Title: The Bottom Line
Series: The Ladies Who Lunch #1
Series: The Ladies Who Lunch #1
Author: Sandy James
Release Date: May 6, 2014
When life gets tough and love is hard to find, four friends take their troubles to lunch. Surviving a failed marriage and an illness that almost takes her life, high school teacher Mallory Hamilton needs the Ladies Who Lunch more than ever . . .
After a year of upheaval, Mallory has had her fill of change—with one exception. Her house is a disaster, and she wants it fixed. Hiring a contractor to finish the projects her ex-husband started will help her banish the past so she can return to the life she had before everything went awry. But her contractor is sexy, sweet, and single, which threatens the peaceful, solitary life Mallory has planned for herself.
Ben Carpenter has had a hard time raising his daughter without his ex-wife’s help. His new client’s projects will give him the extra income he needs, not to mention afternoons alone with a gorgeous woman. Though their attraction is undeniable, Ben sees the fear and pain hiding in Mallory’s beautiful eyes. But how can he help her if she won’t let him in? Ben can fix just about anything—but can he fix Mallory’s broken heart?
After a year of upheaval, Mallory has had her fill of change—with one exception. Her house is a disaster, and she wants it fixed. Hiring a contractor to finish the projects her ex-husband started will help her banish the past so she can return to the life she had before everything went awry. But her contractor is sexy, sweet, and single, which threatens the peaceful, solitary life Mallory has planned for herself.
Ben Carpenter has had a hard time raising his daughter without his ex-wife’s help. His new client’s projects will give him the extra income he needs, not to mention afternoons alone with a gorgeous woman. Though their attraction is undeniable, Ben sees the fear and pain hiding in Mallory’s beautiful eyes. But how can he help her if she won’t let him in? Ben can fix just about anything—but can he fix Mallory’s broken heart?
The Bottom Line is a great title. It's what attracted me to the book itself. Some book titles are overly long, some basically tell you the story and some make no sense even after you've read it. But this title is perfect for this book. It's about the cost of rebuilding a house as well as your heart and life. But it's also about how much of yourself you're willing to give and what you're willing to sacrifice for the one you love. It's actually a pretty simple story. A story about second chances and falling in love. But it has a great title.
Mallory Hamilton has had a terrible year. After being left by her husband just days after receiving some life changing news, she's finally ready and able to get her life back on track. Her first order of business is to get her falling-down-around-her house renovated. Its rundown looks are symbolic of her past struggles and now is the time to get it fixed. Ben Carpenter is a single dad with a deadbeat ex-wife and the job of making Mallory's home liveable. It's exactly what he needs. It will bring in the money he's sorely missing but it'll also introduce him to a woman unlike any other he's met. He can tell she's been hurt by life and he can't help but be drawn to her courage, her strength and her kindness. Ben wants to help Mallory and in doing that, he's going to fix more than just her house.
This was a really sweet story. There's not much more than meets the eye when it comes to Ben. He's a handsome and kind single father. He loves his daughter and the relationship between the two of them is nice. It's hard to really say more than that because their story doesn't really go much deeper. The most memorable thing about him is his name because he's a carpenter (technically contractor and that's the joke) whose name is Carpenter. It gave me a mild chuckle because there was a Math teacher at my school whose name was Miss Figures and funny names are...funny. Mallory, on the other hand, is a good character. Her battles aren't immediately revealed although it's easy to see where her story is headed if you're paying attention. Her friends - the Ladies That Lunch, the linchpins of the series - fell a little flat for me. I would have liked more interaction between the four women, a deeper explanation of their relationship. Maybe Jules' book will give me more of them together. But the central story of Ben and Mallory together is a good one and the story of her "issues" (I'm trying hard not to spoil anything) and how she dealt with, and overcame, them is fantastic. It's not a stressful story, just a simple story of a boy meeting a girl, falling in love and learning how to deal with what life throws at them. I'd like to read more stories like this. And that's the bottom line.
This is the first book in the Ladies That Lunch series and can be read as a standalone book, no cliffhanger.
~ Review by Beth
“How old are
you, Mallory?”
“You really
aren’t afraid to ask questions, are you?” Trying to lighten the somber mood
that always accompanied a discussion of her disease, she grinned. “How old do I
look?”
Was he growling?
Good Lord, that’s all she needed: a guy with a bad temper and no sense of
humor. “Do we really have to talk about this?” she asked.
The waiter
interrupted, bringing them their entrees and grating more cheese on her
fettuccine and Ben’s spaghetti Bolognese. She’d had no idea what “Bolognese”
was when he’d ordered it, but from the looks of the food, it was a lot like
regular meat sauce.
“Is there
anything else I can get for you?” the waiter asked Ben.
“Mal?” Ben
asked. “Need anything?”
“No, thanks.”
She twirled her fork around, gathering the fettuccine into a small ball. “This
looks wonderful. Nothing like fresh pasta. The box stuff always comes out kinda
clumpy when I make it.”
“You need to add
some olive oil to the water and wait to drop the pasta in until the water is
already boiling. I always make my own pasta instead of using the crap they put
in boxes.”
“You really do
know how to cook! Most guys can only do one dish. Figured chili was yours.”
“You doubted
me?”
She put her fork
down against the side of her plate. “Look, Ben… I’m not sure exactly what I believe about you.”
“What’s that
supposed to mean?”
“We’ve known
each other a couple of months, but we don’t really know each other.”
“That’s why
we’re on another date. To talk. To see if we click. After those kisses—”
So that was the catalyst,
the kisses they’d shared. The ones she’d let get entirely out of hand.
Why were all men
so preoccupied with sex?
Her heart sank
at the thought that he’d only asked her out to get in her in bed. “I’m not
having sex with you.” The words came out much louder than she’d intended, and a
few heads turned their way. “Sorry. I just… If the only reason you asked me out
again is because of kissing—”
“Hotter-than-hell
kissing,” Ben corrected. “But that’s not why we’re here. You’d recognize that
if you’d drop your firewalls long enough to—”
“Firewalls? What
firewalls?”
He leaned back
in his chair and simply stared at her for a moment. “You’ve been through hell
this year, haven’t you? Maybe I’m expecting too much too soon.”
That made
absolutely no sense to Mallory. “What exactly were you expecting, Ben?”
“A chance.”
“A chance to do
what?”
Sandy James lives in a quiet suburb of Indianapolis with her husband. She's a high school social studies teacher who especially loves psychology and United States history. Since she and her husband own a small stable of harness racehorses, they often spend time together at the two Indiana racetracks.
I thought it was a really good book, but everything I've read by this author I've thoroughly enjoyed. Some men are perfect and that's Ben Carpenter. Loved his name too. Can't wait for the next story in this series.
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