Grade B-/C+

Small-town romances are popular right now. Unfortunately, the setting is one of my least favorite for a romance novel if the town is full of quirky residents that play a large part in the story. Rescue Me fits the sub-genre, but it thankfully has more going for it than the quirky characters that intrude upon the story. Gibson has given the book two main characters that are interesting and just a little different. Sadie feels like a real person. She makes choices I can understand and isn't super-human. She is conflicted about her relationship with the town and with her father. She's capable, but hasn't breezed through life. She's a little wounded, but not broken or tragic.

Vince is a little more stereotypical as a former Seal who lost buddies and now has some PTSD symptoms (which he denies is PTSD). But like Sadie, Vince's "woundedness" isn't overwhelming and the reader doesn't view him as a tragic character. He's a capable, productive, and mostly believable character. Both Sadie and Vince seem like people I wouldn't mind getting to know.

The folksy sayings and small-town mindset of the locals feel cliched. Thankfully, there are no truly hateful people to deal with, something that gets old fast for me. Mostly, the setting of the book feels stale. And while the language and the frequent references to the setting remind the reader we're in Texas, the story could have been placed just about anywhere without a lot of editing.

Rescue Me is enjoyable and worth reading, even if the small-town setting isn't my favorite.