Title: Maid for Love
McCarthys of Gansett Island 1
Author: Marie Force
Release Date: April 28,
2011
Published By: HTJB Inc.
Category: Contemporary
Romance – Series
Type: Digital –
Paperback – Audio – Hardcover – MP3
Blurb:
She’s a single mom with no patience
for a playboy until he proves he’s playing for keeps.
The Gansett Island Series: Book 1
Maddie Chester is determined to leave her hometown of Gansett Island, a place that has brought her only bad memories and ugly rumors. Then she’s knocked off her bike on the way to her housekeeping job at McCarthy’s Resort Hotel by Gansett’s “favorite son,” Mac McCarthy. He’s back in town to help his father with preparations to sell the family resort and has no intention of staying long. When Mac accidentally sends Maddie flying over the handlebars, badly injuring her, he moves in to nurse her back to health and help care for her young son. He soon realizes his plans for a hit-and-run visit to the island are in serious jeopardy, and he just may be “maid” for love.
By reading any further, you are
stating that you are at least 18 years of age.
If you are under the age of 18,
please exit this site.
Favorite Lines:
“I’m not a wilting rose
who can’t take life’s realities. By now, I’m an expert.” ~
Maddie
“Being around you makes
me breathless and needy and horny as hell, but that’s only the start of it. You
make me want to be a better man so I’ll deserve you and Thomas.” ~ Mac
Reaching out to caress
her cheek, he leaned in to kiss her lightly. “I can’t resist you.”
“Try harder.” Mac and Maddie
Excerpt:
Jet-black hair that curled over his collar, bright blue eyes, broad shoulders, defined pecs. . . After the way she’d ogled him in school, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t recognized him instantly. No, she’d had just enough time to call his parents bastards before she put two and two together to get Mac McCarthy.
Except for the dark circles under his eyes and the grayish tone to his complexion, the man was utter perfection. She knew from Mrs. McCarthy, who bragged about her five darlings incessantly, that Mac lived in South Florida. You’d never know it to look at him.
Back when he’d been five years ahead of her in school, he’d never even known she was alive. And now, the first time he saw her, really saw her, he got a full view of the bane of her existence—her overly large breasts. She wanted to die just thinking about it. Maddie wished she could either disappear or find a way to make Mac McCarthy and his big, hulking presence go away.
She opened her eyes. Still there. Still hovering. Still gorgeous. “You don’t have to hang out,” she said. “I can take it from here.”
“I’ll see you home.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It’s my fault this happened—”
“I hit you.”
“Because I stepped in front of you.”
“You got hit by the bike, Mac?” Libby asked, turning to him. “Let me see.”
Mac turned his leg to show a huge bruise forming on his calf.
Both women gasped.
“It’s nothing.” Mac stood and put his backpack on. “If you’re ready,” he said to Maddie, “I’ll take you home.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I’ll carry you.”
“What if I live on the other side of the island?”
“I’ll get a cab.”
“I don’t need you to take custody of me! I’ll figure something out the same way I always do.”
Mac leaned in so his face was inches from hers. “You’re injured because of me, and I’m going to help you. Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. What’s it going to be?”
The air crackled between them as they stared each other down.
“You’ve got a lot of your mother in you, huh?”
He glowered at her. “Now you’re just being mean.”
“I’ve, ah, got to get back to work,” Libby said. “Come in for lunch while you’re home, Mac.”
“I will. Thanks for your help, Lib,” Mac said without looking away from Maddie.
When they were alone, Maddie said, “You think just because you’re a mighty McCarthy everyone has to do what you say, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what my family has done to piss you off, but since I haven’t lived here in almost twenty years, I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with me.”
She attempted to cross her arms in impatience and grimaced at the pain that radiated from her elbow. For a brief, sickening second, she wondered if she had broken it. Then it finally gave way and bent the way it was supposed to. All she could think about was how much money this lost day of work was going to cost her, if it didn’t cost her the job itself.
“What’s it going to be? I can stay right here all day.” He leaned against the edge of Libby’s desk. “I’m on vacation.”
Oh! He’s so sanctimonious and infuriating! “Fine! If you have some sort of macho need to see this through to the gruesome finish, you can take me home, but for the love of God, take me out the back door so I’m not any more of a public spectacle.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Mac scooped her up and gave her a moment to get her injured arm and leg settled. “Okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, releasing a long deep breath.
While she once again hid her face against his faded yellow T-shirt, he carried her through the lobby and out the back door. He smelled of sporty deodorant and laundry detergent, and his steady heartbeat echoed in her ear. Too bad he was a McCarthy. Otherwise, she might be tempted to forget about her no-men-ever-again policy.
Dialogue Highlight:
“What are you talking about now?”
“Get out of my cabinets! What’re you doing?”
“Looking for some painkillers and a glass.” He produced a bottle of medicine and a glass of water and brought both to her.
“Thank you,” she muttered after she swallowed the pills. “Now, please, just go, will you?”
But of course he sat on the coffee table, and Maddie prayed the flimsy table would hold his two-hundred-pounds-of-pure-mus
“I know what you’re after.” She wanted to smack the amused expression off his face.
“And what’s that?”
“You think if you’re nice to me that you’ll get something in return.”
Amusement faded to bafflement. “Like what?”
“Don’t be obtuse. I know you got a good look out there on the street, so you’re hanging around hoping to get your hands—among other things—on Maddie Chester’s famous breasts.”
He stared at her for a long, breathless moment. “That is so not true.”
