Publisher: Entangled Bliss
Date of publication: March 2014
The last person Ellie McDermott wanted to run into after returning to her hometown is Finn Donovan, her high school nemesis and the guy she crossed the line from enemies to lovers with one night years ago. Now ex-military, tattooed, and still sexy as hell, Finn is a complication Ellie doesn’t need—she needs to concentrate on saving her family business.
Finn’s entire life, Ellie was there, going head-to-head with him in every class, bee, and test. So it’s no surprise she’d show up just as he was about to take over her father's struggling business. It is a surprise, though, that his attraction to her is even more explosive than it had been. Acting on their attraction is one thing, but Finn has to turn a profit to save his own family, and nothing—not even love—will get in his way.
Her Summer with the Marine was not like I was expecting. It ended up being just an OK read for me. It felt like it took a while to get going. Ellie is back in her home town because her father's Alzheimer's has gotten worse. She decides she needs to keep the family business running in order to pay for his nursing home fees. Finn runs the competition. He wants to buy her out in order to save his own business. They have been in competition with each other ever since grade school. The attraction between the two is probably the better part of the book. Although, it did feel a bit forced to me at times.
Normally, I probably wouldn't have had a problem with a little friendly competition. It can make for some great tension. But when I found out the businesses in question were funeral homes, I was a bit disturbed. The one up-man-ship that these two displayed when promoting their business was kind of creepy and distasteful. I didn't like that part at all. Who goes trolling for business at a funeral?
I also had to question some of the decisions that Ellie makes in the book. She knows nothing about running a funeral home or accounting. She has a full time job in advertising. Yet, she decides to keep the business open because it would mean spending more time with her father. A father who doesn't remember her half the time. Why not sell the business and move him to a facility closer to her apartment? She doesn't even like funerals or anything that goes along with them.
The book has gotten some good reviews, so I'll just have to chalk this one up as a not for me book. Give it a try and see what you think. Check out what others on the tour are saying here.
A one-time legal secretary and director of a charitable foundation, Susan Meier found her own personal
But the real joy of her job is creating stories about women for women. In her sixty published novels, she’s tackled issues like infertility, losing a child and becoming widowed. Her favorite stories are those that inspire laughter through tears.
Susan lives in western Pennsylvania with her own hero, their son and two fabulous felines, Sophia Maria Lolita Conchita Chiquita Banana and Fluffy.
Lol yeah that's why I didn't sign up for the tour. I was like um I work in the health care fields I like to pretend the other end doesn't exist, so no on the funeral angle.
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