Her Defiant Heart
by Monica Murphy
Publication Date: March 29th, 2018
Genre: New Adult Romance
Book Description:
Life can feel like a cruel joke. I grew up poor and motherless, with a father who never got over his wife’s abandonment. But now he’s gone too, and I’m dead set on finding the woman who so carelessly tossed me aside when I was a baby.
I want revenge. And I’m going to get back at my mother any way that I can.
I change my name. Start my new life in college, and just happen to cross paths with the gorgeous, ultra-rich Rhett Montgomery. He’s immediately interested in me, not that I’m surprised.
You see, I planned it that way. I meant for him to find me. He’s the one connection to my mother, and I’m using him, so I can destroy her. But I didn’t plan on Rhett being so charming. Sweet. Sexy.
And I definitely didn’t plan on falling for him either…
Buy Links:
Read Today Exclusively on iBooks
Our Review:
Reviewed by Donna ~ 3.5 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***
“I’ll deserve an Academy Award
for my performance by the time I’m through.”
Her Defiant Heart is the first book in a trilogy and is a genre
step for Monica Murphy as she tackles, once again, New Adult Contemporary
Romance. I love this authors YA books and I couldn’t wait to dive into
something a little hotter and Monica Murphy didn’t disappoint.
Jennifer Fanelli uproots her life with one thing in mind…revenge,
but is revenge a dish best served cold? Deserted by her mother as an infant and
with her father passed, Jennifer is all alone in the world, but the woman that
deserted her is living the high-life with a whole new step-family. To wreak the
revenge she wants, Jennifer decides her best course of action is to get close
to one of her mother’s step-sons, but she didn’t bet on Rhett Montgomery.
Nothing she expected or ever knew she wanted.
Rhett Montgomery, not the frat boy that everyone expects. He
has the perfect façade for his friends, but when he meets Jennifer a totally new
side is exposed, and Jennifer is not immune to his charms. Rhett is still deeply
affected by the death of his mother and it is something that he has never got
over, despite his step-mothers attempts to charm him and raise him. Rhett was
totally smitten with Jennifer, extremely protective and these two just got
along. But, Jennifer is not from the affluent lifestyle and the choices she
makes just to survive, may come back to bite her, in more ways than one.
This was a great start and really sets the tone for what is
to come. This book read really quick, I’m not sure what the page count is, but
I just felt I needed more at the end, to really understand these characters and
achieve that character connection that I crave. I wanted a little more depth to
them. This may come as the trilogy progresses and I can’t wait to read the next
one to see what happens between these two.
Excerpt:
“Your friends are calling you,” I finally say.
He glances over his shoulder, then returns his attention to me. “They can wait.”
I’m surprised he’s putting talking to me above wanting to spend time with his friends. “Well, my homework can’t.” I gesture to the open textbook by my laptop. “Nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you again? That’s all I get?” He slides into the booth seat across from mine, leaning across the table like he wants to get closer to me. “I bet you don’t even remember my name.”
“I bet you don’t remember mine either,” I toss back at him, tacking on an annoying giggle after I say it.
He makes a face, like he knows I’m fake as hell. “Jensen.”
“Rhett.”
His smile is back, wider than ever. “You should come sit with us.”
“No, thank you.” My voice is prim, like a snotty rich girl’s would be. Wouldn’t they find it hilarious to know that I spent my teenage years living in a mobile-home-slash-trailer park, in the decrepit old fifth-wheel my dad called our new home right before I started eighth grade.
One brow lifts. “My friends would love to meet you.”
“I doubt that.”
“It’s true.” He glances over his shoulder again, and they call out to him, a couple of choice words ringing in the air. The waitress glares, stomping over to their table to give them a lecture I suppose, and Rhett whirls around so he’s facing me once more, his expression full of amusement. “Or maybe not.”
“Go hang out with your friends,” I tell him gently, wanting to give the impression that I am the perfectly understanding girlfriend. He might not have those types of serious thoughts about me—yet—but my good behavior can enter his subconscious, right?
“Jensen. I want to see you again.” He reaches across the table and touches the top of my right hand, his warm fingers practically burning my skin. I snatch my hand away from his, my fingers trembling as I clutch my hands together in my lap.
One casual touch from him and I feel like I’m going to erupt in flames.
It’s terrifying.
About the Author:
Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.
She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she's not writing, she's reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She's a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.
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