Flirting with Forever

Flirting with Forever by Kim Boykin

Tara Jordan has worked on her writing career just as long as she has worked on her marriage.  So when she finally hits a gold mine with a marriage self-help book, her life takes an ironic turn:  her husband of fifteen years leaves her, taking all of their money with him.  Forced to promote the book in order to pay her mounting mortgage debts, Tara lives in fear that she will be seen as a hypocrite if the world learns of her crumbling marriage, or her growing attraction for her new publicist.

Jake Randall needs a vacation.  He is done catering to divas and so-called celebrity authors without an ounce of writing talent in them.  When a senior publicist gets her foot crushed by a drunken client she calls Jake to take over for her and handle a month-long book tour with said train-wreck.  Little does he know that his first impression of Tara Jordan will be anything but disdainful.  Now his problem isn't controlling an unruly client, but keeping a professional distance from a lovely temptation.

While the subject matter of this book is heavy and complicated (abandonment vs. adultery), the tone was not so much.  This was a surprisingly easy read with an uplifting message all the way through it.  I usually try to stay away from cheating/cruel spouse stories, but this one really played with my perceptions.  I have to say I actually reserved judgement on Jim until the very end, then even after that I couldn't really hate him.

Character-wise, this was such a great build-up to a new series.  Melissa and Marsha are a riot, and I would love to see Erin get a story of her own.  My feelings are mixed on Lou, though.  I actually want to challenge Kim Boykin to make me like her.  I see potential, but right now, I just don't like her.

Overall, this is a fun and flirty story with an uplifting outlook of some pretty messed up circumstances.  It is such an odd combination that it is truly appealing.

Ratings:

(1=unacceptable, 2=poor, 3=acceptable, 4=good, 5=excellent)

Continuity/Flow – 5

Sex – 5 

Characters – 4

Storyline – 5

Overall – 5