Reviewer: Rowena
Finally Home by Helen Scott Taylor
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: September 24th 2012
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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As manager of the charming Greyfriar House Hotel, Melanie Marshall loves her job and spending time with her young son. But she can never forget what she ran away from: her late husband's crimes and her own terrible guilt. Though lonely, Melanie can't afford to let another man into her life.

But when her boss, gorgeous hotel owner Jack Summers, returns from his supposed wedding without a ring or a wife, Melanie discovers there's more to him than she ever thought. For one, the ex-soccer star is her son's idol. But the closer she gets to Jack, the more she pulls away. She can't share her past. Ever.

For too long, Jack's protected his scarred heart by letting gold-digging women make him think love didn't matter. But a sweet single mother and a soccer-crazy little boy change everything. He knows Melanie has secrets. Secrets she'll have to share if he's to help her realize she's finally home.

This book drove me crazy.

This book follows Melanie Marshall and Jack Summers as they bumble their way toward their happily ever after. Melanie Marshall has a past that she wants to stay hidden, to protect her five-year-old son Ryan. The secret has to do with Ryan’s father and the reason she’s on the outs with her parents, does not live where she used to live and why she’s become so protective of her son. She cut relationships with men out of her life in an effort to protect her son from the harsh reality of everyone finding out just who they were. Ryan almost died in the car accident that killed Melanie’s husband and she still hasn’t forgiven herself for not knowing what her husband was up to (bad things) and for failing to keep Ryan safe from the fallout of everyone finding out about what the husband was up to (no good). She got a job at the Greyfriar House Hotel which is owned by ex-footballer Jack Summers.

When we first meet Jack, he’s engaged to Stephanie and they’re getting ready to be married. He doesn’t want to get married to Stephanie so he breaks it off with her by telling her that he’s in love with Melanie (he’s her boss) and before he can come back and confess his sins to Melanie, Stephanie tells her all. First off, he’s the hero in this book and to see him do something like that was, well, stupid. He’s a grown ass man and for him to lie about that to get out of marrying someone….well, I wasn’t a fan of that.

The romance between Jack and Melanie was a little on the annoying side too. I mean, Jack spent far too long trying to convince Melanie that they were meant to be and that he didn’t care about her past and that she needs to forgive herself for what she had no control over. It was really annoying to be 80% done with the book and her insecurities were still an issue. Jack had gone above and beyond the call of being a good boyfriend to Melanie and when she does what she does at the end, dragging a sobbing Ryan out, I wanted to punch her in her freaking face.

Yes, I got that she was wary of people coming into her and Ryan’s life. I got that she was pissed at her parents for not believing in her and I got that she had cold feet about starting a life with Jack but after she said accepted his proposal and then in the same breath, pulled away from him because of a stupid newspaper article? It got to be old, real quick. It was hard for me to sympathize with her because I was too busy being annoyed with her for playing with Jack’s emotions the way that she was.

I will say that I liked Jack’s family. Even when his mother was getting on my nerves in the beginning of the book (her first meeting with Melanie), I didn’t hate her. I adored Emily and her boys and I really liked Melanie’s grandmother. Ryan came off as a little brat at times which was understandable being that he was so young but still, there were times when he would demand to see Jack or play with Jack or whatever where I wanted to spank him.

I thought that I would enjoy this book more than I did and while it had some good parts (mostly Jack’s family and Mel’s grandmother), there were a lot of things that I didn’t like and it really affected my enjoyment of the book.

Grade: 2 out of 5

This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.