Along Came Mr. Right

by Gerri Russell

Olivia Tyler loves helping foster children find their forever homes, but she’s still waiting for her forever love. Ever since her ex-boyfriend humiliated her on Facebook, she hasn’t been ready for a commitment. But on the night of the charity auction for her adoption agency, she gives in to temptation with a stranger who helps her out of a jam…and out of her bright-blue stilettos.

After the most mind-blowing romantic night of her life, everything about Max Right seems perfect: he’s handsome, chivalrous, and he’s about to launch an algorithm-based matchmaking app with an extraordinary success rate. But when Olivia finds out her mystery man is also someone else’s fiancé, no matter how much they seem to click, this romance doesn’t add up. For Olivia, unavailable means incompatible.

When a troubled teen comes to both of them for help, Olivia is willing to put their differences aside temporarily. But as the three spend time together, she discovers the truth about Max’s heart, and it just may be the key to opening her own.

I have to say that I go hot and cold on Max – I’m not sure if I really like him all that much.  I can understand his explanation on how he ended up engaged, but he seems a little weak in handling the situation, especially after he falls for Olivia.  And his “fiancé” isn’t the most sterling of people (although she does redeem herself just a teeny bit at the end) so his dedication to her doesn’t help matters.

Olivia’s commitment to her charity and the foster kids that it helps is appealing.  And she never comes off as overly preachy, which is easy for an author to do I think.  Instead she’s dedicated, compassionate and hard working.  I think that most people would be concerned about getting involved with someone who shows up in the press with a fiancé but she’s even more hesitant to trust thanks to her past.

I like the little glimpses we get of Paige, the foster girl that is experiencing some problems.  The lengths Olivia and Max are willing to go to help her definitely shows them in a positive manner.  But I also like how Russell shows some of her inner workings and how hard it is for her to find happiness.  It’s heartbreaking but unfortunately so realistic.

I’m willing to give another book by this author a chance – her writing style is very sound and the book went fast for me.  I think that, at least for me, the choice of putting Max into the position he’s in wasn’t appealing and it bled over to make him less appealing as well.  There’s nothing wrong with the character development – it is just hard to make him look good in that situation 🙂