Review: Smart Move by Melanie Jacobson

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?

Really, Melanie Jacobson?  You want ME to review your book?  (Big squee, little squee, dance a jig or two.)  Okay.  I'll review it.  :)

If you have never read a book by Melanie Jacobson, you are missing out.  Melanie writes LDS fiction with such fun and wit that you will be smiling the whole time.  

Sandy.  Oh, Sandy.  (I'm having some Grease flashbacks here)  You mean well.  You have such passion for your job and you are so good at it.  Your mom may be a TAD BIT odd and you may have been burned a bit by love in the past but can't you see that incredibly handsome, charming and determined guy right in front of you just begging for a chance to prove himself?!  Sheesh, Sandy.  Give the poor guy a chance.  And when he does an idiot thing, can't you be nice?  You do so enjoy his kisses, right?

The above was my plea to Sandy.  If you couldn't tell.  Sometimes I just wanted to shake that Sandy!  She was so obstinate.  She had some valid reasons for the wall of protection and it was good to see it come down as she learns to trust and love both mom and Jake again.

One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Sandy is trying to get something that has fallen way back inside a cupboard thing at work.  She is down on the floor, wiggling her way inside to get it when she realizes she has caught her hair and can't get out.  Guess who comes in at that very moment?  Jake.  Of course.  So, with her bum sticking out in a very less than lady like way and her humiliation at an all time high, Sandy accepts Jake's offer to help her untangle.  It is so funny and tension filled that I am still smiling and thinking about it days later.  

I enjoyed this book so much.  It was fun and flirty and provided me with a happy distraction from real life not so fun things.  Thank you, Melanie for letting me read your book.  It was really my pleasure.  

Melanie Bennett Jacobson is an avid reader, amateur cook, and champion shopper. She consumes astonishing amounts of chocolate, chick flicks, and romance novels. After meeting her husband online, she is now living happily married in Southern California with her growing family and a series of doomed houseplants. Melanie is a former English teacher and a popular speaker who loves to laugh and make others laugh. In her down time (ha!), she writes romantic comedies for Covenant and maintains her humorous slice-of-life blog. Her fourth novel, Smart Move, hits shelves in October.

You can purchase Smart Move on Amazon and Deseret Book.