Nothing but Trouble by Rachel Gibson

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I'm part of the Transworld Book Group! This book was read and reviewed as part of the Transworld Book Challenge.

Chelsea Ross is a struggling actress who agrees to become carer/assistant (with a $10,000 sweetener, to stick with the job for three months!) to the famous ice hockey player Mark Bressler.  Bressler was injured in a serious car accident, six months previously and despite being rich and gorgeous, has a reputation for being extremely difficult.  He has fired several previous carers and has no intention of letting Chelsea interfere with his life, he determines to be as difficult as possible to push her out.  However, Chelsea is no pushover, she's had to struggle as personal assistant to a tranche of D-listers to fund her limited acting opportunities in dodgy slasher flicks.  She's determined to get the cash and so the two of them clash with interesting results.

I've never read anything by Rachel Gibson before, although her books have occasionally cropped up on my Amazon recommendations - so with the Book Challenge it seemed a good opportunity to have a go!  As I started to read, I had a few reservations, firstly it's an American "chick-lit" and I have read some pretty dire examples in the past; secondly it's the fifth in the "Chinook" series and I can be pretty anal about having to read series in order (sad, but true!) and I was worried that characterisation would be affected by assuming some prior knowledge.  Finally, it's about an ice hockey team, which I know nothing about and have no desire to further my understanding!  Not a promising start, but thankfully, none of this really mattered, although it's clear that some of the characters and incidents have been covered in earlier books, it didn't affect the main plot and I never felt I'd missed anything important.  However, as a minor grumble, some of the US brand names and acronyms baffled me at times!

I can't be unfair and criticise this book - it does exactly what it says on the tin!  The two main characters, although both initially irritating do allow you to warm to them.  The supporting cast are fairly thinly written, but I forgave this as I assume some come through more strongly in the series when it becomes their turn to take the lead.  It's a quick, light, totally predictable chick-lit read.  It's very straightforward and there are no complicated situations or alternatives provided to create distractions from the two main characters.  It was never a case of "will they-won't they", right from the start it's simply a matter of when and where. Unfortunately, as I'm at least ten years older than the target audience and very well versed in this genre, I prefer a bit more before my happy ending.
I've given it 3 stars as it just didn't do much for me, but if it's your bag, you'll enjoy it it!