Jill Michaels prides herself on one thing: being independent. That is until her daughter gets into an elite school, and she needs money more than ever. It seems her fairy godmother—aka her deceased Grammy—has granted that wish in the form of one-fourth of her estate. The only catch? She must be married by her thirtieth birthday. In two months.
Aaron Collins is fresh out of the army and back in town to help his father’s failing business. When he runs into Jill at a hotel where she’s attending a single’s mixer, he makes sure she doesn’t make it past his room and into another guy’s arms. When he hears about her predicament, he has a plan: they’ll get married and keep it a secret. And maybe have a little sexy fun until he leave towns for his new job.
But letting go of the woman of his dreams may be harder than Aaron could have ever imagined.
I received an advanced copy of this book with the promise of an honest review.
Jill is the sister of Gage, who we met in the first book in this series. Her grandmother has died and left her a lot money, but she has to be married by the time she is 30, which is only two months away. In an effort to find her future husband, Jill attends a singles event. After the event is over and is quite unsuccessful, she sees Aaron, a guy she went to high school with and hasn't seen in eleven years. They have dinner together and when a snow storm shuts down the town, they spend the night together. They have an unforgettable night, knowing that they will be going their separate ways the next day.
Jill: Just checking in to tell you I’m alive and very well.
Mia: *wink wink*
Jill: You guys heading out soon?
Kate: Have you seen the roads?
No. She hadn’t seen anything besides the front and the back of Aaron all night. She hadn’t decided which side she liked best. They both had their pros. Zero cons. She took this opportunity to roll out of bed, glancing over at Aaron, who was breathing in soft, even breaths, and she then pulled back one of the blackout curtains. The parking lot was filled with snow. She swiped at her eyes just to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Nope, still there, in all its white, fluffy glory.
What the hell? The world was officially ending. She’d never seen this much snow in South Carolina, ever. Heck, she could barely maneuver her car in heavy rain—how was she supposed to get home?
“Crazy, huh?”
Jill swallowed a gasp as Aaron’s warm breath caressed her ear. “I didn’t realize you were awake. Sorry.”
“I’m a light sleeper. Haven’t seen snow like that in a few years.” He kissed the shell of her ear, and her eyes fluttered shut. “Pretty, isn’t it?”
Yeah, no. She liked her seventy-degree winter, thank you very much. When it hit fifty degrees last night on the ride down, she thought that was intolerable. It had to be…well, less than thirty-two, and all she had was a stupid shawl and cardigan she left in her car.
Crap. Her car.
“My car’s still out there in the parking lot.”
“Is that a problem?”
“ It’s had problems in the past with cold weather.” And really hot weather. Heck, a strong breeze pissed off her ignition sometimes. Her car threw more temper tantrums than a toddler. “Not that it really gets cold very often. So I don’t usually have to worry about it.”
He brushed his fingers down the length of her arm, sending a swarm of goose bumps blooming over her skin. “We’ll check it out after breakfast. If that works for you?”
“Deal.”
“Still like sticky buns?”
A pang hit her square in the chest. He remembered so much about her, even after so much time. She supposed she could say the same because she still couldn’t believe that high school Aaron had turned into this.
“Am I still Jill Michaels?”
He chuckled as he grabbed the phone from the nightstand and ordered room service.
It could have been awkward, sitting across from Aaron crisscross on the bed, gorging on sweets, after she’d just had amazing sex with him. This wasn’t supposed to happen, right? Normal people didn’t bang one of their oldest friends and find out that he’d been hiding a monster dick in his pants for the past, well, however many years. And yet here she was. And even though this was a one-time thing, she found herself not in a hurry at all to be out the door. Even though she had to pick up her daughter from her mother’s in a few hours.
Brain, meet reality.
Daughter. Grammy gone. A stupid will. There was just too much to contend with at the moment. She speared a piece of cinnamon bun, already missing whatever it was she’d experienced last night.
Aaron stopped chewing and looked up at her. “Hey, what’s got you down?”
“It feels wrong to go out and have a good time when…” She trailed off. It felt so selfish to be enjoying herself when she’d just lost Grammy.
“Hey.” He dropped his fork on his plate and reached over to brush his knuckles along her cheek. “The Grammy I knew would have wanted you to go out and dance. She’d also expect you to find someone at that singles mixer.”
Jill choked on her orange juice. Hello there, Mr. Perceptive. If he only knew the predicament she found herself in. But she was too embarrassed to admit that.
“You’re probably right. She always did like her scheming.”
“To Grammy.” Aaron lifted his glass of orange juice.
Jill did the same and clinked her glass against his. “To Grammy.”
When Aaron discovers Jill's predicament, he offers to marry her. It seems like the perfect arrangement. Just a friend doing another friend a favor. And he has plans to leave town to start a new job, so it seems pretty simple. But as they start to spend more time together, they realize they like each more than they thought. And that is when things get complicated.
I loved Aaron and Jill together. They had an easy friendship which translated into an easy relationship. Aaron was just the best. He had no problem taking on Jill's tough mother or spending time with her daughter Emily. He was just the sweetest. It all started because Jill wanted to provide for her daughter, but instead she was able to find her happily ever after.
This book was so sweet! I haven't read too many fake fiance/marriage of convenience books, so this was a nice change for me. And while this is the second book in the Snowpocalypse series, you do not need to read the first one to understand what is going on.
About the Author
Jennifer Blackwood is an English teacher and contemporary romance author. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and poorly behaved black lab puppy. When she isn't writing or teaching, she's binging on Veronica Mars episodes and white cheddar popcorn.
I loved Aaron and Jill together. They had an easy friendship which translated into an easy relationship. Aaron was just the best. He had no problem taking on Jill's tough mother or spending time with her daughter Emily. He was just the sweetest. It all started because Jill wanted to provide for her daughter, but instead she was able to find her happily ever after.
This book was so sweet! I haven't read too many fake fiance/marriage of convenience books, so this was a nice change for me. And while this is the second book in the Snowpocalypse series, you do not need to read the first one to understand what is going on.
About the Author
Jennifer Blackwood is an English teacher and contemporary romance author. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and poorly behaved black lab puppy. When she isn't writing or teaching, she's binging on Veronica Mars episodes and white cheddar popcorn.
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