Workout Wednesday: Rules Were Made to Be Broken

Rachel Gibson's Nothing But Trouble was the book of choice this week for the read-n-ride challenge. Love, love, love me some Rachel Gibson. How excited was I when I got home from work last Thursday to find my nice, white little envelope from the Book Depository and me in need of a new book to start at the gym (ummmm not like I don't have a 100 to choose from in the TBR pile O_o).


Here are the results:

♥♥♥♥♥
Pages read 354
Riding Time 1hour 20minutes
Calories Burned 550
Distance Peddled 25.93 miles

Wait a minute...something seems fishy with these results?


Ok, ok I confess. I cheated! I broke my own rules! Revoke my bicycling privileges why don't you!
I had good intentions, I swear I did. I started out reading the book at the gym and I finished it at the gym. It was the in between part where I stayed up til 1:30am when I had to get up for work the next morning at 5:45am that I got into Nothing But Trouble.



For My Thoughts

Did I mention that I love Rachel Gibson? I am a sucker for a sports-themed, contemporary romance and Gibson delivers on all counts.

First of all I must say it's pure Marketing genius to release a book about a hockey player during the height of the NHL playoffs, but you don't have to be a fan of sports or hockey in particular to enjoy Nothing But Trouble because there is very little actual "hockey" action contained within this book.

Mark Bressler, ex-captain of the Seattle Chinooks had it all. Fame, fortune and a brilliant career as a superstar hockey player and in an instant in a life-altering car crash his life was forever changed. He's got a huge chip on his shoulder at the bad blow life has dealt him. His wife left him for greener (as in money) pastures, he walks with a cane, pops Vicodin like they're Tic-Tacs and worst of all he'll never play hockey again. He's pissed at life and is quite content to wallow in his self-pity and isolation and be a big old (albeit HAWT) Mr Crankypants. How can you help but feel empathy for the guy?

Perky, aspiring but out of work actress Chelsea Ross with her blond/reddish/pink hair, colourful clothes (or like she just got off the boat - Mark's words not mine) and big honkin' boobs is not what the Doctor ordered as far as Mark is concerned . He thinks she's his new health care worker, but she's actually been hired by the Chinooks to be Mark's personal assistant. Chelsea's twin sister Bo works in the Chinooks front office and was instrumental in getting Chelsea the gig.

Mark wants an assistant like he wants another hole in his head. He's managed to run off the last few "assistants" the team has sent over to his home in record time and Chelsea isn't going to be the exception if Mark has anything to do with it. He's a man on a mission to get rid of the latest intrusion in his live and the sooner the better.

But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to make ends meet. And with a bonus of $10,000.00 on the line if she can stick it out for 3 months, Mark can do his worse, because Chelsea ain't going nowhere!

Chelsea is obsessed with her boobs. Big honkin' Dolly Parton boobs. I am qualified to work at Hooter's boobs! And they are mentioned again and again. One of the reasons Chelsea agrees to take the job as Mark's assistant is so that she can save enough money to have breast reduction surgery. This is something her family is totally against and can't comprehend. Surprisingly once Mark finds out about her insecurities concerning her large ta-tas and her desire to have the surgery - he is actually very supportive (might also be because while he can appreciate her fine assets, he is actually a leg man). It was just one more reason to fall a little bit more in love with him.

This book could have been entitled Hello House (as in the Fox TV show starring Hugh Laurie) meet Dolly(Parton). That's kind of what the character's reminded me of while reading it.

There are some very funny scenes between these two especially one in which Mark sends Chelsea on an errand to the drugstore to purchase some "items" for him. I have been reading romance novels for alooooong time and one of these items I did not even know existed or that it was possible to buy it from a drug store and not a specialty sex shop. Another very funny scene occurred when Mark was giving Chelsea the silent treatment. She continually bombarded him on his cell phone even though they were in the same house, a few feet apart just to bug him about the most mundane things. I couldn't help but laugh.

Mark and Chelsea are great together...funny and sexy and as mean as he tries to be, she knows just how to handle him and keep him on his toes. My only complaint about the book is a personal one. I need more than a few pages at the end of a book for such a deserving couple to get their HEA. I felt cheated and I wanted and needed to read more.

Rachel Gibson is an auto-buy for me and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Nothing But Trouble delivers nothing but a fun, sexy, funny romp. Run (or BIKE) don't walk to get your copy!

From Goodreads:

TROUBLE...
Chelsea Ross's acting career has been a total bust. The closest she ever came to stardom was her brilliant performance as "Pretty Dead Girl #1." But leaving Hollywood to become the personal assistant to a famous hockey player could be her stupidest career move ever.

MORE TROUBLE...
Injured superstar Mark Bressler's glory days are over. The one time bad boy jock could at least be civil to the pint-sized, pink-haired bombshell who the Seattle Chinooks hired to be his P.A. If Chelsea didn't need the money, she'd be skating away from the world's biggest jerk-on-ice as fast as her feet could carry her.

BIG TROUBLE!
Chelsea can deal with Mark's rotten attitude and dark moods. The problem is those biceps and that red-hot hockey-toned bod! And when the bad boy starts to put the moves on her, Chelsea knows it's time she banished him to the penalty box...if only she could resist the kind of trouble he has in mind!