 years old, and it was time for him to grow up. I think Gracie really helped him do that because she tried to give him options. She didn't like to see him hurting, but she also saw all the potential he had bubbling inside of him. His life was not over, even if he'd never play football again.

This was a really engrossing book, and I stayed up all Sunday night reading it. Once I started I couldn't stop. It made me crazy at times, but it also made me cry a bit, laugh a lot, and generally fall in love with the characters. I've since gone ahead and ordered the rest of the Chicago Stars books, and can't wait til they're in my hot little hands. I can see why SEP has such a following. Good stuff, Maynard.

Rating: ****1/2 out of *****

Labels: reviews, SEP