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Daisy's Back in Town

Daisy's Back in Town

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Reluctantly, I have to agree - disappointing : (
Review: I've never rated a Rachel Gibson book less than 4 stars (most of them I consider 5 star reads) but this one does disappoint. If you've read all of Ms Gibson's books this story may sound familiar. It's a bit TRULY MADLY YOURS with a touch of SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE thrown in.

Daisy, Steven and Jack were inseparable as children doing everything together. But by high school Daisy had blossomed into a beauty that both Steven and Jack wanted, so in order to preserve their friendship, they agree that Daisy is off limits. Daisy adores them both, but she has stronger feelings for reckless bad boy Jack (don't we always!) so when Daisy makes it clear that she wants Jack, their agreement is forgotten as Jack and Daisy meet secretly. But just after graduation the world falls apart ' Jack's parents die in a car wreck leaving him responsible for his younger brother Billy and the family business. And at this same time Daisy discovers that she is pregnant. Daisy is frantic about what to do. When she attempts to tell Jack about the baby, he is not in a place where he can even listen and tells her that he 'needs some time' to deal with the sudden changes in his life. Daisy hears 'it's over' and decides (with influence from Steven and her mom who never approved of Jack) that the best thing for all concerned is for Daisy to take Steven up on his offer to marry her and take her away. Jack already has too much to deal with and doesn't need to be burdened further. And so Jack is left to believe that after all they had meant to each other, that his two best friends have betrayed him and left him all alone when he needed them most.

Fifteen years later, Daisy has returned to her small hometown, a widow on a mission. Steven has died and she now must honor Steven's last wishes to personally deliver a letter from Steven to Jack and to tell him that he has a son, Nathan, that he never knew existed. Daisy knows that Jack will not take this well and is not looking forward to this confrontation, but it has to be done and she won't chicken out. You can imagine his reaction to seeing her again and then hearing her news. He's understandably pissed and unpleasant. Jack's challenge is to conquer his anger, get to know his son and somehow try to forgive Daisy and Steven. It's a choice between being alone, bitter and stuck in the past or reuniting with the woman he has always loved and finally being a father to his son.

But the characters here are simply not up to the author's usual standards. Though we've all made mistakes in life, this one's a whopper and as a result Daisy is not a very sympathetic character. Her inability to fully appreciate that she REALLY hurt Jack and that keeping his son from him for most of his life was REALLY WRONG frustrates. Yes, you can't change the past and what's done is done, but for crying out loud, Jack deserved and needed the time to work out his anger and his sense of betrayal and she should have better understood that. And though I fully sympathized with Jack, he was not all that likeable or sexy or appealing ' certainly not to the standard of other Gibson leading men like Nick from TRULY MADLY YOURS or Luc from SEE JANE SCORE or Dylan from TRUE CONFESSIONS. His feelings for Daisy seemed more of the lust variety than deep emotion and his forgiveness of Daisy happens so quickly and abruptly that it may just give you whiplash! And some of the secondary characters seemed to exist only to drive the plot ' her sister Lily for one whose sole purpose seemed to be to give Daisy an excuse to stay longer than expected and to bring Nathan to town. And I found her mother's rambling as annoying as the rest of the characters did (if I want to experience that I can talk to my own mother!). But I did enjoy Nathan and Jack's brother Billy ' the best and most realistic characters in the book! Not Ms Gibson's finest hour, but I'm not giving up on this author. I'm hoping the next one meets the standard of prior, better books.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's all about forgiveness
Review: (Warning: This review discusses key plot points.) This book isn't perfect, nor is it Rachel Gibson's best, but I think it's interesting that Daisy's character has provoked so much loathing among some readers. She's not an ax murderer, for heaven's sake. She is a woman who, when she was 18, was in crisis and made what she thought was the best decision at the time. As a reader, I could accept Daisy as a flawed person, and that, despite the passing of 15 years, time and circumstances had kept her from owning up to what she'd done. (It was much harder to believe that she hadn't been back to her hometown in 15 years, or that no one had spilled Daisy's "big secret" ahead of time.) And perhaps Jack did forgive her a little too easily. But I liked that, in this story at least, two people could work past hurt and anger to find forgiveness and build a relationship that was in the best interests of their son. As always, I enjoyed the way Gibson built her characters, even the minor ones like Nathan's friend Brandy Jo, and all the pop culture references (Godsmack!) and, wow, the wonderful and steamy passages about love, romance and, yes, let's hear it for lust! It made me want to go back and re-read all her previous novels, which line part of a shelf in my library, and "Daisy" definitely will be joining them.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Daisy May Be Back, But Ms. Gibson Is On Vacation!
Review: I hate to jump on a bandwagon and like most that have reviewed this book I also pre-ordered it but to add insult to injury I then saved it for my Spain vacation--what better way to spend a vacation but to soak up some sun and read a great book?!?!?! Well, my bad, great sun, not so great book. In fact I donated my copy to the hotel library. As you have already probably read the characters are not at all likeable (not one single one!!!), the plot is sad, and in the end there was none of the trademark Gibson humor to see you through. Do yourself a favor and borrow this one from a friend or buy it second hand. This is not Ms. Gibson's best effort but I do truly look forward to her next book. Let's face it you can't always be on top and this one is really on the bottom.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: uhm... weird book!
Review: i found this book to be rather odd!! not one of my favorites at all!! i mean i just couldn't get passed what Daisy and Steven did to Jack... why should she get a happy ending?! i felt bad for Jack throughout the whole book... i mean i don't know how i would react if i found out i had a son 15 yrs. ago and didn't get to see him grow up.

this is a very weird book... read at your own risk!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Definitely not her best
Review: I like Rachel Gibson as an author, but DAISY'S BACK IN TOWN is not her best work; far from it.