“And how are you different from every other man alive?”
“When I look at you, the first thing I see are gorgeous eyes that remind me of the way melted caramel looks over vanilla ice cream. They’re a rather interesting combination of brown and gold. Your mouth, when it’s not twisted with cynicism and bitterness, is so lush and pretty that my personal fantasies—if I had them about you, that is—would definitely be focused there, not on what’s under your T-shirt. As spectacular as they may be, I’m more of an ass-and-leg man myself.”
Maddie had never been more shocked in her life—or more seduced by words alone.
“Now that we’ve got that subject covered, let’s talk money.”
That brought her right back to reality. “What about it?”
“I want to pay for your lost wages.”
“Absolutely not.” She might be short on cash, but she still had her pride, and no one—especially someone named McCarthy—was going to take that from her.
“You have to let me help you, Maddie. I know you can’t afford to miss work.”
“That’s the least of it! If I miss more than one shift, they’ll replace me. They need the job done. They don’t care who does it.”
“I believe we’ve established that I have some sway with the owners of the hotel and can prevent that from happening.”
“Good for you. That still doesn’t get my job done, and it won’t help me when they decide who they’re keeping for the winter and who gets laid off.”
“Then I’ll do the job for you until you’re back on your feet.”
Maddie cracked up. “Sure you will.”
“You don’t think I can do it?”
She realized he was serious. “You have no idea what it even entails. How can you be so sure you can do it?”
“I’m capable of building a thirty-story structure. I think I can handle cleaning a few hotel rooms.”
Maddie studied his supremely handsome face. “All right.” What else could she do? She couldn’t afford to lose her job, so she had no choice but to let him help her. “Since you seem determined to make it up to me, I accept.”
He flashed a victorious smile. “Excellent. Now what about the kids? Could I be your arms and legs there, too?”
“Have you ever changed a diaper? Seriously?”
“No,” he confessed, quickly adding, “but I’m a fast learner. If you tell me what to do, I’ll do it.”
He’d be saving her life if he stepped in for her, but wait until he saw what the summer people were capable of doing to a hotel room. Just the idea of a mighty McCarthy stooping to the level of manual laborer at the hotel his family-owned brought a smile to her face. She offered her uninjured hand. “Deal.”
He shocked her again when he took her hand and brushed a soft kiss over the back of it. “Excellent. Now, let me go find your purse and see about getting you some lunch.”
Review:
Maddie is jaded – given a bad reputation
for no reason other than refusing to have sex with a guy in high school, and
left alone and pregnant by someone she thought loved her, she’s a tough single
mom busting her butt to make ends meet for her and her son. When Mac plows into
her life, quite literally, she wants him gone as soon as possible. She doesn’t
need him despite their sizzling attraction. But he’s got a way of not taking no
for an answer and in no time flat it’s as if he’s been there all along. Mac
makes Maddie believe a future could be possible with him, but in her experience,
men can’t be trusted. Mac isn’t any different despite his smooth-talking words,
ridiculously kind actions, and super-hot body.
Mac had been away from home for quite
some time. Back to check on his Dad and relax after a health scare, he
literally runs into Maddie as soon as he gets on he island. He’s not the type
to even slightly entertain settling down, but something in Maddie knocks the
breath out of him and he instantly wants to be a part of her life. He refuses
to believe that she doesn’t need him or care about him, especially given their
attraction. He can’t get his fill of her and realizes he never will. Breaking
through her defenses is a challenge he’s accepted and he won’t stop until he
makes her his permanently.
If I had to pick something to complain
about, I would point out Mac’s background. Mac didn’t really have much of a
back story other than he was basically a rich playboy who put all of his energy
into his business and very little effort into women because they were never
meant to be permanent. Pretty shallow actually – much to the contradiction of
his actions with Maddie and her son. But beyond that, I enjoyed everything else
about this story. Maddie is completely relatable and before too long you just
want her to find happiness after the curve balls life has thrown at her. I had
a friend growing up that went through similar rumors, so in some respects I had
lived part of Maddie’s strife. While Mac could come off as too strong for some
and maybe just a bit over the top for me at times also, he was exactly what
Maddie needed. After being on her own for so long and having such bad
experiences with men, any other type of personality was never going to break through
her carefully constructed walls of protection. In this case, when Mac knew, he
knew, and he was intelligent enough to realize that if he couldn’t win Maddie
over, he’d never find anyone like her again.
I don’t recall if I have read a book by
Ms. Force before. I know I have come across her name several times, but this
may have been the first one I had the opportunity to read. And dang. I am so
glad that I did! This book is a fantastic introduction to a massive series. I believe
I saw there were 21 books comprising it, so if you enjoy this one as much as I
did, there will be many more to continue with. I experienced several ranges of emotions
while reading this story: from annoyance at Mac’s high-handedness, disbelief at
his willingness to go above and beyond, sympathy for Maddie’s struggles,
outrage at the unfair way she was treated, disgust with her baby daddy,
happiness when wrongs were righted as best they could … seriously a spectrum of
feelings. Not to mention several instances where I was cracking up at the banter
between siblings Mac and Janey as well as Mac and Maddie themselves. I truly
enjoyed getting to know Janey and was thrilled to see that hers is the next
book in the series. An author that elicits such reaction from readers is one
that is worth reading time and again. Ms. Force made a believer out of me both
for future reads and definitely for the McCarthys of Garnett Island
series. I will be back soon!
Kindle
version purchased for my personal library.
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