Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiancé. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother’s upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn’t like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma’s offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home.
Emma’s not interested in a real relationship either; not with a man whose idea of home is wherever he drops his duffel bag. No matter how amazing his “pretend” kisses are…
On the first day that Sean Kowalski returns home from the army Emma Shaw tries to recruit him for something else. Emma shows up at Sean’s door and tells him that she’s his fake fiancé. He semi-listens to Emma and then send the hot, batshit crazy woman on her way. He finds out from his cousins wife, Lisa (who is friends with Emma) that no, Emma’s not crazy but she just wants her grandmother to be happy and she can’t do that when she’s constantly worrying about Emma. So Emma made up a fake boyfriend (Sean) and subsequently a fake fiancé who has been living with her for the past year. Now grandma is coming to visit and Emma wants Sean to move in with her and pose as her fiancé.
Sean, against his better judgment and the incessant laughter from his cousins, decides to help Emma out and moves in with Emma the morning her grandmother is expected to arrive from Florida. Emma has tried to do everything she could to try to help Sean know her and her likes and dislikes – even going so far as to write out a journal about herself. Sean scoffs at the idea and says he can write everything about himself on a post-it note.
The couple attempt to keep away from each other and keep things on a platonic level but soon they find that they can’t keep their hands off of each other.
This was an adorable story. If you haven’t read the Kowalski series yet you should do that. They are just wonderful contemporary romances that mix fun and laughter in with real life emotions.
Sean was more than a little chauvinistic but I liked him anyway. lol He had a great sense of humor, he had great manners and really when you got down to it was a pretty honorable man. He loved his family and was incredibly loyal to them. One of my favorite scenes was between him and his Aunt Mary when he goes to talk to her and try to get some comfort when he is feeling low. It was so touching it almost brought me to tears.
Emma was an independent sort but I could tell right off that she had a wonderful sense of humor and would do anything to make her grandmother happy – even lie and make up a man so that her grandma would stop worrying about her. She didn’t seem like someone who would do something like this and honestly I wondered how long she’d be able to keep up the façade before she cracked.
There was also a great little side romance with Emma’s grandmother and friend of hers that she’d known for a long time but now was looking at in a new way. It was very sweet and I loved that Stacey put it in there and ran with it.
This is just a wonderful book and I highly recommend you read it!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Pearl is also a big fan of this series and I've got the first in the Kowalski series on my iPad. i'm glad to read this series keeps up the great stories 🙂
What a great review. Sounds adorable and very sweet. Can I read this one without reading any of the previous Kowalski books ?
Love the sound of this! Like Leontine, I have the first book, just need to read it. 🙂
Oh, that's a lovely cover. It sounds from the previous comments that there are previous books in the series?
Leontine – I really liked book one as well – hopefully you'll get to it soon. Let me know what you think.
Christine – It was great – but all of her books in this series have been. Yes, you can read this one without having read the others but you have such a greater insight into the Kowalski family as a whole if you read them from the beginning.
Leslie – Get on that! 🙂
Orannia – Yes the cover is wonderful, isn't it. Very sweet. Yes there are two previous books – Exclusively Yours and Undeniably Yours – both good!
I know you told me about this book and I have every intention of reading it, but this review moves me from "good intentions" to action. Good review!
Not reading the review, but definitively getting the book, Tracy!! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Dr. J – You will LOVE these books! Just so good.
Nath – I understand completely. lol