Review: Good contemporary romance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 4, 2014
I liked this story for the most part. It was well written and well edited and the main characters were likeable people with interesting supporting family. While it was a nice story, neither the hero or heroine really stood out for me as particularly memorable. The author borrows from the classic story " The Gift"  and gives it a twist to give the end a bit of tension.The characters meet at a hotel, both there for a romantic get away and both get dumped by their significant others. When Carrie throws her engagement ring into the hotel pool, it's recovered by Mike, who's diving to find the ring that the girl he just proposed to threw into the pool on her way out the door. After recovering both rings, Mike feels obligated to return Carrie's to her, even though she insists that she doesn't want it. As they talk, they discover they're in similar fixes-Carrie isn't ready to tell her grandma and aunts (who raised her) that her wedding is cancelled because the shower they planned is the next day and she doesn't want to disappoint them. Mike has a big private prep school 10 year reunion coming up next week and as he was a scholarship kid who was voted "most likely to remain a bachelor", he doesn't want to go alone. Of course they agree to help each other and of course, they are instantly attracted. It looks and feels like a case of insta-lust which seems to be so prevalent in romance stories lately.There are sexual scenes, but nothing terribly graphic, more of the "fade to black" variety, no violence or profanity. The story is fairly sweet in the way the main characters treat each other and their families, but I felt it was an enjoyable but average story overall.Heat factor moderate.