ARC Review: The Engagement Game by Jenny Holiday
The Engagement Game
Book Three
203 Pages
Release Date: 10/06/2015
Publisher: Entangled Publishing | Imprint: Indulgence
Genre: Romance | Contemporary Romance | Series Romance
Series: 49th Floor
What’s a little blackmail between friends?
The black sheep of the old-money Rosemanns, advertising executive Marcus has made his own way in the world—and done extremely well for himself—but his family is still pressuring him to join their investment firm and settle down with a quiet, unobjectionable girl.
Which is why the sexy Rose Verma is the perfect date for his family’s charity ball. A bleeding-heart lefty from the wrong side of the tracks, Rose has never met a stray dog she didn’t love or a polka-dotted mini-dress she couldn’t rock. Marcus has enough dirt on Rose to “convince” her to play along. And if he lets it slip that they’re engaged, all the better.
But all’s fair in love and blackmail, and Rose is ready to play a few cards of her own…
*ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review *
Fun and well-written, The Engagement Game by Jenny Holiday is the story of Rose Verma and Marcus Rosemann. In the story, Rosie mistakenly sends a letter meant for her long-time best friend to Marcus, who then uses it to blackmail Rosie into pretending to be his fiancé. A classic trope done in a fresh and unique way. I loved it. I found it entertaining, and I enjoyed both Rosie and Marcus.
The thing I loved most about this story is that it didn’t take the predictable route with the characters. Rosie was a unique individual all on her own and I love how much she tied Marcus in knots because she didn’t do what he expected and wasn’t content to sit on the sidelines and let him run the show. This made for a great dynamic between the two characters and a really great read for me.
If you’re looking for a good romance where opposites attract, pretend engagements are a must, and blackmail and extortion are an addition, The Engagement Game by Jenny Holiday is perfect.
Final thoughts:
Fun, clever, and compelling, and highly entertaining to read.
Jenny Holiday started writing in fourth grade, when her awesome hippie teacher, between sessions of Pete Seeger singing and anti-nuclear power plant letter writing, gave the kids notebooks and told them to write stories. Most of Jenny’s featured poltergeist, alien invasions, or serial killers who managed to murder everyone except her and her mom. She showed early promise as a romance writer, though, because nearly every story had a happy ending: fictional Jenny woke up to find that the story had been a dream, and that her best friend, father, and sister had not, in fact, been axe-murdered.
From then on, she was always writing, often in her diary, where she liked to decorate her declarations of existential angst with nail polish teardrops. Eventually she channelled her penchant for scribbling into a more useful format. After picking up a PhD in urban geography, she became a professional writer, spending many years promoting research at a major university, which allowed her to become an armchair astronomer/historian/particle physicist, depending on the day. Eventually, she decided to try her hand again at happy endings–minus the bloodbaths.
You can follow her on twitter at @jennyholi and @TropeHeroine or visit her on the web at jennyholiday.com.
