With the state the world is in, the word happiness can sometimes seem as if it’s missing from our personal vocabularies. But I bet if you took a moment you could list at least 20 things that put a smile on your face. I can probably think of 100 things, but I’ll just start with what immediately pops into my mind; finding the perfect dress on sale, being surrounded by family, and watching a movie while immersing myself in a huge tub of buttered popcorn. Smile. Joy. Happy. Another great joy at the top of my list is reading a good book, and this week that book is Shannon Stacey’s Yours to Keep. Smile. Joy. Happy. A wonderful read. Actually a perfect read.
In addition to loving series – which this book is part of – I’m a sucker for the ‘marriage of convenience’ plot. But Yours to Keep has an interesting twist because this book has an ‘engagement of convenience’ plot Emma Shaw is a smart, beautiful, business owner who still lives in the house she was raised in by her grandparents. When her grandmother Cat moves to Florida to live out her ‘golden years’, she’s filled with worry that Emma won’t make it living all alone in the big house. Cat’s anxiety is such that she is willing to give up her dream retirement and move back North. Emma is determined to do anything to keep her grandmother happy and in Florida, so she invents a fiancée. Not just any fiancée, a real live person in the form of her best friend’s cousin - tall, gorgeous, sexy Sean Kowalski. Recently returned to the states after serving in Afghanistan, the only thing on Sean’s mind is reuniting with his family, eating a home cooked meal, and yeah, maybe a booty call. It does not include a permanent ‘faux’ engagement to a woman he’s never met. When Cat plans a trip to visit Emma, she must enlist Sean’s help in continuing the masquerade, the only problem is - she’s never met Sean.
Yours To Keep poses the question, “How do you know who’s the ideal person for you?” Whether we like it or not, people tend to judge ‘books by their covers’ and many of us take mental notes as we size people up (come on, don’t deny it). We look at their hair, their body type and even the car they drive. But, when you’re thrown into a situation and forced to work alongside someone you might not have otherwise been associated with, sometimes you find things about them that are likeable, agreeable, and even charming. That’s the case with Emma and Sean, two people who would never have met if they’d both been registered with an on-line dating service, because there isn’t any possibility a computer would match these total opposites. Emma is a strong woman with a no-nonsense streak that I personally found sexy. Sean is the type of hero that has a soft side that makes you melt. In fact you almost wish he were real so he could provide the men in your life with an instruction manual on how to be all male on the outside and sensitive on the inside. If such a manual existed I would purchase case loads and pass them out on street corners. Since I knew that wasn’t going to happen, I was left satisfied seeing their relationship progress and their feelings shift as they went from a ‘trumped up’ romance to one that fully blossomed.
This contemporary romance is filled with charm, wit, sophistication, and is anything but predictable. The story flows from one point to the next, making what would typically be an unbelievable situation very realistic. The author includes a cast of characters from the Kowalski side who were introduced in the first two books of the series Exclusively Yours and Undeniably Yours . The reader is quickly brought up to speed on who is who and given insight into this genuinely endearing family with personalities that are so finely crafted you’ve soon got three dimensional characters dancing off the page entertaining you with what I like to call a ‘”romantic comedy movie in your mind”
If you like contemporary romances, characters with warmth and a sense of humor and happy endings, then you’ll love Yours to Keep.
So, what puts a smile on your face?
Maria Lokken is an avid romance reader and an award winning television producer
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