Falling for her convenient groomFamily Blessings lead to new beginnings Jules Sheehan will do anything to keep custody of the two orphaned girls in her care–including a marriage of convenience with their uncle. Cam Quinn crosses the globe as a travel writer, but he’s ready to settle down. Now tough, tender Jules is offering the home he’s secretly longed for. Can this marriage in name only … only become a family of the heart?
more
The marriage bargain
I enjoyed how Jules and Cam got together. Jules has custody of his nieces. Their parents had recently past away. She is doing a great job in caring for them. He talks her into getting married for the kids sake.
I love how they both care for the girls. One of the little girls is a baby and other is three. Eleanor has such a cute personality. Of course, when Cam brings home a puppy it adds so much to the story.
I got this book from my monthly reader service. I was not required to write an review.
Babies, bachelors, and bargains
A puppy, a toddler, a three-year-old. Fishing. So completely adorable! I could just picture the events in my head as these girls experienced their first fishing trip.
Cam was such a sweet, yet hurting man. Despite the terrible memories he had for this small town, when he heard his sister had died and left two little girls behind he dropped everything and headed back to help however he could. Of course, he had no idea what that would end up meaning!
He was the type of guy who did thoughtful things. Like the date he took Juliet on. He was also the clueless kind of man who brought home a new puppy for the girls without thinking about asking his new wife what she thought of the idea. Oops!
The struggles that Cam had in accepting the fact that anyone could care for him rang true. His difficulty in accepting the value he had in Christ despite the fact that he was a Christian and knew the Lord is one that many people face. . .
I really enjoyed Juliet and her siblings. The fact that all of them had such hearts for kids, and especially foster children. Aww! I can’t believe her mother was so clueless as to give her the gift she did. Yikes!
There were a number of surprises including the custody issue. Not the fact that it was resolved – this is the kind of book I knew that would happen. It was the manner in which the situation was resolved that was the surprise.
I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of Cam’s need to forgive. Despite the way he had been wronged, forgiveness isn’t optional. It’s a command. Not that I think he should have acted differently in the situation at the end of the book – that was truly the choice that made the most sense. It’s just that the need to forgive was not addressed at all.
As the fourth book of the Family Blessings series, there were many characters from previous books here – Jules has a big family. While it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story that I don’t know the backstories, it was clear that I had missed out by not having read the previous books.
Read with a Preview at AmongTheReads.net
I was given a copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.
As others have stated, this is a marriage of convenience story. You don’t get many of those in a modern setting, most of them are in a historical setting! I very much enjoyed this one! I have loved all the Family Blessings books and the Sheehan family. Although Jules has been in the other books, I have been waiting for her story. She’s a baker and a planner! I knew she’d have a story that upended her “planned” life and that’s what happened. She suddenly had 2 young children dropped in her lap when her best friend dies and she becomes the guardian. Not only is she overcome with grief but she becomes an instant mom and has to integrate that into her daily life! THEN, the children’s uncle shows up and things get even crazier. I fell in love with Cam almost instantly because of his background story! I wont give spoilers but he has had a rough childhood and he craves to have a family and someone to love him. He wants to be part of his nieces’ lives even though they don’t know them. When Jules suggests a marriage of convenience to help keep the children, he agrees but it suddenly becomes much more than that. I LOVED how all the characters from the other books were in this book – a lot! That’s my favorite kind of thing! Caring for the two girls together and fighting their ever-growing feeling for each other was just the type of story I enjoyed. I know some reviewers have said that there was no way some of the events would have happened as fast as things did in this story but that’s why this is fiction! It had to happen fast because of the story line! I definitely recommend this book!
Ah, Red Hill Springs. How we have grown together. You have kept me entertained, occasionally irritated me, and always enamored me. The Sheehan family has expanded by more than double with falling in love and getting married and foster adopting a passel of Minions of twenty. Each resident has a story to tell from Joe and Claire who both know what it’s like to not have family and to find family. From Jordan (Claire’s twin sister) and Ash (the local doctor) and finding their own kind of love over the needs of a special little guy. Don’t forget Wynn, and her baby bump, that drew her and her high school crush/love Lathan back together again. This family is finding love and getting married and adding children faster than they can blink. And then there is Jules, the baby of the family. She’s goal-oriented just like her sister Wynn, but with completely different sights. She’s an amazing baker and owns her own bakery right next door to Mama’s cafe in the heart of town. But guess what? She finds herself the guardian of her besties two young children when their parents pass away in a car accident. Kids. All the kids. Everywhere!
