Windy City Showdown: It's The Librarian Vs The Former Marine

First of all Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope the Easter Bunny was very good to you today.

Now down to business.


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I’ve read all of Cathie Linz’s previous books and quite enjoy her as an author. Mad, Bad and Blonde was not one of my favorites.

Dumped at the alter by text message. A sign of the times? This takes social networking to an all new low.

That’s what happened to poor Faith West on her wedding day when her fiancé Alan decided that he wasn't ready to tie the knot with a dull, boring librarian. Faith doesn’t let his rejection get her down though; no way she’s off on her Italian honeymoon solo to have a good time and forget about her cowardly fiancé.

Former Marine Caine Hunter just happens to be in Italy the same time as Faith and it doesn’t take long for this hotty to sooth and comfort the recently jilted Faith. But appearances can be deceiving and Caine is not the lawyer from Philadelphia he is pretending to be and after a hot and steamy night of sex, the morning after discovery of who Caine really is sends Faith racing right back home to Chicago. It doesn’t take long for Caine to cross paths with the newly blonde Faith once again as it turns out he's right from her very own backyard and is a resident of the windy city himself.

Once back home Faith quits her job at the library and goes to work for her father’s P.I. firm West Investigations. Time and time again she “runs” into Caine, who just happens to really be a P.I. for a rival investigation firm of her father’s. Caine is determined to prove his father did not commit suicide and Faith is just as determined to prove that her father did not botch the investigate that ultimately led to the death of the elder Mr Hunter.

So this sounds like it should have been a good beginning to a fun contemporary romance and it did have a few cute moments. Unfortunately I just found myself trying to get through it. I didn’t care if Caine and Faith ended up together or killed each other. There was lots of talk about libraries and landmarks around Chicago and other information that seemed like filler and had little relevance to progressing the story. I found myself doing a lot of skimming.

There was very little romance between Caine and Faith after their quick initial hook-up in Italy, mostly they fought and their arguments were like rapid-fire staccato gunfire. I am sure the dialogue was intended to be witty and fun, but I just found that it made reading the book faster.

Here’s an example:

“I know a shortcut.”
“I bet you do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That I was an idiot to ever get in this car with you. Stop right now.”
“Why? We’re only two block from your condo.”
“I’ll walk.”
“With those?”
“If I have to.”
“You don’t have to. Just stay calm. Don’t panic.”
“I don’t panic.”
“Right. See, here we are. At your front door.”

This is a fast, quick contemporary read and if that's what you are in the market for then you should enjoy Mad Bad and Blonde.

PS: Don't forget to come back and visit on Wednesday for a workout update on my Read-n-Ride challenge!