Customer Reviews

Falling for Gracie (Mills and Boon Shipping Cycle)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gracie Landon has spent the last 14 years trying to live down her infamous past. Sent away at the age of 14 because her obsessive love for Riely Whitefield resulted in all kinds of havoc, Gracie has been asked by her mother and sisters to return home to plan her sister Vivian's wedding. It turns out that the reason they appeared to invite her is for one of her famous wedding cake creations at no charge. Gracie, now living in LA is the wedding cake maker to the stars; the Vera Wang of the cake set. When her sister Alexis asks her to help spy on her husband because she suspects he's unfaithful, Gracie reluctantly agrees, particularly since it entails spying on the house of Riley. Zeke is Riley's mayoral campaign manager. Riley has a vengeful uncle who makes his winning the election a condition of his inheritance of $97 million. His plans are to win but not serve. When they literally bump into each other, she confesses to Riley why she's there, and he agrees to help her solve the mystery to ensure hsi chances for winning are not curtailed. Soon he wonders why he resisted her all the years ago. As Riley's popularity in the poles increase (thanks to a suggestive picture and a reprinting of "The Gracie Chronicles," highlighting her past transgressions), he and Gracie continue to investigate. But the current mayor will do anything to get reelected, and he and his mistress (who has link to both Riley and Gracie) try to embarrass Riley and Gracie at every turn. But when her livelihood is threatened, Gracie is out for blood.

The story is refreshing and more than a mystery/romance. The family dynamics of the Landon women could be a book in and of itself, and the nosy townspeople would make anyone happy to live an anonymous life in a big city. While the bad guys are no mystery, getting there is so much fun!

When Gracie Ladon was 14 she became famous in her hometown, Los Lobos, California, for her obsession with 18 year old Riley Whitefield. She followed him everywhere and proclaimed her love for him. Finally when he was forced to marry his pregnant girlfriend, Gracie's mother shipped her off to live with her aunt and uncle. Now after 14 years, Gracie is returning to her hometown. A well known wedding cake designer, Gracie has been asked to make the wedding cake for her younger sister's wedding. Her family refuses to see that Gracie has grown up. Her mother and sisters seem to be waiting for Gracie to make a fool of herself again and Gracie feels as if it wasn't for needing to make the wedding cake they wouldn't have invited her home at all. Riley returned home shortly before Gracie only to discover that his uncle left him millions of dollars. An inheritance he can only receive if he is elected mayor of Los Lobos. When Gracie and Riley meet again as adults they are surprised to find that they are attracted to each other. Riley can't believe that the pretty and confident woman standing in front of him is the girl who used to terrorize him. It doesn't take long for passion to flare between them. But Riley's unscrupulous opponent is determined to use Gracie against Riley in the election and someone seems to be deliberately trying to ruin Gracie's business. Can Riley and Gracie figure out who is behind all the sabotage and get Riley elected mayor?

Falling For Gracie is one of the best Susan Mallery books that I've read. You quickly come to care about Gracie and want her to finally get the guy, save her business and kick some sense into her family. Sexy and fun, Falling For Gracie is a book I can't recommend highly enough.

Melissa

Reviewed for Enchanted in Romance

http://www.enchantedinromance.com/

Combining her talents for writing and cake decorating, Susan Mallery whips up a sweet treat for her readers with her book, "Falling for Gracie." This is a delightful and lively story that is a sweet and delicious treat for springtime reading!

Gracie has come back home to help one sister with her upcoming wedding and the other with her huband-crisis, all the while juggling her successful career as a premier cake-decorator to the stars. While she tries to get her siblings' love lives back on track, she comes face-to-face with her past love interest - no - obsession, Riley Whitefield. Despite both Gracie and Riley's hesitations, their interest in each other renews with passion and fun. Can a second chance at love truly happen in spite of past problems, interferring family and one annoying ex-wife? Check out "Falling for Gracie" and find out!

As a former cake decorator, I was truly amazed at how well Susan Mallery describes the process of decorating wedding cakes. She knows her stuff, from how to put the cakes together right down to making the dozens and dozens of flowers that usually make up a fantastic cake. Well done, Ms. Mallery!

Sharon Galligar Chance

Wichita Falls TIMES RECORD NEWS

This romance was great! Both of the main characters had intense rooting value.

Gracie Landon had been in exile since she was fourteen. She had found herself the star of the local newspaper's "Gracie Chronicles" after stalking her first crush, Riley Whitefield. The whole town of Los Lobos was aware of Gracie and her unrequited love. Her mother felt disgraced by her so-called friends and sent Gracie to live with her aunt and uncle. Gracie has come home after fourteen years to help with her sister Vivian's wedding plans. Gracie is a reknowned cake maker and has agreed to make her sister's wedding cake. In the process, she is trying to reconnect with both sisters, Vivian and Alexis, and her mother. All have family issues with which they are trying to come to terms.

Gracie finds that she is still deeply attracted to Riley, who is back in town after traveling the South China Sea developing oil rigs. Riley is pursuing his own personal vendetta in the process of running for mayor of Los Lobos. But along the way, he finds himself captivated by Gracie, who always leads with her heart.

This was a great romance from beginning to end!

