Item: A Husband by New Year's
Rating: 4
Author: ReadingLlama

Review: A Husband by New Year’s – Sean D. Young

A Husband by New Year's
by Sean D. Young
Series: McClendon Holiday #4
Also in this series: Be My Valentine
Publisher: Entangled Publishing. LLC (Bliss)
Publication Date: November 13, 2017
Genres: Romance
Pages: 334
Source: NetGalley

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating:

When Renee McClendon was a teenager, she made a list of all the qualities her perfect man would have, but no matter how many handsome guys have ticked the boxes, she has yet to find the man for her. She wants a regular guy who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, and she’s given herself a deadline. If she doesn’t find Mr. Right by New Year’s, she’s done searching.

Patrick Dunlap is used to woman looking at him as a lowly chauffeur…until they realize he owns the whole company. All he wants is a woman who’ll want him for who is, and not only see dollar signs. He hits it off with Renee right away, so while they get to know each other, he withholds some small details instead of risking what they’re starting to build.

But when the truth comes out, how forgiving will Renee be?

“Ever since I was a teenager I’ve been using this list of character traits that I thought my perfect man should have. When I found men who fit that criteria, they would look good on paper, but weren’t at all what I thought they would be like[.]”

What a lovely surprise! I’m usually not a fan of romances where one character lies to the other character, but the cover was just so gorgeous and the premise so interesting that I just had to request an ARC to review. And, I’ll readily admit, there were times where I wanted to grab Patrick by the shoulders and yell “Just tell her already!”, but this book (and Patrick!) is just so sweet that I’m willing to forgive the deception.

Patrick is… well, Patrick is pretty much the perfect man. He opens doors for Renee, acts protective of her, insists on paying for meals while all the while gently supporting her without taking over her life. One of my favorite Patrick moments, after Renee is apologizing for misjudging Patrick:

Patrick raced over to her and drew her into his arms. “Baby, I see your heart, I do.”

Folks, I melted. And he’s telling the truth! Patrick pays attention to her moods and to Renee in general. When they’re together, he’s wholly focused on her. Now, that’s not to say that Patrick is perfect himself. He has his own issues – family and professional – to deal with, and I felt like those issues and the ways he dealt with them fleshed him out into a real person. Renee is also a wonderful character – smart, accomplished, but with a tendency to want to check off her life goals like items on a list. It was fun to watch her realize that checking off marriage and a family weren’t going to as easy as she’d thought! I also loved Renee’s family. It was lovely to see how well they interacted, even the sisters who were polar opposites.

As for cons, it felt like some of the other characters, especially Renee’s other prospective boyfriends, were one-dimensional. I also felt like the whole Julia deal wasn’t truly wrapped up. I’m not sure if I’m missing something from a previous book, or if it’s meant to be dealt with in a later book. I understand Renee deciding she doesn’t need an explanation for Julie’s behavior, but I felt like, as a reader, I wanted it. I also wondered about what exactly was on Renee’s mysterious list. Though I can guess from the people she dates, the list itself is never explicitly written out in the book.

At heart, this is a sweetly romantic book about not making judgements based on a first impression, about forgiveness, and about love. Definitely recommended if you’re looking for something cozy and sweet to curl up with!

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