I absolutely loved the premise of this book and the author's voice. I simply couldn't put it down. I love stories where people are suddenly forced to be together but find they are strongly attracted to each other.. The main characters were interesting, not cliche in any way and their love story was believable and sweet. The secondary characters were all fantastic. This author was great to discover! