Review:: Smart Move by Melanie Jacobson + Giveaway

Title: Smart Move
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Pub Date: Oct 1, 2012
Pages: 256
Format: Kindle {ARC}

A special Thank you to author Melanie Jacobson for sending me her book to review.

The spark was undeniable the night Sandy Burke met the devastatingly handsome Jake. Conversation flowed easily, so after they parted, she waited eagerly for his call. It never came. A high-powered career woman at the ripe old age of twenty-seven, Sandy feels she has had her heart broken one too many times, and now the redheaded trendsetter is facing a major quarter-life crisis. After some introspection, Sandy determines that helping others may be the key to helping herself. When she's presented with a job offer in Washington DC as the director of New Horizons, a nonprofit organization benefiting women in poverty, it seems providential.

But now that she's moved, two major obstacles threaten the success of her first assignment: The first is her mother and her constant fog of less-than-helpful New Age advice. Secondly, plans to build another New Horizons outreach center have come to a screeching halt, thanks to the interference of a pesky lawyer and his attempts to reverse zoning approval for the building project.

After weeks of verbal sparring over the phone, Sandy is in for a shock when she comes face-to-face with her foe. The smooth voice at the other end of the line is a heart-wrenching blast from the past. In this twist of fate, Sandy sees the perfect opportunity to ensure the success of the outreach center — and to enact a little payback on this man she thought she'd left behind. And so the battle of wits begins. Will Sandy's "flirt-to-convert" plot sway her nemesis' determination to block the center, or will his charming and undeniably attractive ways convince the sassy redhead to give love a second chance?

Review:
I'm a huge Melanie Jacobson fan. I'll read anything she wants to write. I've enjoyed all of her previous works and I was just as eager to read this one.I must say that I'm not a big fan of the cover. I wouldn't pick this up in a book store just by looking at it. It matches the book though {minus the suitcase} but I just don't like it. It looks kind of "home-made"if you know what I mean.

This story takes place in Washington DC area which I love. Anytime we can get out of Utah for a good LDS love story is OK by me. I've actually been to several YSA activities in the DC area and I feel that Melanie got it right. The vibe was there and the whole setting really worked. I loved that Sandy and Jake were both educated, successful, working adults. They weren't just sitting around waiting for marriage to happen. They were busy fighting for causes they believed in. A plus in my book.

I got a little swoony over Jake. I liked his confident attitude. It is re-freshing to see a man who isn't afraid to ask a Mormon girl on a date and stick with it. It was quite a lucky coincidence the way Sandy and Jake met. The 3 variables thrown in are very unlikely and frankly unbelievable. Jake just happened to be ALL the people rolled up into one just seemed a bit much. Although he is known as El Diablo to Sandy and her co-workers and I didn't think that fit. I can understand Jake putting up barriers by doing his job but he didn't seem the kind of guy to have a nickname as "the devil" just seemed like a miss. Jake is a great character though and he is my kind of guy.

The story had a lot to do with the cause Sandy and Jake were both fighting for. Albeit in different directions. I wanted more moments between Jake and Sandy that weren't about the cause. Not all legal jargon. To be honest I didn't care about The Annex. I cared about the love story. I wanted more of it. Too much time passed between those special moments for my liking. A lot of info about the cause I wasn't interested in left me wanting to flip the pages and get to the good stuff.

I liked the story but it was lacking that spark I know and love about Melanie's books. Still good. Her books are always good. Her dialogue is so realistic it feels like the conversation is taking place literally in front of you. I wanted more gooey love story.

************Giveaway***********

1. US RESIDENTS ONLY {sorry to my international peeps. I don't make the rules}

2. Must be over 13 yrs of age. 

3. Enter the Raffecopter form below!
4. Ends Sunday October 14, 2012

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