Book Review: 'Yours to Keep' by Shannon Stacey

When I first signed up for my readers' advisory class, the genre I was looking forward to reading the absolute least (well, besides maybe western) was hands down romance. Now, anyone who knows me is well aware that I am an emotional person and can cry over just about anything. That being said, I'm not really into all that mushy gushy stuff, so I had just sort of dismissed the genre for that reason. But in reality, most romance books are much more steamy than they are lovey dovey. And while I can definitely appreciate a good sex scene in my novels, I find it a bit overwhelming when they are practically the entire premise of the book. But now that I've learned a little bit more about the different types of romance novels out there, it turns out some of them might not be so bad!

The required romance novel for the entire class to read was Trial by Desire by Courtney Milan – a regency romance set in 1841 England filled with a whiny male lead and way too many petticoats for my liking. While it was refreshing (and a little unexpected) to find so many Feminist themes in this book, it was my most disliked out of any that I had read for the class thus far. After all, you (or at least I) can only read about someone's pants stiffening so many times before it starts to get a little old ...

Hopefully there aren't upcoming titles for this class that I like even less, because that would be a pretty difficult feat to accomplish. Lesson learned: Regency romances are not for me! All that being said, I was surprised to find myself actually quite enjoying the contemporary romance novel I picked to read this week, called Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey. Below is my review.

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I give this book:
★★★★

Within hours of returning home to New Hampshire after a long stint in the Army, Sean Kowalski is stunned when a stranger named Emma Shaw knocks on his door claiming to be his fiancée. It turns out the long-legged landscaper was looking for a way to put her grandmother’s mind at ease after she moved to Florida, so Emma fabricated an intimate relationship with one of her best friend’s handsome relatives.

With a visit from her grandmother looming, Emma must convince this "stranger" Sean to play the role she invented for him or come clean to her grandma that she lied about the whole thing. With no other real plans of what to do now that he’s out of the service, Sean eventually agrees to the crazy scheme – surprising Emma, his family and even himself.
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A cute and comical contemporary romance, Yours to Keep will have readers laughing at and rooting for Sean and Emma as they attempt to keep up the happy twosome charade in front of both of their families. After the two actually get to know one another it turns out “being a couple” comes pretty naturally to them – even if they are the only ones who can’t see it.

If you enjoy light reads like Yours to Keep, be sure to check out the other books in Stacey's Kowalski Family series. Looking for another contemporary romance filled with family drama, humor and a fake boyfriend? Too Good to Be True by Kristan Higgins follows the story of 30-year-old Grace Emerson, a history teacher who was dumped by her fiancé for her sister two weeks before their wedding. Desperate for something to say when people keep questioning her about her love life, Grace invents a new boyfriend of her own … one who just happens to look a heck of a lot like her new neighbor that she may or may not have called the cops on and beaten with a hockey stick.

Overall, this week of class gave me a newfound appreciation for the romance genre and the millions of people who read it. Fun fact:  Romance books generally outsell all other fiction genres, making up approximately 13% of the fiction sales market! Who knew?!