We already have the kids and we don’t have to wait long to find the love interest either. The long lost uncle to these two girls is right on the doorstep as soon as he hears about his sister’s passing. There’s a lot of history here that I won’t bog down in (let’s just say he and Joe have similar backstories) but he wants to be there, he wants to do the right thing, and he’s hurt that he never had the chance to reconnect with his sister. He could be the saving grace Jules needs to keep the girls with her. Their only chance at a real life. And for her that can only mean one thing. She’s gotta marry Cam. She’s not seen him since she was a child. She’s not heard from him since she was a child. Most of the locals have completely forgotten he exists. And she’s gonna talk him in marrying her for the sake of the girls they both want to protect. For a girl who never takes a step without fifteen lists and a backup plan for her backup plan(s) she jumps on this bandwagon without checking the depth of the water. Even the most centered, grounded, ambitious person sometimes just has to leap. And she leaped hard, and fell hard. Fell right into drowning in taking on too much when Ma leaves her the cafe, and the girls, and her *husband*, and and and. But leaping takes her to the edge of what could be great. If she can get past her lists and plans and ground rules.
I loved Jules while I also wanted to Gibbs’ smack her. She is the epitome of what every marriage of convenience becomes. She’s a smart girl and she knows what will happen, especially when she’s *marrying* someone she finds quite a hottie to begin with. I mean, I respect that she was trying to find herself falling in insta-love but it was already too late. She was in insta-love the moment she let her guard down and looked into his eyes. It just took her a little longer to realize it than it did him. Things go exactly like you expect it too and a single gal suddenly finds herself a legitimate family of four. Four couples, eightybadillion children, and a whole lotta insta-love. That’s what I take away from the Family Blessings series. I feel like this town is not done talking, not done falling in love, and not done expanding with so many children they will need to build another school. I loved meeting these people and my heart hurts a little at this goodbye (though that could also be my super lame last review because well. . .I don’t want to say goodbye!). I have to love this series though, insta-love and all, as it introduced me to the author. I enjoy her writing style and am absolutely on board to read everything she chooses to write!
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Just Read. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
This review includes the previous three books in the series.
Just Reads Tours presents The Family Blessings series by author Stephanie Dees.
When the opportunity arose to read not just Stephanie Dee’s upcoming release from Love Inspired, The Marriage Bargain, but also the previous three novels of the Family Blessings series, I excitedly signed up. It’s not often I have the chance to read an entire series, one after the other; plus, it’s Love Inspired, a line I trust to provide a good wholesome love story. The author, Stephanie Dees, seems to be a fairly new author however, her storytelling skills are very good with great character development. With her descriptive writing, this reader soon found herself on a ranch in small town Alabama.
The Marriage Bargain, releases February 1, 2019
Author Stephanie Dees continues her delightful Family Blessings series Jules, the youngest of the Sheehan girls. Jules has it altogether running her own bakery and helping her mother at the family diner. Bouncing back and forth between the two doesn’t ruffle her feathers; along with the myriad of her huge family, nothing seems to faze her until the unthinkable happens. Her best friend, Glory, and her husband are killed in a tragic car accident, leaving behind two very young little girls. Jules, named guardian in their will, assumes care of the two little ones who very quickly steal her heart.
Cameron Quinn arrives back in town years after being kicked out of his home by an abusive step father. Hearing about his sister’s death and the two girls suddenly orphaned, he rushes back to Alabama. Finding the children safely ensconced with his sister’s best friend, Cam purchases a home, settling in to raise them with Jules.
As the date for the custody hearing rushes ever closer, Jules is stunned to learn that someone has come forward to claim the girls, their grandmother Cameron and Glory’s mother, the same person who neglected them and allowed abuse at the hands of their stepfather. Neither Cam nor Jules want the girls to fall into their mothers care, so they did the only thing they thought could possibly ensure custody would be assigned to them…they marry. A marriage of convenience.
Cam has always longed for a family and home, one filled with love and laughter and now it’s within his grasp. Will he be able to trust Jules enough to accept the love and security she offers? Despite everything from his past, will he be able to allow himself to love Jules as she has come to love him?
While each book could be read as a stand-alone, I found reading them in the following order to enhance my personal enjoyment of the Family Blessings series.
The Dad Next Door, released May 1, 2017
Claire Conley, and her sister, Jordan inherit a property in Alabama from a father neither woman can remember. Claire is a social worker, and Jordan runs a horse therapy farm; the women plan to fix up the ranch, combining their love of helping others to open a foster home and a new horse therapy business. Claire arrives first and begins the work of fixing and cleaning the main house and barn, while Jordan remains behind preparing to move her horse therapy business south.
Licensed as a foster parent in her previous hometown, Claire begins the licensing process and soon meets Amelia, the 12 year old daughter of Joe Sheehan, a daughter he didn’t know he had. Having been displaced, Amelia trusts no one, not even this man who is her father. It is Claire who is able to breakthrough to the young girl, now if Claire could just convince Joe that being a family, raising Amelia together is the best way to go.
A Baby for the Doctor, released October 1, 2017
Jordan Conley signs on to be the foster parent of little Levi, a traumatized three year old requiring not only consistent medical care, but the love, security and stability that has been woefully absent. Ash Sheehan is Levi’s pediatrician, a caring doctor with a reputation of avoiding any serious relationships with women.
Jordan, a horsewoman, with all that comes with caring for numerous horses, and Ash Sheehan, the suit, tie and loafer kind of guy seem like such opposites. But opposites attract, right?
Their Secret Baby Bond, released October 1, 2018:
Wynn Sheehan, Ash’s younger sister, left town the evening of her high school graduation with her dreams twinkling in her eyes. Now she’s back, world worn and pregnant, without a baby daddy in the picture. Latham Grant never want to leave the small town he grew up in, when Wynn left his heart was crushed. Now Wynn is back and Latham needs someone to help take care of his ailing father.
Despite the lack of trust, both Wynn and Latham carry, sparks are soon rekindled. Question is will they lay aside their wounded pasts, to create their own family blessing?
This is a delightful series full of love and lots of kids, foster kids, adopted kids and biological. They all have something to contribute to the family.
I received a complimentary copy of the series via the author and Just Read Tours and am not required to write a positive review. All thoughts and opinions therein are solely my own.
I have enjoyed the entire Family Blessings series. The Marriage Bargain is book four in the series and could probably be enjoyed as a stand alone if needed. Just be aware that all of the other siblings and their families from previous books do have scenes in this novel and many interactions with the main characters.
I loved this story! It is a marriage of convenience plot, which is one of my favorites. Juliet and Cam were such likeable characters who both struggled in the way they viewed themselves.
Juliet was a planner and had some perfectionist tendencies. She really wanted to know that she was doing her best in all situations and sometimes took on more than she could handle. Cam had some very different struggles. He was well aware that he was not perfect. It was actually the opposite for him. Because of the way he was treated and abandoned as a child, Cam thought that he wasn’t worthy. He also carried fear of future abandonment.
I loved the way these two fell for each other, even when they hadn’t planned on it happening. It wasn’t smooth sailing for them, even though they were kind and cared for each other. The love they showed for the little children they wanted to adopt was beautiful. The Marriage Bargain was one of my favorite books in this series!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
4.5 stars! Such a wonderful conclusion to the Family Blessings series! This book can definitely be read as a stand-alone, just like the other three books in the series, but reading them all is recommended since you won’t want to leave Red Hill Springs and the Sheehan family once you start reading!
This book tells the heartfelt story of Jules, the youngest of the Sheehan family, and Cam, a neglected boy now turned famous author and traveler. Jules ends up getting custody of Cam’s nieces and they forge a marriage of convenience to protect the little girls and to provide them security. Jules, the type A, organized, and planned baker of town is complete opposites from Cam, the wandering writer of adventure. Yet their shared desire for home and family, along with dedication and love for the hurting, abused, and neglected children, brings them together and binds them. Their story is of growing friendship, respect, and shared commitment; the nieces are adorable and the hoard of children living in Jules’ siblings’ homes as foster, adopted, and biological children is delightful. I love how the series started out with Joe, a neglected and unloved boy who was adopted and taken into a loving Sheehan family, and how the series ended with Cam, another neglected and unloved boy who is lovingly embraced into the Sheehan family, and how this clan of four siblings and their spouses make a difference in so many children’s lives.
If you enjoy a well-written contemporary romance, you will truly enjoy this book and the series. I was given a copy of the book by the author/publisher via JustRead Publicity Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.