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yogicath 's review for:
Good Elf Gone Wrong
by Alina Jacobs
The main characters in this Christmas themed story are Gracie, who loves everything to do with Christmas and allows her family to walk all over her, as she tries to be the good girl, and then Christmas hating Hudson, who has been hired to find out the dirt on her family’s company and will use her to do so. Gracie was supposed to be marrying her fiancé James at Christmas, until she caught him having sex with her younger sister Kelly, under the family Christmas tree! Her sister, James and even her extended family blamed her not satisfying him and when Kelly and James announce their engagement the next morning, on Christmas Eve, she has to grin and bear it, or James will tell everyone her secret! She is even pulled into organising absolutely everything for her own sister and ex-fiance’s wedding planning, even having to pay out for goods as her sister takes every single idea she had for her own Christmas wedding, and decides to use it for her wedding to James the following Christmas. James is also Gracie’s boss at the family business her father started, only he has not a clue about how to run the company and it is again, Gracie who does just about everything. Her father has allowed Kelly and lots of the extended family to be on the books as employed with the company, but none actually show up to do anything for more than a day or so a year! The last straw is when Kelly cuts up their great grandmother’s wedding dress, which Gracie was supposed to wear for her wedding, making a completely hack of it and telling Gracie to fix it.
The only member of the extended family she does work with is her cousin Dakota and she is pretty much her only friend. Together they plan how they can ruin James and Kelly’s wedding and paying them back with some of their own medicine. James drives the company car back to her family home weeks before the holidays, leaving Gracie to struggle with the bus and also leaves her a list of things to pick up at the shops on her way home, and not to be late. As she is expected to cook, serve and clean up after her whole extended family! The only seat on the bus is near the back and this is where she meets the handsome but annoying Hudson, the perfect image of a bad boy and she hires him to pretend to be her boyfriend and get her sister to sleep with him. They will need to be caught in the act by James hopefully, or some of the rest of the family and she will enjoy watching Kelly’s stealing of her fiancé implode! Kelly was and still is a wild child who prefers to go out clubbing and sleeping around, always being naughty, but somehow being the perfect daughter, that Gracie is told she should be! Lots of family angst and past hang-ups for both Gracie and Hudson to overcome. Hudson came from the wrong side of town, and has a sister Elsa and four brothers, who he has working for him in the security company he set up. Their childhood was a hard one once their father died, with an alcoholic mother and a string of boyfriends, with Hudson sent to prison for something he didn’t do and his siblings going into care, until he could reunite them all. Hudson has his current client getting on at him to find the dirt by December 23rd, or lose the contract, the huge payout and any chance of any other work from him! This job is a huge one for Hudson’s family company and he will do pretty much anything to win.
But, as he gets to know Gracie better and sees exactly how much she does for everyone else, without ever taking any tie for herself, he wonders whether he can actually sleep with her to make the ruse believable, especially when new information comes to light near the end! He is a breath of fresh air and totally rocks the bad boy attitude in front of her family, inviting himself along to a family dinner when she doesn’t contact him soon enough. His rude banter is even better than the two warring grannies from her parent’s sides of the family, one who carries a sword hidden within her walking stick! He talks up her sexual prowess to make James and Kelly jealous and get Kelly’s attention, having stolen both Gracie’s previous boyfriends and now her fiancé, there is no doubt she will try to take Hudson. He makes very inappropriate comments and grabs her in front of everyone, letting them get an earful of what they have been getting up to supposedly. Gracie needs to grow a backbone when it comes ot her family and the business and it seems Hudson is the man to help her. She finds her falling for him, even though she knows this is all just pretend and why would he ever want someone as dull as her, but Hudson finds himself unable to leave her alone either. At first he convinces himself, it is so he can what he needs and access the company’s computers, needing her to take him to the office, so he can get what his client wants, and having to be around her so he is there when that opportunity occurs. His siblings laugh at the photos being posted of him taking part in Christmas activities, since he doesn’t allow any decorations at their business, nor his home. A naughty photo gets spread far wider than just her family, to sell the story he and Gracie are playing at. But it seems it is maybe not quite as much of a con as at first thought, as each gets tangled up with the other. Until the truth comes out and the con becomes a little too close to the edge for either to really handle. There are so many laughs in this story, with Gracie’s extended family, especially her parents, the grans and her evil sister, bringing the biggest comedy to the tale, with James being a sad and easily led man who would never keep a woman, with Gracie and Hudson being made for each other. They are total opposites at first meeting, but I loved the Gracie at the end, a take charge character, who has clearly learnt from Hudson just how to exert herself within her family and in business, as new opportunities arrive. A great ending but almost not, as doubts creep in. All her single female cousins want one of Hudson’s brothers to fall for them, but I was hoping Dakota might find her match, so long as it wasn’t with his youngest brother Jake! A laugh a minute and the chaos of family gathering for the holidays being taken to the extremes. I loved it! I can’t wait to read some more of the author’s books now. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
