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Wednesday, August 29, 2018

REVIEW: From Here to You by Jamie McGuire

Publisher's Summary:
As Darby Dixon sits in a tiny Texas church bathroom on her wedding day holding a positive pregnancy test, she realizes that of all the bad decisions she's made in her life, marrying her abusive fiancé would be the worst. She's never been able to stand up for herself, but she'll sure as hell stand up for her baby. With just the cash she has on hand, she runs to get a bus ticket to the farthest place she can afford. Between her sheer grit and pageant-queen smile, she lands a job as a front desk clerk at the Colorado Springs Hotel. It's not a glamorous life, but she and her baby are all that matters.

A former Marine, Scott "Trex" Trexler has worked in the most dangerous, corrupt, war-torn places on earth. Now he finally has a chance to return to the last place he'd felt at peace--Colorado Springs, Colorado, to take a new job with the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, a top-secret military installation buried deep within the granite.

The moment Trex walks into the inn, Darby knows he's dangerous. There's no way she wants to get involved with another man who seems to be keeping way too many secrets. As charming and devastatingly gorgeous as Trex is, he clearly isn't telling her everything. But as wildfires rage on the mountain and Darby's ex-fiancé shows he isn't so willing to let her go, both she and Trex are soon to find out that what you don't know absolutely can hurt you.

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Loosely connected to the Maddox Brothers books by the same author, From Here to You tries hard to be a sweeping romance full of angst and too much extra plot. Unfortunately, the relationship that develops between Darby and Trex feels predictable, trite and far too rushed. From the first few chapters, it is too easy to for readers to predict the outcome--Ex beauty queen Darby, discovering she's pregnant, flees her abusive soldier fiance and lands in Colorado Springs.  Low and behold, ex Marine, ex FBI, current private government contractor, Trex appears as her knight in shining armor.

They're soulmates! But Darby can't make up her mind and tends to make some really impulsive, stupid decisions and Trex is far too enamored with her to see that things might get worse before they get better.

**SPOILER**

Reader's can see abusive Shawn's return a mile away. Darby does some stupid things that put her and her baby's lives in jeopardy but convenient that Trex and his super team of highly trained ex-soldiers can fix it.

Honestly, I wanted to like it, but the pacing was slow and reading to the end felt like work rather than escapism. A 3 out of 5 is generous since it should be more like a 2.5 out of 5.

There are similar authors like Colleen Hoover and Jay Crownover who handle the genre with more flare.

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