Running on Empty

Surfer dude and racing enthusiast Tom Guthrie is an instructor for Bernie’s Best Driving School in Los Angeles. He really needs this job, as his ex-wife cleaned him out totally, leaving only his prized classic car when she left him. He’s got to have steady work to keep the car and fund his off-road racing hobby.

Libby Claymore can’t drive; she’s just never learned. Her life as a New York gallery owner has gotten her comfortable with chauffeured cars and limos, and she’s just fine with that. When her company opens an expansion in L.A. and her daddy buys her a BMW, she can’t put off learning to drive any longer. She makes an appointment with a driving instructor and requests a stick shift. After all, it can’t be that hard to drive can it?

Running on Empty rolls right along with an unwanted attraction, side-splitting pithy commentary and lots of horsepower. Sarah Gross crafts Tom and Libby with style, enlivening them with peppery temperaments and barely veiled innuendo. They have polar opposite backgrounds and barely like each other, but a thread of heat is thrumming just under the surface as they interact.

I just plain liked this book and the characters really grew on me - hunky Tom, with his sad-luck story and drive to succeed, and coddled Libby, with her pride and desire to prove to her daddy that she can make something out of herself. Hilarity ensues when these two collide. For a light-hearted and funny read, test drive Running on Empty by Sarah Gross!

Reviewed by: Michelle