About the Book
Who could build a life on such a monumental mistake?
Jackson Murphy: family prankster, class clown… and now, smack in the middle of a Vegas-sized mess. All he’d wanted was to qualify for the Boston Marathon. After failing that goal, he slipped into a deep, sulking valley, only to emerge from it with a much bigger problem. He’s married. To a complete stranger! Forget making a world-class marathon so that his family will believe that (1) he’s capable of being grown up and serious on occasion and (2) he doesn’t need the ongoing pity about his brother and a certain ex-girlfriend.
Now? Now he has no idea what to do.
Mackenzie Murphy: independent woman and excellent student—but not a med student. Because those pesky MCATs were H-A-R-D. She doesn’t particularly mind that much, seeing as she’s never really wanted to be a doctor, but her mother will be…uh, displeased. Exceptionally. That’s nothing, however, compared to how Mother will respond if she finds out what else happened in Vegas.
Mackenzie wants out. Jackson wants a chance. Neither of them is prepared for what’s coming. Caught in the middle of a disaster that keeps getting bigger, they hardly dare ask: Can God take their monumental mistake and turn it into a beautiful life?
Excerpt
Of all the ways he could have imagined this weekend going, this had never entered his mind. Not once. And if someone had told him it would happen this way, he would have laughed in their face, said Not in a million years, and gone on his way.
Jackson Murphy wasn’t that kind of man. Hadn’t ever been.
Hiding in the luxury hotel bathroom—with the door locked—he lowered his towel-wrapped, exhausted, and hungover body to the edge of the massive soaking tub as glittery speckles of steam drifted around him. That helped the surreal, this-can’t-be-happening sense that made his already throbbing head spin.
He glanced at the phone he’d left on the pristine marble counter while he’d showered, now afraid to pick it up again. Needing to pick it up again. Terrified to see what he couldn’t believe play out on the screen yet one more time. Compelled to watch, hoping that this time what had been there before wouldn’t be anymore.
It’d all be a lie. A prank. A massively disturbing dream. He was, after all, the master prankster.
Swallowing—man, it was hard to breathe! And, did a hangover come with the shakes? He’d not had many, so he wasn’t sure. Admittedly, a few, but not enough to decipher normal hangover instability from extreme. From his hands to his chest, he trembled violently. Not to mention breathing about as smoothly as he had round about mile twenty-two the day before.
Maybe someone had slipped something into one of his drinks?
No. He knew that hadn’t happened. He had enough memory intact to know he’d done this to himself.
Had he really done this?
The compulsive demand to see it for himself—one more time!—had him reaching for his phone.
Connor’s text was still open.
What the—Jackson! Are you kidding me with this? Dude, what are you doing? This had better be one of your jokes, man.
Above that text, there was a video attachment. From Jackson. Of Jackson…and the woman who was on the other side of that bathroom door.
Mackenzie.
Mackenzie-he-wasn’t-positive-of-her-last-name. Except, now he was pretty sure that whatever that name had been before last night, now it was legally Murphy.
Review
There aren’t many authors who could convince me to pick up a married-in-Vegas romance, but Jennifer Rodewald is one of them. And boy did I love this one.
The main obstacle for me with a premise like this is making a Vegas marriage believable without completely turning me off the characters. This book gets a big tick for that box. Was it still a dumb move? Absolutely. But it was also out of character for both Jackson and Mackenzie—and both for completely different reasons, I might add, which was another ingredient in this story’s success.
With the premise hurdle out of the way, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion I would love this novel. Jennifer Rodewald is one of my favourite contemporary romance authors because of the warmth in her writing, the emotional connection she creates between her characters, and the way she pushes her characters to grow through whatever situation they happen to be facing. For this particular story, I need to add that I completely fell in love with Jackson Murphy. He’s flawed, for sure, but he also knows how to love well, and I love the way he demonstrates this to Mackenzie. And I love even more what it means for her.
There’s also the fact that this was essentially a modern marriage of (in)convenience story, just with a bit of a twist. I loved that too. Really, there was every reason to love this story, and I can’t wait for the next in the series!
I received a copy of this novel from the author. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Previous Books in the Series
Read my review for Always You
About the Author
Jennifer Rodewald/J. Rodes lives on the wide plains somewhere near the middle of Nowhere. A coffee addict, pickleball enthusiast, and storyteller, she also wears the hats of mom, teacher, and friend. Mostly, she loves Jesus and wants to see others fall in love with Him too.
Connect with Jen: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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