New Release Review and Giveaway! INDECENT PROPOSAL by Molly O’Keefe

BOOK SUMMARY:

Perfect for readers of Susan Mallery and Rachel Gibson, Molly O’Keefe’s gritty and sensual tale of passion and politics features the brother of the heroine from the author’s beloved novel, Never Been Kissed. He’s a driven man who refuses to be distracted—until he meets a beautiful bartender who just may change his life.

With his chiseled jaw and his thick blond hair, Harrison Montgomery was born to lead. Four generations of Montgomery men have served the state of Georgia and now he’s next in line. Harrison, though, is driven to right wrongs: namely to clean up the political mess left by his father’s greed and corruption. But Harrison must first win his congressional bid, and nothing can get in his way—not even an angel who served him whiskey and gave him a shoulder to lean on and a body to love for a night. Problem is, she’s pregnant. Scandal is brewing and there is only one solution: marriage.

Damage control? Ryan Kaminski can’t believe that a cold, calculating political animal now inhabits the body of the emotionally vulnerable stranger who’d given her the most unforgettable night of her life. Really, she doesn’t want anything from Harrison, except to be left alone to have her baby in peace. But Ryan is broke, jobless, and essentially blackmailed by Harrison’s desperate family to accept this crazy marriage deal. For two years, she will have to act the role of caring, supportive wife. But what is Ryan supposed to do when she realizes that, deep in her heart, she’s falling in love.

Review:

Whenever I finish a Molly O’Keefe book, I know I’m going to feel emotionally drained–very, very happy and satisfied, don’t get me wrong–but drained. Because, oh my goodness, no one can put her characters–and readers–through an emotional wringer quite like Ms. O’Keefe.

Where to begin?

First we have our hero, Harrison Montgomery, a fifth-generation politician in an old Southern family. Practically from the cradle, his life has been all about politics and putting the family’s best face and image forward. His father, the governor of Georgia, has had a tenure marked by scandal and corruption, and Harrison needs to be without weakness as he strives to once again make the Montgomery name one to be proud of. His family life is pretty damn scary (except for his relationship with his sister–Ashley, the heroine of Never Been Kissed, but she’s managed to distance herself from a lot of the family and public craziness as an adult) and he doesn’t really have friends, outside from a decent but not-quite-close relationship with his campaign manager, Wallace. His political career is really all he’s living for.

And holy schmoly, is the guy wound tight.

Next, our heroine, Ryan Kaminski. She’s a former teen model working as a bartender at a swanky NYC hotel and living in a studio apartment that her brother describes as a “one-room closet”. She hasn’t been home in six years to see her father or two sisters–her brother Wes is the only family member she has had contact with beyond the electronic or post-office type in all that time. She’s got hopes and dreams, though–going to college, getting a degree in psychology, somehow making up for past mistakes with her family…

Getting pregnant thanks to a faulty condom during a one-night stand with a guy she picked up in her bar? Yeah, so not a part of the plan. Finding out said guy is Harrison-freaking-Montgomery? Well, maybe it could be worse. Or could it?

Both Ryan and Harrison are just so…broken. It’s devastating to see them not say the things to each other that you just know they want to say, the things that the other one really needs to hear. The bitterness, the anger, the hurt–I just wanted to reach into my e-reader and give them huge hugs. Or knock their heads together. Sometimes both.

They each messed everything up but good–over and over again–and were messed with even worse. Somehow Ms. O’Keefe brought them together in a way that makes you totally believe in their HEA, though, and thank goodness. If she hadn’t? I don’t know what I would have done. Seriously.

The secondary characters here are amazing too–Wallace, Harrison’s mother’s assistant Noelle, Ryan’s family–even Harrison’s parents become human-like, sympathetic characters (mostly) by the book’s end. When Wallace explained why he always wears such god-awful ties, I had tears in my eyes.

Honest-to-goodness tears, I tell you. Over ties. Actually, the last 20% of the book had me tearing up pretty regularly. Keep tissues handy–you have been warned.

In Indecent Proposal, Molly O’Keefe has written an amazing story about love and family–one I won’t be forgetting soon.

(Fourth in the series, it works okay as a stand-alone, especially since they’re not actually in Bishop. There really isn’t any connection at all to books one or three. There are spoilers–of a sort–for Ashley’s book, but really I think they just serve to make you want to read it SOON, if you haven’t already.)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

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MOLLY O’KEEFE’s Bio:

Molly O’Keefe is the RITA Award winning author of over 25 books and novellas. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband, two kids and the largest heap of dirty laundry in North America.