Review & Giveaway: ARC Maybe This Time by Jennifer Cruise

Due out August 31st, 2010

The Story

When Andie Miller goes to see her ex-husband, North Archer, to return ten years of uncashed alimony checks, he asks for one final favor: A distant cousin has died and left him guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already; will she take the job? Bribed with money and a need for closure, Andie says yes, but when she meets the two children she realizes things are much worse than she feared. The children aren’t any run-of-the-mill delinquents, the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers, and something strange is happening at night. Plus, Andie’s fiance thinks it’s a plan by North to get Andie back, and since Andie’s been dreaming about North since she arrived at the house, she’s not sure he isn’t right. Then her ex-brother-in-law arrives with a duplicitous journalist and a self-doubting parapsychologist, closely followed by an annoyed medium, Andie’s tarot card–reading mother, her avenging ex-mother-in-law, and her jealous fiancé. Just when Andie’s sure things couldn’t get more complicated, North arrives to make her wonder if maybe this time things could be different….

I obtained the above information from Ms. Jennifer Cruise's web site.
I was given this book for review purposely only. All thoughts are strictly my own.

Andie and North have been divorced for ten years. They have not seen each other since that fateful day that Andie walked on North with his lover ~ his job and told him she was leaving. Being cheated on with another person is one thing, but being cheated on with something you cannot compete with is devastating to the soul. So Andie did what she did best... she packed up her stuff and ran. And she kept running until she met a man she fell in love with... Or at least she thought that was the man she was in love with.

Fast forward ten years and Andie is in the process of "out with the old and in with the new." She was being asked for her hand in marriage by Will. But before she said yes, she felt she had to clear the air with North ~ or at least that is what she told herself.

What do you do when you think the magic has gone, withered away... died? What do you do when you see that that love is a once in a lifetime thing and the chance you thought you blew ~ you may have that chance again? Do you take the chance knowing there is a high probability that your heart will break again, do you walk in knowing you are doomed because of the past you shared together? Well... let's find out what happened with Andie and North.

North was left with two orphaned children ~ Alice and Carter. He knows they need special help and he knows just the person capable of giving them what they need ~ Andie. They have been through three nannies and North was running out of ideas when the idea came to him... literally. The only thing North did not count on what how much Andie needed those kids.

This is an amazing story of woman discovering herself all over again ~ ten years later. And I will promise that you will fall in love with these kids. Alice and Carter touched my heart and made me want to take them home with me. I am not a big fan of stories with children in them because then I do not feel like I have escaped my world... but Ms Cruise did a fan-freaking-tastic job of making me fall in love with those kids and brought out the Mama Bear in me. I wanted to smite the housekeeper and the other ghosts that were in that house.

This is a romance story, but it is also a journey into the heart and soul of a woman finding herself in her world. There are a few hot scenes in this novel that had my fingers burning up. This was a very edge of my seat kinda book. Ms Cruise did a fabulous job with crafting the tale of one woman, two men and a bunch of other crazy people. I laughed, I teared up, I even wanted to dance around in my house and bake banana nut bread! This story is a very riveting read! I suggest it for anyone who wants a romance story... with a hint of crazies in (enough to make you giggle).. a story that will make you check your liquor cabinets... a story that will make you want to literally want to push that person over the damn edge of the railing... and most of all... this is a story that will make you see those second chances are not all that bad... and well.. Maybe This Time around it is the real thing!

Please feel free to go visit Ms. Cruise's web site ->> here.
To see more about the story, please go ->> here.

Now for the time you have waited for....

The Giveaway!

Nicole, from of St. Martin’s Press has generously offered up ONE copy of
~Maybe This Time ~
which the publisher can mail to a winner within the U.S. or Canada!
So... what's expected of you...
Leave a comment letting me know you would like to be entered
and an email so I can get in touch with you!!!
Good Luck!!

Contest Ends August 17th ~ Winner will be announced August 19th

Remember... Keep it Dirty, Smutty & Hussy!