So, I guess everyone knows that I am a big Rachel Gibson fan. Simply Irresistible was fabulous and I was thrilled to find that Truly, Madly Yours was as well.

Truly, Madly Yours is a classic good girl/bad boy story. Delaney Shaw was the adopted daughter of her small Idaho town’s mayor. From the time she was a young girl she was haunted by the town’s bad boy Nick Allegrezza, who coincidentally is the illegitimate son of Delaney’s adopted father Henry. Young Nick is both resentful and fascinated by Delaney and finds himself uncontrollably drawn to her.

The story starts on the day of Henry’s funeral. Delaney had been living out of the town for several years after a falling out with her parents and only returned to pay her proper respects. She is shocked a few days later to discover that Henry has left her several million dollars in his will. There’s a catch of course. She has to remain in the town Truly, Idaho for one year before she will receive the money. Not only that, but there’s another surprise. Nick has been deeded some very expensive and desirable property on the condition that he does not enter into a sexual relationship with Delaney for the period of one year.

They had a mutual attraction that was never totally squelched and all of a sudden they had the mystery and allure of a forbidden romance. Who could possibly resist temptation like that?

I didn’t think it was at all possible, but I found Truly Madly Yours funnier than Simply Irresistible. This book has hilarious examples of just how twisted small town life can be, including cantankerous nosy old ladies and petty competition between old high school rivals. Also, the ways Delaney tries to rebel against her mother and everything Truly add a lot to the zaniness of the book.

And best of all, underlying the humor in the novel is a great love story. One of my friends, who shall remain nameless for her own protection, is madly in love with the character of Nick. He’s the typical bad boy with the heart of gold, but he’s anything but formulaic. Most men would run screaming from Delaney’s particular brand of wackiness, but he embraces it. What a guy.

As a teaser I will also say that the nameless friend mentioned above was a big fan of the car sex scene. And if you want to know anything else, go read the book!

-- A.B.

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