A brand new contemporary romance from Pamela Morsi!
Mr. Right Goes Wrong
by Pamela Morsi
Blurb:
No More Mr. Nice Guy…
Like a bad-choice-making boomerang, Mazy Gulliver has returned to her mom’s tiny house in Brandt Mountain. But this time, she’s got her teenage son, Tru, in tow and no intention of messing up ever again.
Mazy’s so determined to rebuild her life she hardly minds being the new loan collector, or even working for Tad, her ex (and Tru’s dad, which—awkward). She’s not here to make friends—or fall in love.
Sweet, dependable Eli Latham has loved Mazy since they got pretend married in second grade. But after being ignored and/or burned by Mazy for two decades, Eli’s got a new strategy. Mazy likes bad boys, so a bad boy is what he’ll be. How hard can it be to act like a jerk?
Until now, Eli could’ve taken SOB lessons from Tad. But suddenly Tad is playing Mr. Nice Guy. What gives? Not for the first time, men are making Mazy crazy, though she’s determined to do what’s right for her and Tru. But breaking old habits is hard, and if she really wants things to change she’ll have to face her biggest adversary: herself.
Review:
This was my second book by Pamela Morsi, and I have to say I liked it just as much as the first (The Lovesick Cure)–which is quite a bit!
Second chance stories are always some of my favorite reads, and this one was no exception. Mazy and Eli were never really “together”–at least in her mind. Though he has loved her for years, he’s always been her best friend and rebound guy. Even when the book started and Mazy moved back home and they first got back together, it was obvious that she wasn’t seeing him as an option for real relationship material.
Eli’s plan to get her to take him seriously works (pretend to be a “bad boyfriend” a la the blog-o-verse)–sort of. I have to admit that at times what he did made me laugh, though just as often his actions made me cringe. (And more than once I just sat there, my mouth hanging open in “oh no he didn’t” fashion. He did.) He absolutely took it too far, and I cried a bit inside when his actions had Mazy doubting herself again. (If only Eli’s dad could talk! I’m sure he would have reined him in before it got to that point–though I suppose then Eli probably wouldn’t have confided that much to him anyway, so…)
On the other hand, Eli’s actions did have some positive implications. For one, he started standing up for himself more in other areas of his life–especially with his brother, who worked for him and took major advantage of Eli–which was definitely a change for the good. Mazy really wasn’t seeing Eli as a relationship material and by not being so over-the-top eager to please as he’d been in the past, how she saw him was finally changed.
(Though she definitely had inklings all along that something was going on. Eli couldn’t keep the “bad boyfriend” bit going all the time, and those glimpses confused Mazy, but also gave her hope.)
Do I agree with all of his choices? Heck no. Does he make up for them in the end? I think so. And her initial reaction to finding out the truth is spot on, and well deserved. 😉
Mazy also needed to finally see herself differently, to respect herself, stand up for what she deserved, and find a place for herself in the world–something she was working on for the entire novel. When she finally snaps, stands up for herself and dumps Eli, it was a major moment for both of them and something that was necessary for both of their journeys. He needed it just as much as she did.
In a nutshell–we have two characters who both need to learn, make mistakes, and grow to get to a place where they can be together and work on an HEA. They do all of the above, and on top of that it’s an entertaining read. Sign me up for the next book by Pamela Morsi!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.