I am not a hard reader to please, but lately it seems that I have come across a streak of very mundane series romances. No really bad ones, but no charming or memorable ones either until now. Jennifer Greene’s Rock Solid features a heroine who in any other writer’s hands would have me running for the anti-pixie spray. But Greene knows how to make her heroines endearing and charming but not ditzy or twee. I ended up loving the heroine Lexie Wolfe, the hero Cash McKay, his nephew Sammy, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly with this little book.

Lexie Wolfe is a high powered financier. She can’t miss when it comes to making money and has been dubbed The Pixie With The Midas Touch on the financial news. Lexie has been having some bad symptoms lately – panic attacks, insomnia, etc. Her doctor diagnoses stress and prescribes R&R. Lexie is in denial, she is one of those 24/7 workaholics who gets antsy when she is separated from her cell phone, but finally the symptoms are too much for her to ignore, so she goes to the Silver Mountain Resort, a facility that specializes in the treatment of stressed-out corporate types.

Lexie expects the resort owner, Cash McKay, to be a wizened old Gabby Hayes kind of guy, but he turns out to look more like “the Marlboro Man come to life – sans cigarette.” Of course Lexie and Cash are attracted to each other from the get go even though they seemingly have nothing in common. Lexie loves the city, is allegic to fresh air, lives to make money and can’t walk on level ground without tripping over a pebble. Cash hates the city, loves his isolated outdoor life, he can’t seem to make much money, and is as sure-footed as a mountain goat.

Rock Solid has the slenderest plot I’ve seen in a long time and when the plot is thin to the point of non-existence the characters had better be good. And these were such good ones! There are only a few writers who can make me love heroines who are oh-so-adorably sparkly, perky and cute, but Jennifer Greene can. Lexie is at first glance a bit daffy, but she turns out to be a surprisingly complex character. Lexie lives a charmed and almost magical life – now – but her childhood had been marked by a trauma that will break your heart when she confesses it to Cash. Lexie has not let this trauma make her a bitter woman – sure she can’t help but be affected by it, but she uses her own experience to reach out to Cash’s nephew Sammy who is undergoing a similar trauma in his life.

Cash is not quite as vivid a character as Lexie, but he is a good man with no faults that I could see. Well, maybe he’s a little messy, but he is a guy. Cash is honest and hardworking with a strong nurturing streak and the desire to take care of those he loves. This comes out most strongly in his relationship with Sammy, his 8 year old nephew. Sammy is the son of Cash’s irresponsible sister who has no time for him at all. Sammy and Cash’s bond is strong and loving and when Sammy begins to bond with Lexie, Cash can’t help but worry that when she leaves, it will further sour Sammy’s feelings toward the female sex. Plus he is falling in love with her himself.

It is a tribute to Jennifer Greene’s skill as a writer that by the end of Rock Solid she had me totally convinced that Mr. Chalk and Ms Cheese are going to go together as perfectly as peanut butter and jelly. If you are looking for a short book with snappy, funny dialogue (Jennifer Greene writes some of the best in the field) and characters to laugh with and love, then give Rock Solid a try.