Book Review: Crazy Thing Called Love by Molly O'Keefe

Crazy Thing Called Love
Author: Molly O'Keefe
Series: Crooked Creek Ranch, book 3
Publisher: Bantam
Source: From NetGalley
ISBN-10: 0345533690
ISBN-13: 978-0345533692
Buy it here: Amazon | Book Depository
For more information visit Molly O'Keefe's website

Reviewed by: Ronnie


I had overheard on Twitter a few bloggers talking about Molly O’Keefe’s latest book, Crazy Thing Called Love, and immediately emailed my blogmate asking her to request the book so I could review it. I’ve never read any of her previous novels, an oversight which I intend to fix ASAP. As the book opens, we meet Billy Wilkins, a hockey star who has been sidelined because of his penchant for fighting on the ice. Madelyn Cornish, Billy’s ex-wife, is the morning show host on AM Dallas, and the producers on her show want to give her ex an on-air makeover in order to boost their ratings. Billy, to Maddy’s chagrin, immediately agrees to the makeover for the chance to be near Maddy again. He wants desperately to make up for the way things ended between the two of them, but Maddy has serious doubts when it comes to her ex-husband.

I should probably clarify that I’m not a fan of the re-united lovers trope. Given my druthers, I’d totally go for a different storyline, but the chatter on Twitter was pretty positive and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Well this Doubting Thomas was made a very happy reader. I thought the relationship between Maddy and Billy was very well done. The author uses flashbacks (and me, again, not a fan of that particular device) to illustrate how the relationship came to be, and how it went south. In those flashbacks, Billy is portrayed as a young man who is often selfish and careless but not irredeemable. He knew that he had made some serious mistakes with his ex-wife when he was younger and this colors his actions towards her as he tries to show her how he’s changed throughout the years. On the opposite side of the coin, Maddy is desperate to keep her distance from Billy but can’t quite manage to do so. I felt and believed in Maddy’s determination to not let herself lose her identity and everything she’s worked so hard for in the past years since she and Billy split up. O’Keefe does a remarkable job with the emotion and angst, but she keeps it subtle, yet poignant.

When Billy is on AM Dallas, unbeknownst to Maddy, his past returns to haunt him. This was the only part of the book I felt was a bit heavy handed. The ambushing of Billy and Maddy really didn’t work for me, but how Billy handles the revelations about his family was spot on. He doesn’t always say the right thing, although his heart is certainly in the right place. He still has his infamous temper that escapes him at inopportune times. This made him come across as real and accessible to me and kept me rooting for him throughout the entire book. If you’re looking for a smart, sweet romance, I think Crazy Thing Called Love would certainly fit the bill.
My Rating: