Once burned, this father of twins is twice shy until he realizes the right woman is the charm . . . James Harper is a great dad, but a lousy judge of women—as evidenced by his twin boys’ flighty mother, who walked out when the babies were just six weeks old. He’s got fatherhood down, but dating is another story—especially when the twins’ mom shows up any time she needs something. His office … she needs something. His office manager, Rosie Herrera, is the one woman he can count on, actually talk to, flirt with, and . . . come to think of it, has he been overlooking the perfect woman all this time?
Rosie’s been in love with James since her first day on the job, but she’s certain he only sees her as a reliable employee—until one heated kiss changes everything. And then James’s ex shows up, and walks right into his life again. Determined to move on, Rosie tries to forget everything she feels about James—by doing her best to fall for someone else. But James isn’t about to make the same mistake twice. To woo Rosie this time, he needs to prove they’re made for
each other . . . forever.
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Let me start off by saying that, yet again, I picked a book to read that is part of a series but not the first in the series. I really try so hard not to do that, but it happens. In this case, I don’t think there was any huge chunk I was missing out on by reading this as a standalone. I’m certain I would have gotten more out of the story if I had known the other characters on a deeper level.
I read this story in one day, so it definitely hooked me early. It helped that I didn’t have to work the day I started reading, but still…I wanted to know what was going to happen next. There’s no slow build to the main idea of this story. Bam, it starts. A couple of chapters in, it slows down to give that build that wasn’t present at the beginning. I have to say, the way this author wrote this story was a bit different from I’m used to, but I liked it.
The character of Rose spoke to me. She’s so strong and so much of a pushover all at the same time. Her heart is way too soft, but she knows this about herself. Rosie just doesn’t seem to know what to do about her softness. Everyone loves Rosie, but that also means that most people also take her for granted.
James is just trying to do the right thing where it comes to his kids and their mom. And boy oh boy, his baby mama is a piece of work! I really hated her and she made me want to do bad things to her. Yet, James is stuck with her in his life forever (no matter their personal relationship) because of their boys. That doesn’t mean I forgive how he handled some things. But I can still sympathize with him.
When Rosie and James finally give in to the inevitable, it’s really touching. Hot and sexy, but also touching. Rosie finally gets to see that she is not alone in her feelings, which is amazing. There’s still some things they have to work through, but that night is beautiful.
I’m looking forward to going back and finding the first two books of this series so I can read about the other friends and their HEA stories.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/06/a-ring-for-rosie-book-review/
A RING FOR ROSIE by Maggie Wells is another book where my opinion is divided. This is happening more and more to me and I’ve come to the conclusion it’s because the romance books I’m reading are swaying more to the side of realism than ever before. I read romance primarily for escapism. I want to cheer the hero for acting like one, and congratulate the heroine for finally getting a man worthy of her. And here’s where I am struggling with this book: I am not convinced that the hero is worthy of the heroine.
James Harper is a single dad to 4 year old twin boys. His ex, Megan, left soon after their birth and has little interest in her children. Wells gives us the realism of a single parent stretched thin as he juggles a job and his kids. I believe he loves his kids but I understand him when he talks about his and Megan’s relationship being about the physical, with children not even entering the picture. I believe that he is attracted to Rosie and that at the time they first met, he was in no way capable of committing to a romantic relationship. I don’t even blame him for disregarding Rosie’s obvious crush on him. Frankly, he owes her nothing in this regard, and nor has he ever taken advantage of her feelings for him.
What I do blame him for is his utterly stupid decision to fake his feelings towards Megan to firstly, remove her from his life permanently and secondly, wield this fake relationship in Rosie’s face in an attempt to get her to fall out of love with him. Would a person do this in real life? Perhaps, and I can see the appeal of taking the easier way out. Should a hero in a romance novel do this? Hell no! From the outset it was clear the plan was manipulative and designed to hurt Rosie. I was not a happy reader.
I could argue that it was up to Rosie to stop mooning over James much sooner and there is an element in truth in that. Even though her decision to date other men came as a result of James’ rejection, I am glad she found several men who were able to appreciate her as a woman. To them she was not just the indispensible employee or the awkward crush to be placated from time to time. I felt for Rosie and was prepared to be happy for her, even if she did give James the flick and headed off into the sunset with another man. Yet as these things go in a romance novel, the heart wants what it wants. I am not going to give a summary but suffice it to say, after a few hiccups, Rosie does get the man she always wanted. James won’t be making it onto my book boyfriend list but the author convinced me that Rosie was happy at the end and that’s what matters.