Lola Carlyle Reveals All [Mass Market Paperback]

Rachel Gibson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: The Caribbean and North Carolina

Sensuality: 8

Gorgeous Lola Carlyle is a woman who has overcome immense obstacles. Once a wildly successful swimsuit model, she's conquered the bulimia that kept her ultra-thin, gained enough weight to make her voluptuous, and walked away from modeling to start a successful lingerie business. None of her grit and guts, however, has prepared her for dealing with undercover agent Max Zamora. When he steals the yacht she's sleeping on in the Bahamas and heads for Florida, chased by drug runners who have beaten him badly, Lola's determined to escape. Unfortunately, her efforts disable the boat and the two of them are stuck on the drifting yacht. Max recognizes Lola's famous face and body immediately, but dealing with the furious woman tests his patience. It isn't until they're both nearly killed that the attraction between them blazes out of control. But if they can manage to stay alive and return to the States, is there any hope for a future between a man who thrives on danger and a woman who craves a settled life?

Author Rachel Gibson has a talent for creating characters who step off the page and into readers' hearts. She uses that gift to advantage in this latest novel with its bigger-than-life characters, hair-raising action, and searing heat between hero and heroine. Don't miss this one. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Publishers Weekly

Lola Carlyle Reveals All in this funny but formulaic contemporary romance between Max Zamora, a covert government operative, and Lola Carlyle, a ditzy blond bombshell and former underwear model. The sexual attraction between this unlikely duo burns brighter than the novel's sunny, tropical setting when they are stranded together on a yacht and then on a deserted island, with Lola's annoying, pint-sized pup providing the only entertainment. While hiding out from a handful of dangerous, drug-ring thugs, their attraction comes to a head, but will it persist once their island adventure is over? Rachel Gibson's (True Confessions) heroine is little more than a walking cliche, but her hard-bitten hero and edgy prose carry the story.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (April 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380814390
• ISBN-13: 978-0380814398
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #116,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Less Than Gibson's Best, April 13, 2002

By	Jen (Somewhere in the South) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lola Carlyle Reveals All (Mass Market Paperback)

First, let me just say that I am a huge fan of Gibson's works. I've read and re-read everything she has done. So, naturally I was biting my nails waiting the release of this book. LOLA CARLYLE REVEALS ALL sets off at a fast pace, with gorgeous Lola contemplating how she was going to get even with her ex and Max, who was contemplating on how not to get killed. Max, an ex-Navy SEAL, commandeers a yacht after getting himself beat up, but unknown to him is that a sexy underwear model is aboard with her little dog. The two react to each other like oil and water at first, but then, slowly, they start to realize their attraction. The tension builds and they find themselves on an island running for their lives.

What makes this book so disappointing to me is that Gibson's usually outrageous, off-beat heroine isn't present. Lola, though with flaws and a spunkiness of her own, falls short of Gibson's earlier heroines such as Gabrielle (IT MUST BE LOVE), Delaney (TRULY MADLY YOURS) or Hope (TRUE CONFESSIONS). Lola still struggles with her bulemia, is self conscious about her weight and those internet photos. I felt Lola was too staid to be a "Gibson Girl" and would much rather have had Gabrielle out there with Max, even if only to channel the bad energy away from him. As it was, Max was a tough, loner ex-SEAL, bent on a mission and made himself pretty clear as to what he wanted and didn't want in life. I found it too convenient that he gave up his job and wanted children - a turn around from his earlier testimonial. I think if Gibson had them spend less pages on the yacht, more in depth emotional entanglement, that particular about face might have been plausible.

The other thing I found lacking in LOLA was the absence of great secondary characters. Besides BD - the loveable little dog, there were no zany, funny, weird or even interesting secondary characters to speak of. More of a plot driven romance than character driven, the predictibility of LOLA leaves this reader less than satisfied. For those of you who've not read Gibson before, you might not find anything lacking in this romance. For the rest of us, it is less than her best.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute, But Misses the Mark, April 2, 2002

By	"jayzie1" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lola Carlyle Reveals All (Mass Market Paperback)

Lola Carlyle contains all the expected elements of a good novel by Rachel Gibson - it's cute, funny and sexy. Despite the recipe for success, I was never completely drawn into the story.

Lola is a lingerie model hiding out after being "over-exposed" in the National Enquirer. Max Zamora, a former Navy SEAL, secret agent on the run from a drug czar. He commandeers the boat Lola's snoozing on and much hilarity and sexy scenes ensue.

The problem is, this book is NOT edited well (or at all). I'd just get drawn into the story and a glaring typo or leap of logic would jump off the page and distract me. For example, an exclusive neighbourhood becomes an elusive one, Max says "she was killed before she got to the hospital" and there's the mysterious dis/reappearing binoculars. I don't usually get bogged down in details, but the fact that I did, means I wasn't completely engaged by this book. Although it was interesting having this author set a book in the Caribbean, she does a better job with Idaho as her backdrop.

Once Lola and Max become close, she demands he give up his life in black ops so he can be safe and secure with her. Well, that's nice, but she's just met the guy, he's complained about women demanding he quit his job in his past and here we go, Lola asks too. I thought her demands were a bit presumptious.

I'd put Lola in the same category as "It Must Be Love", a good story with good characters, but somehow missing something. Here's hoping her next is in the same league as "True Confessions" or "Truly Madly Deeply".

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as I thought, April 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Lola Carlyle Reveals All (Mass Market Paperback)

I read Gibson's book See Jane Score and loved it! But when I picked up this book, I expected the same enjoyment. I was kind of disappointed. I would not recommend this book. I thought it was predictable and really cheesy.