See Jane Score, by Rachel Gibson

I've been saving See Jane Score, by Rachel Gibson for my vacation. It looked like something I'd enjoy.

THIS IS JANE
A little subdued. A little stubborn. A little tired of going out on blind dates with men who drive vans with sofas in the back, Jane Alcott is living the Single Girl existence in the big city. She is also leading a double life. By day, she’s a reporter covering the raucous Seattle Chinooks hockey team -- especially their notorious goalie Luc Martineau. By night, she’s a writer, secretly creating the scandalous adventures of “Honey Pie” …the magazine series that has all the men talking.

SEE JANE SPAR
Luc has made his feelings about parasite reporters -- and Jane -- perfectly clear. But if he thinks he’s going to make her life a misery... he’d better think again.

SEE JANE ATTRACT
For as long as he can remember, Luc has been single minded about his career. The last thing he needs is a smart mouthed, pain in the backside, reporter digging into his past and getting in his way. But once the little reporter shed her black and gray clothes in favor of a sexy red dress, Luc sees that there is more to Jane than originally meets the eye.

Maybe it’s time to take a risk. Maybe it’s time to live out fantasies. Maybe it’s time to...
SEE JANE SCORE!

I really did enjoy this one quite a bit. A solid B+.

I like Rachel Gibson's voice. She sounds pretty modern, and so did her characters. They struck a nice balance: neither the too-conservative people who seem to populate most historicals, neither Sex in the City types.

The story was one I particularly enjoyed. It's probably a pretty common female fantasy: I just love to see Ken fall for someone other than Barbie, as Jane puts it. Luc was terribly yummy (that tattoo, in particular, sounded incredible) and it was a real treat to see him gradually fall for Plain Jane, serious Jane, short, small-breasted Jane. I especially liked that it was a gradual process, and that he started to feel an attraction to her as he got to know her. As for Jane herself, she was a fun character, very witty, and I liked her outlook on life.

I really enjoyed the hockey background, even though I know absolutely nothing about the game itself. With villain-less contemporaries seemingly going the way of the dodo, I especially treasure the good ones I get.

The only thing that I didn't really like here was the whole Honey Pie porn column angle. It felt pretty contrived, and the parts "transcribed" were pretty tame and boring.