Title: Tall Tales and Wedding Veils
Author: Jane Graves
Publishing Date: June 2008
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Warm
Tall Tales and Wedding Veils is loosely connected to Hot Wheels and High Heels. When I say loosely, I mean very loosely. The reader does not need to have read Hot Wheel and High Heels at all to enjoy the story. I only mention it because I was surprised to learn that the hero of this book Tony, was the employee of the hero in Hot Wheels. Tony recently quit his job as a repo man to buy his own local sports bar, something he has always dreamed of doing for a long time now. The only problem he is as he is about to close on the loan he learns that his friend Dave can’t loan him the twenty thousand he needs. On a crazy whim, Tony flies to Las Vegas to win what he needs by gambling. In Vegas he meets Heather, sweet sensible, CPA Heather. To make a long story short, she wins him the twenty thousand he needs and they end up married to one another after a drunken night of celebration.
This was a fun quick read, yet surprisingly it had some depth to it. Both characters do a lot of growing throughout the story and Graves develops their relationship very believably. Tony at the beginning seems very shallow and irresponsible. Heather seems judgmental with a stick up her butt. Over the course of the book, they learn about each other and come to appreciate their differences. There are a lot of secondary characters that could have come across as caricatures, but because of Grave’s talent they don’t. There are some funny moments and there are some tender touching moments. There were moments when I wanted to cry for both characters. I really enjoyed this story.
If I had to say one thing that I didn’t like about this story, I would say that in the beginning I didn’t really like Tony all that much. I thought he was taking advantage of Heather and he didn’t truly deserve her. That opinion changed over the course of the book and that is a true testament to Grave’s talent. I think that was exactly what she was aiming for and I gobbled it up hook, line and sinker. This is the second book by Graves I have read and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first one. I think it is time for me to look into her back list.
Here is what others had to say:
Natuschan
Ramblings on Romance
The Book Binge
The Good, The Bad, The Unread
7 comments:
Hi Jill!!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the book!!! I'm always a bit worried when people pick some books based on my reviews LOL :)
I think Tony wasn't as bad... yes, he did take advantage of Heather, but at the same time, he was willing to stand by Heather and carry out the charade. Might not make up for 20,000$... but still :P
I especially like how this was only loosely connected to Hot Wheels and High Heels. Kept the focus on Heather and Tony.
Will buy and read it. Has anyone heard of jivelo.com ? I just found a hysterical romance story there and thought you might find it interesting. Just wanted to share ;)
Great review, Jill. Contemporary romance isn't usually my thing, but I'm tempted by this one. And I just saw it a Target, so it could find its way into my cart very easily on my next shopping trip! LOL
Nath, Ya know, Tony really grew on me and I definitely loved how he was their for Heather after their Vegas wedding. What really endeared him to me was that he stood by her in front of her family. I also liked how he came to realize just how special Heather really was.
Anonymous, I haven't ever heard of Jivelo, I will check it out. Thanks for sharing!
Christine, Go for it, and if you like it, I have more recomendations right up that alley!
I totally agree with you Jill :) I really like how he stood by her side and face the family :) I think that by the end, they were really a cute and great couple :P Loved that they were going to have a reception and how happy the mother was :)
I'm glad you liked it too. As I said, it would have been so easy to dislike Tony through the whole blog because he did start out as such and ass, but I think it's the sign of a good writer than she can make a character pretty dislikeable and turn that character into someone we do like.
Kristie, What are you doing blog hopping?! Aren't you still in San Francisco?
You are right about Graves, she is very talented!
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