Rush to the Altar

***"Rush to the Altar" by Jamie Carie is, at the time of this post, only $4.99 at the Kindle Store. Clicking on the picture above will redirect you there.***

I have pretty much read all of Mrs. Carie's works, and they have been ok, but sometimes a bit 'intense' in some cases. This book was over-the-top in these areas. Let me explain the characters, and then I will get to the pros and cons.

Maddie Goode is a single-mom with a two-year-old son named Max. Her husband, Brandon, was killed in a car accident six months before. She is out of work. Maddie's friend Sasha wins a radio contest that gets them tickets to the next basketball game in town. Maddie isn't a huge basketball fan, but her friend convinces her to take the night out. (Maddie and her son are currently living with her parents.) Through a series of extremely unlikely events, Maddie lands a high-position job for the basketball team. The whole events leading up to her landing this job were so unrealistic it was comical. Suffice it to say, she gets the job and runs into the "hot" basketball players on the team.

Jake Hart is one of those players. He runs into Maddie holding his underwear for a job interview (don't ask). That is pretty much how they meet, and seeing how this is a romance novel, you can probably guess the rest of the story. However, there are several huge plots twists that come along, so don't just take my review for it.

Now, for the pros and cons:

Pros:

This was a cute story.

Cons:

Swear words were used twice throughout the book. And not just "So-and-so swore under his breath"; no, the actual word was printed in the book.

Drinking heavily to the point of insulting Maddie was in the book, but only once. However, characters are shown-er, written- as drinking several different alcoholic drinks for different reasons through the book. (I.e. in anger, at a party, in celebration, etc.)

Kissing was heavy in this book and made it appear less "sacred" than I believe it to be. Sometimes things got a bit too passionate for my taste.

Sex was shown as something done just, well, because so-and-so was a couple, even when they weren't married. Now, I realize that some people may not share my same opinions on this, and how far is "too far", but for this to have been written by a self-proclaimed Christian, this was too much, a stumbling block, if you will. (Note: the actual act is not written about, just referred to)

SPOILER: Maddie and Jake get married on a whim without consulting or even telling their parents (or Max).

SPOILER: Maddie's first husband had a mistress.........while he was married to Maddie.

In addition to those "personal" cons, there were also several noticeable grammatical errors, and more than just "a few" mistakes.

As for character development, I personally didn't think it was all that great. Only the two main characters were really focused on, leaving you to wonder what was happening with the others, including Maddie's son.

All in all, I realize this was Mrs. Carie's first try at something other than historical romance, but I really didn't like it. It's not one I would read again or recommend.   However, this book is marketed for general contemporary romance, not inspiration/Christian romance.  This apparently changes the standards of the content. 

Thank you so much to Mrs. Carie for providing me with a copy of "Rush to the Altar" to review.