Acquired Book By: I’ve been hosting for Prism Book Tours since September of 2017 – having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. As I enquired about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors when I’m not showcasing book reviews on behalf of Harlequin Heartwarming which has become my second favourite imprint of Harlequin next to my beloved #LoveINSPIRED Suspense. I am also keenly happy PRISM hosts a variety of Indie Authors and INSPY Fiction novelists.
I received a complimentary copy of “A Marriage of Inconvenience” direct from the author Amy Vasinte in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why I have been enjoying reading stories by Amy Vastine:
There was something wholesome and sweet about how this story resolves itself; as Vastine lets you take the adventure with Donovan and Kelly. In many instances, they were more caught inside the hours they spent with Avery and Graham; where they were laying down the foundation of a relationship but moreso to that, they were setting down a foundation for a family. Those hours were the most special of the story, as it is where you saw the barriers of grief and anguish starting to tumble down and where true healing could emerge. The kids needed someone as a mediator between themselves and their Uncle Donovan whereas where Kelly excelled at understanding what it was like to have a cop in the family, she also softened Donovan’s heart to accept that sometimes life brings unexpected circumstances that are good for the soul.
What I liked about this series is how its threaded and anchoured through a recording studio! I’ve been binge watching Chesapeake Shores this Summer (Seasons 1-3) and I must say, all the episodes involving the intricacies with Trace trying to jump start his career and help make the Trace Riley Band a success was placing me in the mood for more music industry stories right now! The Grace Note Records series has a lot of heart behind it and if your seeking a series where the characters become inter-connected and form their own ‘found family’, this is definitely one to earmark.
The only thing missing from this novel and the first were the recipes! I also felt that Vastine could make a pitch for writing for Love Inspired Suspense as this Heartwarming novel was a good fit for the other imprint as she had good instincts for balancing the mysterious with the romantic.
-quoted from my review of Falling for Her Bodyguard
(Book Four: Grace Notes Records series)
In case you missed it, during my 8th Blogoversary this March,
I re-celebrated why I love reading Harlequin Heartwarming stories as I had during my 6th!
A Marriage of Inconvenience
Subtitle: Stop the Wedding
by Ms Amy Vastine
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours
She’s met the perfect man…
But he’s engaged!Wedding planner Sophia Reed never imagined she’d meet her perfect man during a bank robbery. Evan Anderson is handsome and funny and makes Sophia believe in love at first sight. There’s only one small hitch—he’s engaged to someone else, and Sophia is planning his wedding! But Evan’s wedding is purely a business arrangement…and true love might just turn this almost-perfect wedding into a beautiful catastrophe!
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1335179852
Also by this author: Falling for Her Bodyguard
Published by Harlequin Heartwarming
on 13th April, 2021
Format: Larger Print (Mass Market Paperback)
Pages: 384
Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin
the Stop the Wedding series:
A Bridesmaid to Remember (Book One)
His Brother’s Bride (Book Two)
A Marriage of Inconvenience (Book Three)
Converse via: #Contemporary #Romance
+ #Harlequin OR #HarlequinHeartwarming & #StopTheWeddingSeries
About Ms Amy Vastine
Amy Vastine has been plotting stories in her head for as long as she can remember. An eternal optimist, she studied social work, hoping to teach others how to find their silver lining. Now, she enjoys creating happily ever afters for all to read. Amy lives outside Chicago with her high school sweetheart husband, three teenagers who keep her on her toes, and their two sweet but mischievous pups.
The reason I had to feature an abridged showcase for this lovely novel is because despite my best efforts to rebound from recent health afflictions – I succumbed to a migraine which truly put me under the weather. I’ve been exhausted recently due to IRL stress and fatigue whilst trying to rest and recover from bouts of unwellness, I unfortunately wasn’t able to progress too far into this novel. Thereby, I didn’t want to miss my tour stop which is why I decided to feature a preview of the story’s impressions as I had with Three Makes A Family.