5+ stars
The only member of the extended family she does work with is her cousin Dakota and she is pretty much her only friend. Together they plan how they can ruin James and Kelly’s wedding and paying them back with some of their own medicine. James drives the company car back to her family home weeks before the holidays, leaving Gracie to struggle with the bus and also leaves her a list of things to pick up at the shops on her way home, and not to be late. As she is expected to cook, serve and clean up after her whole extended family! The only seat on the bus is near the back and this is where she meets the handsome but annoying Hudson, the perfect image of a bad boy and she hires him to pretend to be her boyfriend and get her sister to sleep with him. They will need to be caught in the act by James hopefully, or some of the rest of the family and she will enjoy watching Kelly’s stealing of her fiancé implode! Kelly was and still is a wild child who prefers to go out clubbing and sleeping around, always being naughty, but somehow being the perfect daughter, that Gracie is told she should be! Lots of family angst and past hang-ups for both Gracie and Hudson to overcome. Hudson came from the wrong side of town, and has a sister Elsa and four brothers, who he has working for him in the security company he set up. Their childhood was a hard one once their father died, with an alcoholic mother and a string of boyfriends, with Hudson sent to prison for something he didn’t do and his siblings going into care, until he could reunite them all. Hudson has his current client getting on at him to find the dirt by December 23rd, or lose the contract, the huge payout and any chance of any other work from him! This job is a huge one for Hudson’s family company and he will do pretty much anything to win.
But, as he gets to know Gracie better and sees exactly how much she does for everyone else, without ever taking any tie for herself, he wonders whether he can actually sleep with her to make the ruse believable, especially when new information comes to light near the end! He is a breath of fresh air and totally rocks the bad boy attitude in front of her family, inviting himself along to a family dinner when she doesn’t contact him soon enough. His rude banter is even better than the two warring grannies from her parent’s sides of the family, one who carries a sword hidden within her walking stick! He talks up her sexual prowess to make James and Kelly jealous and get Kelly’s attention, having stolen both Gracie’s previous boyfriends and now her fiancé, there is no doubt she will try to take Hudson. He makes very inappropriate comments and grabs her in front of everyone, letting them get an earful of what they have been getting up to supposedly. Gracie needs to grow a backbone when it comes ot her family and the business and it seems Hudson is the man to help her. She finds her falling for him, even though she knows this is all just pretend and why would he ever want someone as dull as her, but Hudson finds himself unable to leave her alone either. At first he convinces himself, it is so he can what he needs and access the company’s computers, needing her to take him to the office, so he can get what his client wants, and having to be around her so he is there when that opportunity occurs. His siblings laugh at the photos being posted of him taking part in Christmas activities, since he doesn’t allow any decorations at their business, nor his home. A naughty photo gets spread far wider than just her family, to sell the story he and Gracie are playing at. But it seems it is maybe not quite as much of a con as at first thought, as each gets tangled up with the other. Until the truth comes out and the con becomes a little too close to the edge for either to really handle. There are so many laughs in this story, with Gracie’s extended family, especially her parents, the grans and her evil sister, bringing the biggest comedy to the tale, with James being a sad and easily led man who would never keep a woman, with Gracie and Hudson being made for each other. They are total opposites at first meeting, but I loved the Gracie at the end, a take charge character, who has clearly learnt from Hudson just how to exert herself within her family and in business, as new opportunities arrive. A great ending but almost not, as doubts creep in. All her single female cousins want one of Hudson’s brothers to fall for them, but I was hoping Dakota might find her match, so long as it wasn’t with his youngest brother Jake! A laugh a minute and the chaos of family gathering for the holidays being taken to the extremes. I loved it! I can’t wait to read some more of the author’s books now. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
5+ stars