I was pretty ambivalent about this book--it almost seemed as if it had been written by two people, and I liked one author, but the other, not so much. The two main characters seemed about as believable as the hero and heroine ever do in romances, and their dialogue was unforced and sometimes witty--all good. But the secondary cast of characters--no believability there. Gracie's horrible family reminded me of nothing so much as the evil stepmother and stepsisters in Cinderella--overdrawn, and a family highly unlikely to have produced the heroine. The final straw came at the end, when they suddenly, for no apparent reason, see the error of their ways and profess their appreciation for Gracie. At this point, I threw the book down in disgust--of course, I'd finished it by then, so it was a pretty meaningless gesture, but still.

Gracie has come home to Los Lobos against her better judgement, to "help with" (or as she believes," be slave labor for") her sister's wedding. Once home, she's immediately faced with the crush of her teenage years, Riley, the man for whom she became a legend for her pure, unrequited borderline-stalker girl love.

In addition to navigating her way through dealing with Riley, she has to decipher what her role in her family is, how to deal with a selfish younger sister who's on again, off again wedding drives everyone nuts, an immature older sister who is intent on catching her husband in an affair, a meddling mother who wants nothing more than Gracie to stay quietly away from Riley, a blossoming business as a wedding cake baker, a town election in which Riley is campaigning for mayor, Riley's true reasons for running for mayor, an entire history of newspaper articles on her teenage escapages remaking an appearance in the local paper, a former avowed 'enemy' (er, the woman Riley married and divorced) suddenly acting nice, and on top of all that, discovering who is out to ruin both Riley and Gracie. You'll never quite know what to expect, except entertaining adventures as Riley and Gracie fall in love.

I only gave this four stars because though this was a FABULOUS book, Riley's "changing" moment could have been a little more defined. But even with that, it was one of the more enjoyable, light-hearted romanced I've read in a long time.

I loved this book so much! It was different and funny, sexy, had a twist you totally didn't see coming and was just awesome. Susan Mallery has created a wonderful book that makes it so easy to jump into!

First I'll get the bad stuff out of the way.... there were many very noticeable mistakes in the book (a character who mysteriously jumps back and forth between being a grandfather and older brother, and a feature magazine article that jumps back and forth between a six page spread and an eight page spread to name a couple). Seriously, readers expect a publisher with the reputation and standing of Harlequin not to have such bushleague errors on the materials bearing their logo.

Also, there are character reactions (the villains to be specific) that go far far beyond realistic and drift into melodrama, and the final "stunt" performed by the main character (Gracie) is just kind of lame. The reader has heard all about the character's reputation for being inventive and imaginative, and her final expression is just sort of ....meh.

All of that aside, Falling for Gracie really is a fun read. The main characters (Gracie and Riley) are fun as well as funny, and Mallery writes them well enough to pull the reader into the fray. It's light and entertaining, and despite the mistakes, it makes for a fun read. If you want a life altering reading experience, this won't be the title for you, but if you are in search of something that will entertain and make you laugh, Falling for Gracie is a good choice.

It was a great story. Gracie and Riley were a great couple with history. A 14 year old girl with an unrequited crush on an older boy 18 and banished from her small hometown. Who of us out there haven't had something like that but not quite as dramatic? Remembered my youthful crush and cringed.

Thought Gracie was a strong heroine without being abrasive. She had to deal with the pressure of family and all their expectations, disappointments, and hopes. Gracie tried to mend a fractured family relationship by bending over backwards to keep her selfish family happy. Finally having enough she stood up for herself. Wanted to cheer for her.

Thought Riley was great. A bad boy but with ulterior motives but his history was explained and he was there for Gracie when others weren't when she came back home.

It wasn't a hard read and read it in one sitting. The villian in the story was pretty easily accounted for but that was a very small part of the story. The relationship between Gracie and Riley was the story for me and I loved reading about them.

In Los Lobos, fourteen years old Gracie Landon fell in love with eighteen years old Riley Whitefield, but he rejected her as being too young while seeing someone else. Her antics got so out of hand that the local media coverage became known as the Gracie Chronicles; her family, in desperation, shipped Gracie off to live with relatives out of state. Riley married and divorced Pam while Gracie never returned to her hometown for the next fourteen years embarrassed by how she behaved.

Gracie returns home for her younger sister's wedding, but plans to keep a low profile until her older sister coaxes her to help her find who her spouse Zeke is cheating with. Since he is Riley's campaign manager in his run for mayor, the siblings start there. However, Riley catches a mortified Gracie. She explains to Riley what she was doing. He needs to become mayor if he wants to inherit his uncle's 97 million estate and worries that a scandal by Zeke could hurt his campaign. As they work to uncover the truth about Zeke's nocturnal activities, they fall in love, but sensible Gracie refuses to take any risks when it comes to Riley and Pam is back causing further woes to make her seem unbalanced.

This second chance at love (at least on her part) is a fun tale as Riley realizes he is FALLING FOR GRACIE, but no one believes him including himself while she concludes that she still loves him and compares men to him. Though the suspense is soft as Mayor Franklin Yardley also has 97 million reasons to insure he is reelected, contemporary fans will fall for Gracie and Riley.

Harriet Klausner