I decided to share my abridged thoughts about this novel in one of my #25PagePreview showcases rather feel the fuller guilt of not being able to enjoy the story before/during the tour itself. I will be reading this lovely in full as soon as I’m able too – thereby, expect more reactions & remarks from me in the near future on behalf of this story and series.
| A Marriage of Inconvenience by Amy Vastine |
What a heart stopping opening scene! I felt the same shock as Sophia as there are moments in your life where you’re keenly alerted to the dangers which lurk round you but to actually become a real life witness to those kinds of events is quite the shock on your mental state! I loved how Vastine just causally inserted us into this evocative scene as if it were just another ‘ordinary day’ with quite the ‘extraordinary’ circumstances evolving at a fast pace! You barely have a chance to catch your own breath and that is what makes the opening chapter such a winning one for me!
You immediately feel connected to Sophia – from how she turnt to a stranger for comfort in a high octane situation which threw them both for a loop about how something like that could happen and secondly, how she knew she wanted to be with her grandmother that evening. She had a strong fortitude to survive whatever life was going to throw at her but she was also close to her family and that made her endearing to me. Evan was of a similar personality – except he had found a way to work through the fear they both had felt and protect them at the same time. Without his willingness to intervene on her behalf, I’m sure the situation could have evolved differently. He had a charming manner about him – where you felt you could know him longer than you were acquainted simply because he was easy to talk too and had a familiarity about himself.
For two persons who randomly were thrown into an emergency situation together, Vastine pulled us closer to who they were outside that circumstance and truly dug into the heart of who they were within their own circles of life and careers. She left the door open for them to continue to find each other which left a thirst of curiosity to know how and when their lives might continue to intersect with one another. As I for one, was dearly curious to learn more about how this first meeting might lead them closer to each other and/or what kind of affect this situation might have on both of them lateron in the story. As I had a feeling there could be a consequence or two to what happened which was being foreshadowed by Vastine.
Meeting Sophia’s grandmother was the best capstone on this portion of my readings of this novel because I love how Heartwarming authors root their stories in family and community; their the benchmarks of the series and stories I read through this imprint and it is why I find myself returning to read more by this imprint every month and/or year. Her grandmother had a kind sensibility about Sophia’s reaction to Evan and it was such a sweet moment exchanged between them because it was evident even Sophia hadn’t realised the kind of effect Evan had had on her or perhaps, she was trying to downplay her own feelings in case things didn’t turn out as she expected them too. Sometimes self perseverance is necessary for singletons and I could see why Sophia might have taken that stance in her life.
On my continued JOY of reading this series
& Ms Vastine’s Contemporary Romantic styling:
I have a long standing appreciation for ‘marriages of inconvenience’ plots – especially the ones which are featured in #HistRom scenarios during the American Wild West wherein brides were ‘mail ordered’ by their grooms! There is so much happening ‘behind’ the ensuing drama of matrimonial disruption, that I think its the drama of the situations involving the characters which has always charmed me. In this instance, I could see why Ms Vastine is having wicked fun with her characters in this series of stories – to find interruptions in their plans and finding a way to see them realise that sometimes life has afforded them a different path than the one they’ve planned!
Interspersed within the context of the narrative, Vastine has found a way where we can be privy to the private conversations brewing between Sophia and Evan through their text messaging. I loved how those conversations were inserted in such a way as to add to the building connection we as readers were feeling for them as unlike some stories which try to insert emails or texts or other forms of communication, these were quite streamlined and easily able to be identified as texts between the characters without losing the context of the scenes.
This is another reason why I sometimes see how Vastine could write Romantic Suspense novels for Harlequin – previously I mentioned Love Inspired Suspense because she writes the cosier side of suspense into her stories but any suspenseful plotting by Ms Vastine is going to be a winner because she has the right instincts about how to layer in the suspense with the undercurrents of romance!
This blog tour is courtesy of: Prism Book Tours
By clicking this banner you can find out about the giveaway associated with the tour;
my particular tour stop doesn’t host the giveaway as I’m a review stop, however,
you’ll find many other bloggers who are hosting the information!
readers who gravitate towards the same stories to read.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “A Bridesmaid to Remember”, “His Brother’s Bride” and “A Marriage of Inconvenience”, as well as the synopsis for “A Marriage of Inconvenience”, the author photo of Amy Vastine and her biography; and the Prism Book Tours badges were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight banner, #25PagePreview banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2021.
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