💗 👨🏻🚒 The Dating Charade (2019) 👨🏻🚒 💗 - Book Review
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The Dating Charade
By Melissa Ferguson
Contemporary Romance, Christian
Paperback, Audiobook &ebook, 336
Pages
December 3rd 2019 by Thomas Nelson
Just when you think you’ve met your
match . . . the charade begins.
Cassie Everson is an expert at
escaping bad first dates. And, after years of meeting, greeting, and running
from the men who try to woo her, Cassie is almost ready to retire her hopes for
a husband—and children—altogether.
But fate has other plans, and
Cassie’s online dating profile catches the eye of firefighter Jett Bentley. In
Jett’s memory, Cassie Everson is the unreachable girl-of-legend from their high
school days. Nervously, he messages her, setting off a chain of events that
forces a reluctant Cassie back into the dating game.
No one is more surprised than Cassie
when her first date with Jett is a knockout. But when they both go home and
find three children dropped in their laps—each—they independently decide to do
the right and mature thing: hide the kids from each other while sorting it all
out. What could go wrong?
Melissa Ferguson’s hilarious and
warmhearted debut reminds us that love can come in very small packages—and that
sometimes our best-laid plans aren’t nearly as rewarding and fun as the
surprises that come our way.
(Affiliate
links included.)
About the Author
Melissa Ferguson is an adjunct professor for Bible and religion at King
University. She lives in the charming town of Bristol, Tennessee, with her
husband, twin toddlers, and baby girl. She used to have hobbies like running
and backpacking the Appalachian Trail outside her door. Now her hobbies include
admiring the Appalachian Trail out her minivan window while singing "The
Itsy Bitsy Spider" en route to the library.
Tour Schedule
Things that grabbed me right off – there’s a
firefighter involved. It’s set in a few “smaller” towns in Tennessee I’m familiar
with, that’s another bonus. And, kids!
So, I honestly couldn’t wait to read it.
It started off great – romance in the modern
century. Then the kids entered the situation for both Cassie and Jett. And,
where I thought this would be a romance novel, with a “dating with kids twist” –
it, at least to me – turned into more of a family drama story with both Cassie
and Jett finding their way with the kids they’ve inherited. And, neither one
knowing about the other’s situation with miscommunication occurring.
There are a few moments that made me laugh. However
it wasn’t the funny, romantic-comedy novel I was expecting.
The realism, disappointment, and frustration in
adopting or inheriting three children are present and Ferguson does a great job
in conveying it. I can’t attest to the realistic portrayal though.
There are also a lot of tense moments and a
dramatic scene at the end with the romance between Cassie and Jett coming in
the last chapters.
It does have the “love comes in small packages”;
“best-laid plans aren’t nearly as rewarding”, “happy” ending. However, this lacks
in the romance part.
Despite the disappointment from the blurb being
different as to my expectations, this was a delightful read. It was
heart-warming and often heart-tugging.
I won’t spoil it, but towards the end there
were more details I would’ve liked to have known as to what happened with the
kids that led to certain events. I don’t know if that differs from the ARC to
publication, but it would’ve made the ending far more dramatic and wholesome.
It is a “clean read” from the Thomas Nelson
Fiction line, which is part of the HarperCollins Christian Publishing division.
There are little to no “Christian” references though. Readers of the Harlequin
Heartwarming series might like this particular novel.
3.5 ⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads (“Liked It”)
3.5 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (Between “Good” and “Okay”)
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