Simply Irresistible

De: Rachel Gibson

Narrado por: Kathleen Early

Georgeanne Howard leaves her fiancé at the altar when she realizes she can't marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, no matter how rich he is. Hockey superstar John Kowalsky unknowingly helps her escape, and only when it's too late does he realize that he's absconded with his boss's bride. This bad boy isn't looking to be anybody's savior but his own. Still, a long night stretches ahead of them - a night too sultry to resist temptation.

Seven years later, Georgeanne and John meet again. She is on her way to becoming Seattle's domestic darling and he is past his hellraising days. Shocked to learn that he has a daughter, John's determined to be part of her life. Georgeanne has loved John since the moment she jumped into his car, but will he risk the wrath of his boss, and one final chance at glory, to prove that this time his love will be everlasting?

©1998 Rachel Gibson (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

At long last!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is my favorite Rachel Gibson book. I was thrilled to find it was finally available on audio. The story of John and Georgie is filled with heart and humor.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the arc of both John and Georgie, how they grew and changed. I also loved the dialogue between Lexi and her mother, and between Lexi and her new found father. And the parallel between both Lexi's insecurities and Georgie's insecurites. Very sweet.

Which character – as performed by Kathleen Early – was your favorite?

She did a wonderful job on Georgie. Georgie's southern drawl was not over done as they sometimes are. It was just enough to always know that this was a southern gal.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

As always with Rachel Gibson books, there was laughter as well as heartfelt awwwwwws.

Any additional comments?

It is my sincere hope that more (ALL) of Rachel Gibson's backlist of books will be available soon on audible. I will keep checking!

Started out good but…

This story started good but as the story progressed, interactions between main characters felt force even lack of chemistry. I was waiting for some kind of tension since they have not seen each other in seven years. The H came back as if no time has passed. The h was supposed to be independent and strong. I sure didn’t feel it. I’m glad I got this on sale and won’t recommend it, unless you don’t care to waste your money. The narrator saved me from giving up.

Love this series

Light, fun, and it made me laugh. What more can you ask for? Can’t wait to read more.

As good now as it was back then

I started reading romance novels about the same time Rachel Gibson started publishing them. I'm pretty sure I read Simply Irresistible circa 1998 when it was new and I remember that I loved it -- really, really loved it. When I saw there was to be a new audiobook of this beloved story that I had very tender feelings about I was a little afraid to test my memory and see if my love was still strong. Well, hell yeah!

There's an awful lot of talk in romancelandia about tropes-tropety-trope-tropes that seem to serve a purpose for some reviewers in allowing them to pigeonhole, condemn, dismiss the lovely things about romance novels that made me fall in love with them in the first place. Let's see, here we have a bimbo-ish heroine, an alpha sports star asshole hero, a meet-cute, a one-night stand, a secret baby, a long separation, infidelity, a cute kid, and a woman who rejects help from her very wealthy (this was before billionaires were all the rage) baby daddy. I loved every word of it. It was fresh back then and it holds up very nicely in the hands of a talented writer of Rachel Gibson's skill who knows how to work a ROMANCE. It's warm and funny and hot and sexy.

Narrated by Kathleen Early, who does an adequate job. There are narrators who could have punched it up, but the the story is most important here and Early didn't really add to or detract from it.

Her First is My Favorite

I first found Rachel Gibson in one of her later books, in her series about the Chinooks hockey team (True Love and Other Disasters), and that was my first in the category of "Romance". I enjoyed that book so much, I went on to listen to others she had written. When I ran out of Audible versions, I switched to Kindle (not my preferred method, as a spine injury makes reading difficult) and so I read this book before I listened to it.

In both book format and audio, this story remains my favorite by Gibson and one of my favorites in the category of Romance. Georgeanne's character is immediately likable, as are the other characters in the story. The story, like all romances, follows a typical pattern, but the story and its characters pull you along as boy meets girl, gets girl, loses girl, and chases her again.

As another reviewer remarked, what Georgeanne hides at the start of the story is not a act that one can condone, however, I feel that Gibson makes it at least an understandable move by Georgeanne and does not promote that kind of behavior.

Overall, I appreciate Gibson's ability to develop her characters well and create romantic tension without the melodrama I've seen in other books (tragic pasts of poor behavior or treatment--it's just not necessary and kills the escapism of the genre). Gibson's books don't go to any extremes describing intimate scenes, and she concentrates on the story between the two lead characters without getting overly sappy.

The narrator was quite good and did not detract from the story (which I already knew). This book was definitely worth a credit.

enjoy

love Kathleen Early and the book was awesome. couldn't stop listening. I enjoyed all characters!!

There's books are well written & make u feel good!

one of the previous reviews mentioned that Rachel Gibson is Susan Elizabeth Phillips-Lite. I would like to address that - Rachel's books have all the best parts of SEP books, however, they don't torture protagonist or have absurdly mean people to get the protagonist into weird situations. Rachel Gibson's books are plausible, they provide a typical amount of strife as in anyone's life, however, there are good times spread throughout just like in real life.

she does have a strong voice, her women are intelligent, determined, and when faced with a situation pull themselves up by their bootstraps as they (and we) all should. She is a GREAT AUTHOR!

This is the first book in the Chinooks hockey team series so I can't honestly say it's the best but it sure is a nice start to the series. I highly recommend the whole series. Enjoy the book!

Glad I got to read her first effort!

When I started reading contemporary romance I discovered Rachel Gibson fairly quickly. I didn't read her early books because I was already listening to books and only her newer books were in audio. I've always thought of her as "Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Lite". I thought she had real writing skills but her books often echoed SEP with a little Jennifer Crusie thrown in. I enjoyed her books but never thought she had her own voice.

This first book out though was genuinely good. It was polished, tight and well-written, especially for a debut and it definitely made me appreciate her as a unique voice. I still think the sports team theme was a little too obviously borrowed, but she created a truly unique character in Lexi, Georgie and John's daughter. I loved the character Rachel created and the voice the narrator gave her. Whenever she was in a scene the story really glowed. Georgie was a complex character as well. And just annoying enough to be believable.

My only criticism is that John was not as fleshed out as Georgie, Lexi or even other secondary characters. And the transition in his feelings for Georgie was missing. I sensed the author just decided it was time for him to love her so the book could end. I also wondered if an aggressive editor hadn't cut a little too much out of the story line about Georgie's TV career. That part of the story seemed like it was supposed to be important, then it just fizzled out. I usually think books should be shorter. Another 2 chapters would have been appreciated on this one.

Those were actually minor points though. This was a well written and very well narrated book and I highly recommend it.

I went back and read my review of the author's most recent book. Her freshman effort was far better. I hope she finds that voice again.

Is this a re-release????

I own all the other hockey series...Any Man of Mine is still my favorite. But I related to this main character. I appreciated the story RG gave this book. This is a good love story. Yes it is a light read but it is a lovely story. I read to be entertained...this entertained me very well. Thank you.

"Texas, We Cream Everything"

Would you consider the audio edition of Simply Irresistible to be better than the print version?
yes as reader made heroine as sweet as author intended.

Who was your favorite character and why?
Georgie, as she didn't have a bad bone in her body, wished others well, and overcame issues many others just give up on or endure.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
Ms Early has so much potential and she can deliver. She will have to work on her male voices as she barely has one. She did manage to still make you feel the big "hunky-ness" of our hero, but that was due to her delivery of good author's words.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I had purchased about 6 of this author's books all at once and found this was one of the sweetest characters author writes about. Georgie steals your heart with her learned charm.

Any additional comments?
If you enjoy this author, try Julie James series, the best, and Jill Shelves read by the great Karen White.
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