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Thursday, March 2, 2017

Review by Wendy ♥ If You Were Mine by Melanie Harlow

 A Review By Wendy
4.5 Real People, Real Fears, Real Love Stars
* * * * 1/2  
Spoiler Free



There is a reason Melanie Harlow is a must read for me. She brings humor, incredibly sexy times and huge heart to every story she tells. Yet what I love the most about her books is the possibility of actual people would have to juggle with these situations. Yes, sometimes the characters may be in perfect careers or live in exotic locals, like France....But overall, the themes of her books are presented so that all of us can relate...And in If You Were Mine...Never more so.

I mean come on...How many of you out there have been tortured at a friend's wedding by being stuck at the dreaded "Singles Table"...Fate worse than death, right..

Well, that is the catalyst for Claire to step out of her carefully, safe constructed life and do something she never, ever thought she would...hire a pretend boyfriend for a co worker's wedding. Claire hadn't intended to go looking for a Paid Boyfriend....she sort of backed into it...

The vision of Singles Table and all of the Pity Looks caused her mouth to say she was bringing a Plus One and before she knew it, she had a guy who looked like Ryan Gosling and they had been dating for a few months. The response from her co-worker was so amazed... the blabbermouth ran around telling all of the other teachers before the end of the day.

DAMN...
There goes the plan to have him just not be able to attend....
And once Claire broke down and told her best friends, her only true support ...even they couldn't help. A brother was suggested... but he was out of the country...even a Husband was offered but all of the teachers had met him at one of Claire's dinners....

NOPE
Claire was desperate...and desperate times called for lots of wine, a website called Hotties for Hire and drunken fingers writing an inquiring email to a Hottie and then clicking send....
Oh, there was Clicker's Remorse but too late...a Hottie responded and was up for a meeting...

Theo was a man who seemed to have no real attachments... and that was just how he liked it. He could pick up and go any time he felt like it ...and he did often. He thought it was probably in his genes...His mother left his brother and him when he was only one year old and his brother was nine. His dad was a drunk/abusive and in and out of jail...so that had to translate to something about him too...So Theo never thought too much about himself and learned his lessons the hard way.

After realizing all of his actions as a rebellious kid put him smack dab where he didn't want to be for a year...he re evaluated things. He worked angles and had real jobs trying to stay out of trouble. He loved his brother, his brother's wife and kids...and saw how hard it was to make a relationship work.

Theo may have been the one support system for his brother's wife and kids...but he wasn't going to be tied to anyone else....He knew he didn't have the right make up for it...didn't deserve that type of life...better to cut and run if things got too close...

As you figured out... Theo worked for Hotties for Hire...and he was the Drunken Click Claire made...
They both have agreed to meet at a coffee bar...This meeting is everything...because it sets in motion for both of them life lessons; experiences and realizations about their lives, themselves and what they want...

What I particularly loved about this story was how real these people were.... they had flaws...Theo had serious flaws and he messed up...a lot. What was important to me was Claire and how she worked to hold her own counsel.... she was a person who wanted love...deserved love and Theo introduced her to what it felt like to truly love someone....She grew from his confidence in her and from her own little baby steps in believing in herself.

What struck me most was a moment when Claire appreciated her time with Theo...all the ups and downs because of what the experience brought her. There is so much truth in that passage... for in life all of us take away some good even when a relationship doesn't work...and it is always important to remember that...

Theo had the biggest hurdles in this tale...and it was telling that his brother finally had figured out how to help himself first so he could be there for Theo.

Now all of you may be wondering... But Wendy ... What the hell, Where is the Good Stuff...Well, the Good Stuff is on Every Single Page...The chemistry between these two is scary good... Wicked Good, Naughty Yummy Good.... and when they finally accept it... KAPOW!!!

This book had it all; fun times, romance, sexy times, the push pull of a real life relationship and the sweetest epilogue. All of the secondary characters did their part...and if you had any doubt...

I Could Read Melanie Harlow All Day Long....


 A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.



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Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. She writes contemporary and historical romance from her home near Detroit, MI.




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