Review: Save the Date

Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones

Publication Date: January 2011
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Christian Fiction/ Contemporary Romance
ISBN-13: 9781595545398
ISBN: 1595545395

(Received for review from Thomas Nelson)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Christianbook.com, IndieBound

If you live in Morehead, KY or the surrounding area:
Purchase from our local independent bookseller: CoffeeTree Books
Borrow from our local library: The Rowan County Public Library

Jenny B. Jones on the Web: Website, Blog, Facebook, Twitter

Excerpt from Save the Date

Synopsis (Book Blurb):

You are cordially invited to the wedding of the year with the most unlikely bride and groom.

Save the date... and say your prayers.

When the funding for Lucy's non-profit job is pulled, she is determined to find out why. Enter Alex Sinclair, former professional football star and heir to Sinclair Enterprises - the primary donor to Lucy's non-profit organization.

Both Lucy and Alex have something the other desperately wants.

Alex has it all... except for the votes he need to win his bid for Congress. Despite their mutual dislike, Alex makes Lucy a proposition: pose as his fiancee in return for the money she desperately needs. Bound to a man who isn't quite what he seems, Lucy finds her heart - on the line.

Save the Date is a spunky romance that will have readers laughing out loud as this dubious pair try to save their careers, their dreams... and maybe even a date.

Thoughts:

Jenny B. Jones has written a novel that is full of romance and laughter. With her trademark style blending Christian principles with laugh out loud humor, Jones gives the reader a book that will touch the heart and tickle the funny bone. Save the Date is a contemporary romance that transcends the Christian fiction genre. Jones conveys her message with grace and mirth, while immersing the reader in a great happily-ever-after story.

Lucy Wiltshire has devoted her adulthood to making life better for young girls. As founder of Saving Grace, a non-profit organization that provides a shelter for girls who are too old for the foster care system but not yet ready to be on their own, Lucy is changing the world a few lives at a time. When her biggest donor, the
Sinclair Hotel chain plans to reduce it's funding by 40% Lucy is forced to confront closing the shelter due to lack of money. Determined to save her dream, Lucy confronts Alex Sinclair, former football star, Congressional candidate and owner of Sinclair Hotels in hopes of getting the money she desperately needs. But is she prepared to help Alex lose his playboy reputation by pretending to be his fiancee in order to get it?

I was skeptical about this book at first. I'm not a fan of reading books about politicians and the like, but this one was definitely worth it. Jenny B. Jones has crafted a book that gives the reader a glimpse into the political world without going overboard.

Alex's bid for Congress is in danger due his habits and reputation as a playboy. He needs a stable relationship to a woman who the community will adore. That's where Lucy comes in. Alex's character is brash, authoritative, and somewhat cynical when the book begins. He almost jaded. But as he begins to have feelings for Lucy he starts to see things from a different perspective. He lightens up a lot. I liked the character and I thought Jones did an excellent job of showing how much Alex grows throughout the book.

Lucy's character is really what carries the book, along with a great supporting cast, in Julian and Jose and several others. Lucy is tenacious and fun and very determined. The messes she gets herself into, really provide a lot of comic relief and humor throughout the story and of course Alex is the knight in shining armor that keeps getting her out of the scrapes she finds herself in. The chemistry between the characters is very believable and comes across as real. It isn't rushed or too intimate before it needs to be.

I loved the ebb and flow of the book and the great characters and I would recommend this one to lovers of a great happy-ever-after as well as Christian Fiction lovers. It's a great love story, that is at times heartwarming and at times very poignant. The Christian aspect of the story is told through church attendance and prayers, but is not overpowering.

Save the Date is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!




Jenny B. Jones writes Christian Fiction with equal parts wit, sass, and untamed hilarity. When she's not writing, she's living it up as a high school teacher in Arkansas. Since she has very little free-time, she believes in spending her spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits, such as watching E!, going to the movies and inhaling large buckets of popcorn, and writing her name in the dust on her furniture. She is the four-time Carol Award-winning author of Just Between You and Me and the Charmed Life series for young adults.