A MelanieM Review: Love Happens Anyway by RJ Scott

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Hiring a boyfriend for Christmas; what can go wrong?

Derek is facing yet another Christmas where his life feels out of control. He has a new career that doesn’t feel like his, and parents who would just love to see him settled down. All he needs is a temporary buffer for the parties he has to attend, and for his parents to leave him alone. Enter, Luke.

Luke is twenty-thousand dollars short for the renovations on Halligans; his family’s bar in New York’s Financial District. A favor for a buddy has him agreeing to play the part of boyfriend to a guy with more money than sense.

But when the spirit of Christmas works its magic on the two men, and they begin to fall for each other, Derek runs scared, and Luke needs space.

It doesn’t matter what obstacles you throw in the way of love, or how much you run in the other direction, because, when you’re least expecting it, whether you want it or not, love happens anyway.

Love Happens Anyway is RJ Scott’s holiday take on that familiar romantic storyline whereas the romantic heroine or hero in our case has been hounded by family and friends for  weeks/months/years/an ungodly amount of time to bring a boyfriend home to the family, makes one up and then for whatever reason has to produce one just in time for a big family event or the family  holidays celebrations.

The Hallmark Channel would go broke if we took this staple of a theme out of their  rotation.

Derek has done his story up right.  It’s so detailed that he needs a notebook to keep all the make-believe elements straight, including all the names of the kittens his firefighter boyfriend rescued and who he gave them to.  Omg!  Yes, the cuteness aspect here is lovely! So the man he needs has to meet his exact qualifications.  As it so happens, one does.

Luke is out of a job (the why’s on this is nice twist in the story), and in deep need of money. I’ll save you on the hows and whys he ends up as Derek’s temporary boyfriend.  That’s the only part that seemed sort of a stretch here.  Everything else? Amazing and nothing I’ll spoil.  It has to do with Luke’s background and a part of NYC’s history.  With Luke’s family and background folded into what starts off as a familiar romantic storyline, RJ Scott deepens it, adding touch of poignancy and reality to a lovely heartwarming romance.  I loved the couple and the family and friends that surrounded them.

The holidays are a wonderful time to curl up in your favorite spot and read some wonderful holiday  romances.  Be sure to put Love Happens Anyway by RJ Scott on your list to read this holiday season.

Cover art is absolutely adorable.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

110 pages
Published December 2nd 2017
Edition LanguageEnglish