Daisy's Back in Town [Hardcover]

Rachel Gibson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739440888
• ISBN-13: 978-0739440889
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,297,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With the publication of New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Gibson's first book, readers discovered one of contemporary romance's freshest voices. Four of her novels were named among the Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year by Romance Writers of America.

Rachel's storytelling career began at the age of sixteen when she ran her Chevy Vega into the side of a hill, retrieved the bumper and broken glass from the ground, and drove to her high school parking lot. With the help of her friend, she strategically scattered the broken pieces and told her parents she'd been the victim of a hit and run. They believed her, and she's been telling stories ever since.

When not writing, Rachel can be found boating on Payette Lake with Mr. Gibson, shopping for shoes, or forcing her love on an ungrateful cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reluctantly, I have to agree - disappointing : (, February 20, 2004

By 

baltimore0502 "Hon!" (BALTIMORE, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daisy's Back in Town (Mass Market Paperback)

Ive never rated a Rachel Gibson book less than 4 stars (most of them I consider 5 star reads) but this one does disappoint. If youve read all of Ms Gibsons books this story may sound familiar. Its 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 (dont 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  Jacks 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 its 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 doesnt 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 Stevens 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 wont chicken out. You can imagine his reaction to seeing her again and then hearing her news. Hes understandably pissed and unpleasant. Jacks challenge is to conquer his anger, get to know his son and somehow try to forgive Daisy and Steven. Its 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 authors 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 cant change the past and whats 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 mothers 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 Jacks brother Billy  the best and most realistic characters in the book! Not Ms Gibsons finest hour, but I'm not giving up on this author. Im hoping the next one meets the standard of prior, better books.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a keeper and a re-reader, April 27, 2007

By 

Book lover -Philadelphia - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Daisy's Back in Town (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favorite Rachel Gibson books, and I've read them all. I think the old ones (like this and SEE JANE SCORE) are far better than the newer ones which have way too much white space and too little writing.
I've read the negative reviews and can understand the impatience with the outline of the plot but what carries this book is the writing; the right-on characterizations of everyone from teen-age Nathan to man-hating Lily to bitter Jack to clear-eyed brother Billy; and the believable dialogue and situations. Tired of Daisy's mother's run-on stories? Well, that's her personality and her personality doesn't change through the book just because the reader "got it" the first time. Daisy should have told Jack the story the first time she saw him? Sure, in a perfect world. What makes the book work is that neither the world nor the people are perfect. Daisy gives in to her attraction to Jack, is uncomfortable with blurting out the truth, delays on purpose....so what? That is what real people do.
I've reread this book several times and enjoy getting reacquainted with the characters each time.....and the not sex scenes don't hurt either.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, August 27, 2004

By 

K. Kraus "mskraus2u" (Pleasant Prairie, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daisy's Back in Town (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my second Rachel Gibson book (I read See Jane Score first) and I loved them both so much that I bought all the books she's written. This book had mixed reviews, so I didn't know what to expect, but I loved it. My favorite thing about Gibson's books is her love scenes. They're written more realistically than some other authors (Janet Dailey comes to mind). And she seems to favor characters in their thirties (at least the two books I read) which is nice. I liked the premise, that Daisy, Jack, and Steven were best friends growing up and betrayal separated them. I'm not giving anything away to say that Steven and Daisy's 15 year-old son Nathan is really Jack's. The book begins with Daisy going to Jack's house to tell him the secret she's kept for all those years. She's only supposed to be in town for a week, but Jack's bitterness won't allow him to hear her out, so it takes several tries on Daisy's part to talk to him. The more they interact, the more Jack finds he still can't resist her, even though he doesn't want to want her. The scenes where they briefly re-unite, almost against their own wills, are so hot! But when Jack finally learns the truth about Nathan, he's furious. He feels robbed of all those years he's missed with his son. Jack is a likable, sexy, strong character, one most women would be attracted to. He's bitter, but anyone can understand that, considering what his two best friends did to him. But the reader sees Daisy's point, too, and how scared she must have been to be eighteen, pregnant, and thinking her boyfriend doesn't love her anymore. The thing that saves Daisy as a character is that she's very remorseful and never tries to defend her actions. She really wants Jack to get to know his son. The later part of the book, where Jack and Nathan get to know each other is very sweet. I really enjoyed this book, and if it's not Gibson's best work, then the others must be pure gold!