For Keeps by Rachel Lacey

Title: For Keeps
Series: Love and Rescue
Author: Rachel Lacey
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb:

A SUMMER FLING . . . OR SOMETHING MORE?
Merry Atwater would do just about anything to save her dog rescue – even if it means working with the most stubborn man on the planet. It’s hard to avoid the sparks that fly with TJ Jameson, the ruggedly sexy cowboy in charge of the children’s camp where she’s just taken an animal therapy job. But commitment is not Merry’s style, and TJ clearly wants more than just a roll in the hay.

TJ Jameson isn’t looking for anything complicated-just a peaceful life on his family’s ranch with a wife and kids. “No-strings” Merry Atwater doesn’t fit that bill, no matter how irresistible she is. But when he sees how Merry gets through to his autistic nephew and the other kids at Camp Blue Sky, TJ’s a goner. If he doesn’t give in to the now, he might just lose his shot at forever .

Thoughts: I love books that contain children and animals and this book was really promising since it contained both. I have not heard about Rachel Lacey but I’m glad I found her. This was a great book.

Merry Atwater (weird name) is in trouble. She’s bankrupt, well her dog rescue is bankrupt and she, nearly so. In need of a miracle, but what she got instead is another dog to take care of.

TJ Jameson needs a dog handler for his Children’s Camp. TJ hates dogs but knows that having a dog at the camp would be a way to get through to his artistic nephew. He needs a tame, well trained dog for this job and Merry is just the person he needs, except for one thing, she wants him to foster one of her dogs.

Merry knew this job was a God send and did not want to screw it up. It’s just that when she saw the ranch and all the big open spaces, she knew that TJ’s ranch would be a perfect place for her dogs to stay until she can find a fixed home for them.

The way that TJ turned up his nose at her dogs, Merry could not hold in her disgust with him, and refuses the job. Only having to come back, with her tail between her legs, desperate. To further complicate things, the spark between Merry and TJ is burning hot, except they both want different things, or do they?

Read this exciting story of a woman who loves dogs and the man who loathes them.

Rachel Lacey was a fun discovery of a read. The puppy on the cover made me pause on this book and seeing +Jill Shalvis recommend this book, I just knew that I had to check this book out. When I read the description on this book, I immediately requested this book and was ecstatic when I got accepted.

It was a late night when I started reading this book and I stayed up and read the entire thing in a few hours. Judgement is still out, I won’t know until I read another book by Miss Rachel Lacey before I can say she is an author to look out for. What I can say, is that I am eager to read more of her work.

The plot of this book was perfect, I love children and TJ is a sweetheart for coming up with the idea of a Children’s Camp for children with special needs. He mainly did it for his nephew but he got great joy out of helping the other children as well. I liked TJ even though he does not like dogs, I’ll leave it up to you to find out why.

Merry had a mystery with her for the majority of the book. Something was heavy on her shoulder’s. Bits and pieces was given as to what her burden is, but I did not get the whole truth until almost to the end.

The downside of TJ was that he judged people, and animals, by the way they look. He judged Merry when he first saw her and even when he was getting to know her better, he still stuck with his first assumption of her. He has the type of character that thinks that their way is the only way. It made him almost lose his nephew and the woman he was growing to love, but he learned, too late, but he still learned.
Thoughts: She’s new to the game and I already love her.
Grade:  A