It Must Be Love
Grade : B+

One of my all time keepers is Rachel Gibson's Truly, Madly, Yours. I don't know if that's because I have spent a great deal of my life obsessing about my hair, but I think it's got more to do with the witty, fast-paced situations and characters Ms. Gibson created. I am glad to say that It Must be Love is nearly as enjoyable.

The priceless opening pages introduce us to one Gabrielle Breedlove, with a name "like a porno star," and Joe Shanahan, the undercover detective who's been following her because she is a suspect in the theft of a priceless Monet, owned by Norris Hillard, the Potato King. Little does poor Joe know that Gabrielle thinks he's been stalking her and that he's about to have the tables turned on him with a blast of hairspray to his face and a knee to his groin, not to mention the derringer she has pointed at his nose. After he manages to get the upper hand and arrests her for assault and lays the charges of theft in front of her, Gabrielle's only recourse is to let Joe pose as her boyfriend and let him work for her at her store, Anomaly.

Much of Joe's time at Anomaly is spent doing handiwork and searching for proof to incriminate Kevin Carter, Gabrielle's business partner, whom he believes is the mastermind behind the theft; the rest of his time is spent trying to ignore Gabrielle and the mutual lust they feel. The lust is there, however, tempered by the knowledge that involvement between an informant and a detective is a no-no, but there are several deliciously heated encounters before Joe and Gabrielle finally consummate the relationship.

It Must be Love is pure enjoyment, and more. Although plot twists and turns are spare, and although we have meet these characters before - the macho cop and the airy-fairy free spirit - they are set apart by how Gibson treats them. Joe can be a little raw at times and claims he's willing to marry some attractive Martha Stewart-type who can keep his house and keep him fed, but we know better than that. We know he is no ordinary jock-stud who'll leave the little woman to clear the table after dinner, and we know that once Gabrielle gets under his skin, he will reconcile his abstract "dream wife" to the reality of the woman he can't live without.

Gabrielle, who could easily have been annoyingly "out there," becomes instead a likable woman who simply views the world from a slightly different perspective. She values a person's soul instead of their looks, trusts her instincts, and is baffled by her attraction to this man, who is unlike every man she's ever dated, who can send her to prison if she doesn't cooperate, and who becomes the subject of several of her paintings (and that is all I will say on that subject).

The secondary characters serve to better define Joe and Gabrielle; Joe's sisters may be annoying and obviously desperate to see him settled down, but they are sweetly eager to show him at his best when they see the chemistry between the pair. Gabrielle's mother breezily predicts the arrival of a dark, passionate lover in her life, but is there for her daughter when Gabrielle's heart is broken and she realizes she loves Joe.

Although not a keeper for me, I found It Must be Love very, very enjoyable. If you have read and enjoyed Rachel Gibson's books before, you know you're in for a good time, and if you haven't, I strongly encourage you to pick up this latest offering.

Reviewed by Claudia Terrones
Grade : B+

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : March 31, 2000

Publication Date: 2000

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Claudia Terrones

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