Judith’s review of One More Day by M. Malone

“You’re with the right person when no matter how bad things get, you’d still rather be with them than anywhere else…”

RIDLEY WELLS HAS NO idea what to do with her life now that she’s graduated from college. But when a friend is murdered and her apartment is trashed, she runs to the only person she trusts, her twin sister. No one will think to look for her in the rinky dink Virginia town of New Haven. 

Of course, her luck lands her passed out in the grass in front of resident badboy, music producer Jackson Alexander.  Strike 1!   Then she realizes Raina’s out of the country and she has nowhere else to go.  Strike 2! 

So when the handsome producer with the platinum smile mistakes her for her sister, she gets an idea.   Where better to hide than in plain sight? 

It all started when Ridley wanted to find her biological father, a man that had abandoned her and her twin sister and their troubled mother early in their lives.  Through thick and thin Ridley and her twin sister, Raina, has managed to make something of their lives in spite of the very bad hand life had dealt them.  The private investigator who was searching for their dad had been killed right in front of her eyes after having been told by him that he had news of her father and giving her a very strange necklace to hold for him.  She learns that he has been spotted conversing with some very powerful mob figures and as she considers her life, Ridley determines that she is due a visit to her sister.  No matter that they hadn’t spoken for weeks.  Raina had always assured her that she was always welcome.  Unfortunately, the welcome mat wasn’t in sight when Ridley arrived–no one home, the alarm code didn’t work, and she passed out on the lawn from exhaustion and hunger.  The last place she expected to land is in the arms of Jackson Alexander, himself a celebrity music producer.

Now Jackson knew Raina as a neighbor and Ridley acted a lot different than her sister.  All the Alexander brothers were puzzled at the way this woman acted–a lady they thought was her sister Raina.  But even though she was a woman who usually abhorred deceit and lying just wasn’t acceptable under normal circumstances, Ridley was running for her life and owning up to who she really was seemed a dangerous step to take.

This is a really fine romance novel, full of colorful and realistic characters, especially those awesome and handsome Alexander brothers.   Jackson Alexander was a man who had lived and loved and lost nearly everything that mattered to him in just a matter of a few years except his two kids, both of who were winsome and adorable.  He was determined to guard his heart and his emotions–he was not prepared to ever experience the kind of hurt and loss he had to go through when his wife died.  He, too, was a man of honor and as such was not willing to get involved with this beautiful woman who had landed on his doorstep.  Yet his attraction was so overwhelming that he was bound to fall into the lustfilled abyss that gaped before him whenever he was close to Ridley.  His kids loved her, she found solutions to some of his problems with childcare and even solved a  bruhaha that erupted within the ranks of one of his newest singing and recording groups.  Yet, the more she helped him, the greater enigma she became and the deeper he fell for her.

This is a story about two people who had lost so much, whose lives had been torn apart by circumstances beyond their control.  This truly is a “second chance” kind of story but it also sets up the reader to enjoy and more fully understand the coming book two about Ridley’s twin and her difficulties with love and marriage and having the child she longed for.  This is also about the need for building any kind of lasting relationship on truth and on the trust that comes with open honesty.  There are some reunions within the narrative that are uneasy but poignant in their stark relief against the warmth and open acceptance of the Alexander family.  Jackson’s parents are a kick and his entire family are the kind of people who really understand what it means to be open and accepting of others regardless of their differences.

I have to own up to the fact that I downloaded and read Book Two of this series first.  I think it was the first one I encountered on Net Galley.  Yet I don’t think reading that story diminished my enjoyment of this book in any way.  If anything, it helped me to understand Raina better and to get a handle on the family dynamic that both twins encountered through the Alexander men.  The story is beautifully crafted and written, with an economy of words that express the author’s thoughts and the direction of the story.  The action keeps moving forward.  I was not aware of any of those dead spots that sometimes show up in otherwise good books and which detract from the seamless nature of a good read.  Ms Malone tells one heck of a story and I am truly looking forward to reading the third book in this series due out soon.

This is a very enjoyable novel and the kind of love story that “warms the cockles of the heart” in every way.  It deserves to be read, enjoyed, and appreciated.  I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at  Dr J’s Book Place.

This title is available from CrushStar Romance.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.