Book Review: Just Maybe by Crystal Walton

When a case of mistaken identity spirals into a more-than-complicated pretend relationship, an adventure seeker and a grammar fanatic just might’ve met each other’s match.

Three weeks. That’s all the time self-made billionaire Cooper Anderson has to respond to discovering he’s a single dad, sell his lake house, and catch a one-way ticket across the world. The quick-witted nanny responding to his ad couldn’t be more of a life saver … and maybe a nice distraction. Until the secrets she’s hiding get a little too close to exposing his own.

The one lead guaranteeing Quinn Thompson a promotion just has to land her back in her hometown to finagle an interview out of Mr. Elusive, of all people. But she can hack it, right? Even while mistaken for the nanny, she can keep things quick and professional. No running into her embarrassing southern family, no stirring up the wounds that’d sent her packing four years ago, and definitely no melting over a stockbroker’s unfair dimples and boyish charm.

Why, oh, why doesn’t anything ever go according to plan?

With both their deadlines closing in before they’re ready, Quinn and Cooper must decide whether the life they’re set on pursuing alone is worth more than the one they could be missing together.

SERIES: Home In You #3
GENRE: Inspirational Contemporary Romance
PUBLISHER: Impact Editions
RELEASE DATE: October 11, 2017
PAGES: 310

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“We’ll never find where we belong until we’re willing to admit we’re lost.”

Every book I read by Crystal Walton becomes my new favorite. Guess what? Just Maybe is my new ‘new favorite’ 🙂 It’s southern and sassy and SWOONY (whew… read this from safety of your freezer!!). But even more than all of that it’s so tender and sweet, even in unexpected ways.

Let’s start with the fun stuff. The chemistry. <<still fanning>> Cooper and Quinn may be opposites in a lot of ways, but boy howdy do they generate some fabulous sparks. Cooper takes Quinn’s quirks and sass – and family – in stride, in his laidback charm-you-with-his-smile ways. And gives as good as he gets. Heat was already in the air between these two, but when he suddenly declares himself her (pretend) boyfriend to spare her image with her family … well, get out the smelling salts because “breath, time – lost”. I’ve still not quite recovered from that first kiss. It takes them a bit (of toe-curling delicious almost-kiss moments) to get to that point but once they do… oh sweet mercy.

It’s not just sparks that fly in this story – there’s some good old-fashioned southern family dynamics going on too. Quinn might have been embarrassed by her family but I loved them! They remind me of my relatives from East Tennessee, Georgia, and Southern Illinois and I loved seeing one of my fave Kentucky phrases pop up in their conversations: ‘as lost as a ball in high weeds’.

But what I loved even more than Quinn’s grammar-correcting quirks or Brayden’s adorable sweetness or Cooper’s unabashed charm or the community’s eclectic personality… is the gentle way in which Crystal Walton weaves a message of embracing the mess of our failed expectations and leaning in to the ‘you’ that God sees. Letting Him write a beautiful story that makes sense of the mess and turns it into something beautiful. The faith element is subtle but oh so tender.

Bottom Line: Crystal Walton gets better and better with each new book, and Just Maybe has done what I thought was impossible – topped Begin Again as my favorite. I don’t know – I may have to read them both again and let them battle it out for first place. Such a sacrifice 😉 It’s witty and sassy and quirky and swoonily romantic, and Walton’s impeccable way with words paints a vivid picture in your heart and on the page. A must read for contemporary romance fans!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)

My Rating: 5 stars / Unputdownable!

KissingBook Level: 4 / Keep those fans & fainting couches handy!

Crystal received her bachelor of arts from Messiah College in PA, married her exact opposite in upstate NY, and earned her master of arts from Regent University in VA, where she currently resides with her husband, David.

She writes modern clean romances with humor, broken characters, and emotional plots full of grace and hope. Her popular Home In You series includes Write Me Home, a 2017 RONE Award finalist, and Begin Again, a 2017 Readers’ Choice Gold Award winner. When not working her accounting day job, she’s delving into the wonder of words, supporting her Starbucks habit, or laughing over movie quotes with her husband.

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 What about you? What’s a favorite quirky phrase you love to hear or say?