Pretty entertaining until the end. Then Dylan turned stupid and mean and Hope forgave him way too easy. ( )

This was a quick, cute but forgettable romance. The usual impossibly handsome hero (a cowboy sheriff from Idaho, no less) and impossibly beautiful heroine (who apparently makes a fantastic living working for one of those "Bigfoot spotted in Walmart" tabloids) who try to resist each other because of various secrets in their pasts; but then they have the kind of impossibly mind-blowing sex that stops the earth in its orbit (one scene lasted for 12 pages) and realize that they love each other more than either one ever thought ... possible. ( )

Hope Spenser works for a tabloid writing fictional stories like “300 lb cat eats owner!” She’s come to Gospel, because she’s being stalked by some loony and has lost her muse. Luckily, there’s enough weird stuff that goes on in Gospel to send her muse into overdrive. When I first started the book I didn’t like Hope’s character. She came off as bitchy, but that didn’t take long to change. She turned out to be a fun character, just one that guards herself.

Dylan Taber is the sheriff and has all the single women in town itching to get into his pants. His ex is a famous TV star for a show that sounds suspiciously like Touched by an Angel and it would be bad for multiple reasons if word got out that the head angel had an illegitimate son. So, when he finds out that Hope writes for magazines he gets a little twitchy. Dylan’s a nice a guy, but not one of those perfect saintly types. He’s got some issues that you see him struggling with in the story.

One of my favorite settings for books is small towns. Which is probably because I grew up in one and so the setting is more familiar. Anyway, I picked up True Confessions primarily because it’s set in a small town. I loved Gospel and while some people would find the characters a little too far out there to be believable, I didn’t. While people didn’t have toilet tossing contests in my town I wouldn’t put it past them to decide to put one on. Anyway,all the characters were great, which is good because they were what the plot relied on. The book is a romance, but it’s also about Hope developing friendships and finding a place among the people in Gospel.

However, the speed of the book felt a little off to me. It had a smooth pace at the beginning, but towards the end something started to feel wrong about it. It was a little rushed and the climax was a little boring. It was one of those big misunderstandings, where the heroine is wrongly accused and the hero blows a gasket. Despite that I still enjoyed the story and will probably pick up another book by Gibson in the future.
( )

Have you ever wondered who writes those insanely stupid stories in tabloids about alien abductions or the latest Elvis sightings? In TC, Hope Spencer is just such a writer (I refuse to call her a reporter) for a tabloid in LA. She has decided to come to Gospel, Idaho, because she has run out of ideas and hopes that the small town atmosphere and quirky residents will provide some inspiration. And boy, was she right. Gospel is full of quirky characters just like all stereotypical small towns. But of course they have their hunky sheriff, Dylan Taber. I don't know how many books I have read that feature small towns with quirky characters and a hunky sheriff. Probably dozens. What's up with this, people?

Hope has decided to keep her profession a secret from everyone in town because she didn't want anyone to figure out that all those weird aliens stories were inspired by the town's wacky residents (okay, really, who could see themselves in nutty stories in a tabloid about aliens masquerading as people?). Also, she was being stalked in LA and didn't want the stalker figuring out where she was hiding out. Oh, did I mention that the stalker is a dwarf wrestler? I'm NOT making this stuff up. At this point I'm smacking myself on the forehead wondering if Gibson was on drugs when she wrote this or very clever tongue-in-cheek funny. I went with the latter and the humor actually worked for me. Each chapter begins with a very funny tabloid heading like "Demonic Car Alarm Hypnotizes Community" or "Squirrel is Proven Aphrodisiac".

Dylan, the hunky sheriff, also has a secret. More about that later. At one time he had served as a police officer in LA, but has returned to Gospel to raise his young son alone. Dylan is quite the eligible bachelor in the area with his good looks and aw-shucks country boy charm. When Hope and Dylan meet there is an instant attraction and their sex scenes were pretty steamy. All the characters were well done and funny/likeable. Generally, I don't like kids in books but Dylan's son Adam is great and only plays a small role.

Hope's secret is revealed and then someone finds out Dylan's secret and blabs it to the tabloids. Of course, Dylan blames Hope for spilling the beans and wants nothing to do with her. But Hope had nothing to do with it. This created some conflict but it doesn't last long and we get a quick ending. (Grade: B-)

Basically, TC is a light and fluffy book with nothing deep about it and was a very fast read. Perfect for a vacation while you lay around on the beach after leaving your brain at home. ( )

one of Gibson's earlier novels; a cute story set in a small town with a group of eclectic characters; enjoyed reading for the most part except the ending! ( )