Ms. Gibson usually writes romances that sizzle. There are a few themes that run through one or more of her books; for example, LOLA CARLYLE REVEALS ALL had tones of SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE. Still, these two stories each were unique. In contrast, DAISY is a mish-mash of devices that have worked for this author in the past, thrown together here in the apparent hope that these will coalesce into a good plot.

Want to read about two kids who had had crushes on each other once-upon-a-time and finally are reunited as adults? Her book TRULY MADLY YOURS beats DAISY any day. And for a story about a girl who "forgot" to tell the father of their baby that they had become parents, Ms. Gibson's SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE is the best.

As for the woman returning after decades to her hometown, Susan Elizabeth Phillips tops anything that Rachel Gibson has written in Ms. Phillips' new novel, AIN'T SHE SWEET.

Yet all of these elements show up in DAISY'S BACK IN TOWN, and with far less success than in their first airings.

In DAISY, the conflicts are revealed too easily, resolved too quickly--and even too happily. Despite the obvious fact that this is a genre that requires a happy ending, the conclusion of DAISY just is too pat. Although the genre actually requires sexual conflict that concludes in great passion, Ms. Gibson could have phoned in these love scenes. It almost seems as if her editor begrudged her the space to explore the story fully.

Rachel Gibson has done her previously-excellent reputation no service with DAISY'S BACK IN TOWN. Do yourself a favor and read one of her earlier novels instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 20/20 Hindsight
Review: Rachel Gibson usually writes deliciously fun fluff, but this book is MORE. It's more serious, it's more touching, it's more difficult to sympathize with her realistic characters. It's also darned funny, tender, sexy and well-written.

If you've read the synopsis, you know that Daisy, Steven and Jack were friends since the 2nd grade. When they became teenagers, the guys both realized that they were harboring feelings for Daisy that went beyond friendship. Daisy loved them both, but fell in love with Jack and secretly they became lovers. Then tragedy: Jack's parents are killed in an auto accident leaving him in charge of his younger brother and the family business. He finds 18-year-old Daisy to be clingy and jealous and pushes her away while he deals with grief and the urgency of making a living. But Daisy has discovered she's pregnant. Jack rejected her, obviously doesn't love her anymore. Terrified, she confesses her troubles to Steven, who snaps her up.

So how mature were you at 18? That's a nightmare scenario for a teenage girl like Daisy, a dream opportunity for a teenage boy like Steven. It's easy to dictate what they all should have done, but in real life you screw up. And once you do, you seem to keep building on the first bungled decision. So 15 years after Daisy and Steven leave town, the widowed Daisy returns with Jack's teenage son.

Pain, love, resentment and anger, feelings of betrayal and longing are all realistically laid out for the reader to feel. A surprisingly fine book from a dependable author. Highly recommended.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not a good read!
Review: This is one of those books which I really regretted buying. I was hooked on See jane score and was hoping that daisy's back in town is just as engaging. Sadly, it was not so.
Has a bad plot, no humor and yes, the woman is shallow. How I wish I didnt buy it in the first place and just borrowed from someone.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bad Editing!
Review: I was not surprised to see such a large number of negative reviews for Daisy's Back in Town. I, too, felt it was not Rachel Gibson's best work. Storyline aside, I felt this book lacked a good editor. The spelling of Jack's receptionist Penny's last name goes back and forth from Kribs to Cribs over the course of the novel. The worst gaffe, however, was the book's reference to "Hans Solo" (a Star Wars reference). Even as a person who is not a Star Wars fan, I know that the proper spelling of Harrison Ford's character's name is Han Solo. In their eagerness to place these books in the hands of the teeming masses, romance publishers are neglecting the quality of what they publish.
The storyline seemed predictable, and there was nothing exemplary, unique, or exciting about it. As others have stated, Getting Lucky was a much better read.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Hated It!!
Review: I started reading this book, and immediately had strong negative feeling for the heroine. I Thought it was just me and my personal values. I decided to check for reviews and had no idea that so many people felt the same way. What is there to like and admire about someone that betrays you in such a horrible way at such a horrible time.

The timing of the betrayal and the two people who were closest to Jack in the world, and who should have been there for him at a time when both parents were killed so suddenly and unexpectedly, insteads run off and takes his child with them. A child that could have been the saving grace for a man who had just lost so much.

Also, Daisy comes back to town for selfish reasons, and can't understand why Jack is avoiding her and giving her a hard time.

I also feel that what goes aound should come around - and the fact that Steven died such a horrible death indicates to me that God does not like ugly (and what they did was ugly) so therefore he reaped what he sowed, and I couldn't even feel sorry for someone who was dying. Now THAT'S SAD!!

This was not a book to enjoy given the character of the main character. I felt that she did not deserve a "happily ever after" ending after the pain and sorrow that she caused with the stupid, bad, immature, insensitive and callous way she treated the father of her child.

I absolutely "HATED" this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Daisy's Back in Town
Review: I can understand why some people panned this book, especially when you compare it to some of the author's other books. But I really liked this book. I agree that there should have been an epilogue...I felt like the book just ended flat (I kept turning the pages at the end thinking I missed something.) But overall, I liked Daisy and Jack. But I also liked how Daisy and Steven's relationship was described, as well as Nathan and Steven's relationship. I thought the camping scene was very funny - and it showed that Jack was willing to work at growing up and making a relationship with both Nathan and Daisy. This may not be Rachel Gibson's best, but I don't think she has a worst. I love them all!


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