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Favorite Romances Series: Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson
  | Truly Madly Yours Rachel Gibson Romance Novel 1999 $6.99 Rating: |
AAccording to my database, I've read Truly Madly Yours at least three times. Personally, I think it's closer to five. I read it this month as a comfort read. Why I find it comforting I'm not exactly sure, but I can tell you that, for sheer sexual tension, this ones got few competitors in the romance genre.
The book's plot rests on a very unlikely scenario. Delaney Shaw's adoptive father Henry dies having arranged his will in a very manipulative way. The document states that Delaney will inherit half of his considerable estate if she stays in Truly, Idaho for one complete year. His illegitimate son, Nick Allegrezza, stands to inherit two valuable properties if he does not have sex with Delaney. The will, on its surface, seems to want Nick and Delaney to stay away from each other, but Henry had something more complicated in mind. He knew these two had a past, and he knew that they both hated Henry telling them what to do. So it remains to be seen whether the two will succeed in meeting the will's stipulations or whether they will act as entirely inappropriately as they have in the past, risking humiliation and loss because the spark between them is too tempting not to touch...
Honestly, what makes this book for me is Nick Allegrezza. He is a smoking hot alpha jerk, and I loved everything about him. I loved him when he was coarse and blunt. I loved him when he was calling Delaney on the carpet. I loved him when he was pulling Delaney to the carpet...Whew! Fan me off! Nick is a combination of outsider/bad boy and biggest catch in town. As Henry's unacknowledged bastard, he lived his life beyond the pale until he reached adulthood. Since then, he's made himself a financial success. He's also gorgeous and able, decisive and strong. And yet, he's hung up on Delaney - always has been and always will be. She is forbidden, and he smoulders for her, often pushing her away then pulling her back as his emotions seesaw between desire and fear of rejection. He's a bit more psychologically complex than I'd expect from an Avon contemporary. Definitely not tortured, but he's not entirely in control of himself either. Delaney makes him vulnerable in ways he hates and rails against.
Delicious.
Delaney is so much fun as a female protagonist. She's down to earth and yet quirky and fun. She dresses in some rather shocking ensembles for Truly and craves independence from the town, Henry, and her overly constrained mother. Delaney isn't beautiful, but she isn't afraid to work what she has and she isn't afraid of working for a living. She's a hair stylist by training, and her job provides the context for her ambitions and outlook. She schemes to take down her old rival, Helen's, salon and judges people by their split ends. Her feelings for Nick are also complex, and, while she can't quite keep away from him, she also wants to take him on her terms and her terms alone. She's not his doormat or his disposable date.
The sexual tension between the two of them is really strong throughout the book. They enjoy playing games with each other and like pitting their wits too, and, though Delaney rarely triumphs in their verbal sparring, she often enjoys the process and the loss of control. The will provides another great source of conflict. The reader wants them to get together and yet wants Delaney to have her inheritance too. This is not a plot driven book, but the terms of the will - that year required of Delaney - do provide a natural structure and pacing.
Rachel Gibson's sense of humor is on exhibit here throughout their many exchanges. I loved their verbal barrages and Delaney's mental monologues. I also liked how Nick's Basque heritage was incorporated in the book.
Great conflict, great hero, great heroine, and smoldering tension throughout - what's not to love? I think I always worry that this next re-read is going to be the disappointing one, that I'll have gotten everything I can out of Truly Madly Yours. But five re-reads and counting, and I'm still highly entertained and sometimes even touched by the antics of these two crazy kids.