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I’m In No Mood For Love is split right down the middle for me as far as grading went. The first half of the book had me wishing for a time machine so that I could rethink my choice in picking this title, while the last half was thoroughly enjoyable. I settled for a C and then realized that if I had to pick only one half of a book to be good, I’d rather it be the last half, hence the plus.
One thing I can say about the overall result is that it had good bones. I liked the plot: Clare Wingate awakens the day after her friend’s wedding in a hotel room, practically naked and with a man she hasn’t seen since she was ten-years-old.
Clare indulged a bit too much at the bar the evening before, but with good reason. She found her fiancé on the floor of her closet with the washing machine repairman earlier that afternoon. Apparently it should have been clear to her earlier on that her boyfriend is more interested in his own sex than hers, but Clare is a sucker for love.
Running into (and apparently sharing a hotel room with) Sebastian Vaughan is not what she would call a happy experience. Here is my first problem with the story. Sebastian is the son of Clare’s mother’s groundskeeper. He visited his father during summers up until he was twelve. The author doesn’t give us much groundwork for the animosity that these two still harbor after twenty years. Maybe if they were angst-ridden teenagers when they last saw each other I could buy it, but the level of disgust they both share is overdone. We know that Sebastian would pull her pigtails, throw mud on her dress, and eventually tell her exactly how babies are made. The latter was the reason he wasn’t allowed back at the estate. Clare was the perfect child who wouldn’t get dirty or have any fun. It’s not like he killed her dog, or anything. They were normal kids who seemed to spend a lot of time together. I wanted to yell, “You were kids. Get over it.” Sheesh!
As adults I didn’t like either of them for the first 200 pages or so. Sebastian was a jerk – Clare uptight and flighty. They annoyed me so much that I didn’t even want them to get together. I barely understood where Clare was coming from half the time and some of Sebastian’s remarks left me cold.
But then they went to bed together and, ta-da!, they were a great couple with a good romance going on. The two have more time together in the last half, something that is lacking in the first. We see a gentler side to Sebastian and a glimpse of who Clare really is. I only wish that there were more of the great couple that we see near the end, earlier in the book.
Rachel Gibson’s established fans will most likely enjoy this one, if only for the update on the couple from the previous installment in this series. However, I would recommend one of her more popular novels, See Jane Score, for first timers.
Grade: C+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 21/09/06
Publication Date: 2006/10
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.