Ooh here comes my optimism again, the book starts off really good with lots of funny lines. Gemma's inner dialogue reminds me a lot of my own. I love when the firemen keep calling her ma'am and she thinks "When did I go from miss to ma'am?" I have thought that a lot lately also! Strangely it seems to miff me a little bit.
The connection between Gemma and Sean hits hard and fast, they sleep together before they even have a first date. When Sean finds out Gemma practices Wicca you can feel his panic, you know he's thinking "She thinks she's a witch, a witch!" I really sympathized when Gemma grabbed a stuff animal to cuddle with after Sean snuck out; what woman hasn't went to the faithful stuffed animal in times of heartbreak?
I just love how the author writes Gemma. Before Gemma and Sean really get to know each other she imagines how everything is going to be. Again what woman doesn't go a little crazy imagining the perfect date or how every little detail of the relationship is going to pan out. It's great how Deirdre Martin writes what Gemma imagines and then what really happens. No one ever quite imagines it the way it eventually turns out do they?
The author kind of recycles a storyline she used in her other book "Chasing Stanley", Gemma doesn't get along with Sean's friends and Sean doesn't get along with Gemma's friends and then they wonder if they have anything in common since each others friends don't like them. I was a little disgruntled the author wrote the scenes to be so similar.
I really, really liked this book. The book, story line, and characters felt "real" to me. The realness of Gemma and Sean's relationship problems thoroughly sucked me into the story and the back story line involving Gemma, her mother, and their inability to connect. Ah, the wonder of mother/daughter relationships. Plus some of the ways Sean acts towards Gemma made me feel mushy on the inside, he did some pretty sweet things. This story wasn't an epic romance but a great real life romance story, definitely a keeper for me. And hey who doesn't love reading about those rugged heroes called firemen!

I forgot to mention this book could be considered part of Deirdre Martin's NY Blades series because a couple characters from previous books make an appearance here; it would be #3 in the series I think. Anyway it is not necessary to read the previous books to understand this one.

A ( )

3.5 stars

In some ways, this is probably the most realistic romance novel I've ever read: bad dates, friends who don't quite gel, etc. But, well, I don't read romance novels because they are realistic. And therein lies the problem. The problem also lies therein that there were a few scenes in which I really wanted to hurt Sean. And [SPOILER ALERT] ...

I don't think it would have been too difficult for Gemma to tell someone, maybe anyone, that there was an Alzheimer's patient in her apartment and she needed someone (police officer, super, neighbor, etc.) to be there before she could leave.

[END SPOILER]

But overall I really liked Gemma, I mostly liked Sean (his poor decisions and not-so-sure-they're-redeemable friends notwithstanding), and I thought they had great chemistry (PLUS the nice cameos from Michael and Theresa), made what could have been a DNF into a (mostly) enjoyable read. ( )

Like 2003's Body Check and last year's Fair Play, Total Rush has rekindled my interest in contemporary romance.

Unlike the previous two books, Total Rush doesn't feature a hockey player as a hero. It does, however, continue to follow the group of family and friends we met in Body Check and Foul Play. The heroine is Gemma Dante, the rather wacky cousin of Michael Dante that we met in Foul Play. She's a witch, a fact that causes much of her family to treat her with disgust and anger--not that it keeps them from imposing on her time and good will, however.

Gemma meets Sean Kennealy when a group of firefighters comes knocking on her door responding to complaints of smoke from a neighbor. Turns out the neighbor was Sean himself, and the smoke was a particularly pungent kind of incense she was partial to.

Not exactly a promising beginning.

But Gemma and Sean are attracted, and in a spirit of nothing-ventured-nothing-gained, they end up in bed and embark on a relationship.

In the hands of another author, that might have been the end of the story, but not here. Sex isn't the answer to Gemma and Sean's relationship success. Neither is comfortable with the other's friends, and Sean is leery about what his family will think of Gemma's religion.

Their total compatibility in the bedroom even creates another obstacle, leading them to surmise that perhaps it's only lust after all.

Along with sorting out the problems of their relationship, Sean and Gemma have to deal with the traumas Sean faces as a firefighter, including Gemma's fears for him and Sean's guilt when a child nearly dies because of his mistake. Gemma's beloved grandmother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and the family designates Gemma as one of her primary caretakes, despite the fact that she owns & runs her own shop and lives a considerable distance from her grandmother's home. And a young man who takes the SCA way too seriously becomes obsessed with Gemma after she begins giving him Tarot card reading lessons.

Total Rush is about two people finding each other and falling in love. It's also about family and acceptance and trust. It's a book that is fun on the surface, but that I'll reread and find something new each time I do. ( )