BAGGAGE CHECK

In the satisfying conclusion to the Marriage Pact series, the villain from Book 1 reconciles her past and finds her happily-ever-after in her hometown of Oreville, Alabama.

Years after her brother’s tragic death, Rebecca Williamson comes home to learn that her mother has turned her childhood house into a hoarder’s nest and her father has moved out. She takes a leave of absence from her job as a flight attendant to try to salvage the house while her mother recuperates in a mental hospital. While at home, she reconnects with Alex Chen, a kindly sheriff’s deputy who used to play football with her brother. As she slowly warms up to him, Rebecca reflects on the events that have left her single, friendless, and lugging bags of garbage to a rented dumpster. A couple of years ago, Rebecca tried to break up her friends’ wedding. Now Marci and Jake are still together and expecting their second child, while their other friend Suzanne plans her wedding to a famous singer. Eager to make amends, Rebecca tries to help out with the wedding, but she’s still not over Jake, and her friends are insensitive to Rebecca’s loneliness. When she’s not struggling to behave herself around Jake, she’s reading about him in Marci’s blog posts about the ups and downs of married life. But Pullen gives Rebecca ample opportunity to explain her actions in her own words, and in doing so, Rebecca is not only redeemed: she is vindicated. Meanwhile, Alex, who has a teenage daughter to protect, is willing to take it slow, even when Rebecca pushes him away.

In this story, no romance, friendship, or parent-child relationship is perfect, which makes it all the more uplifting and sweet.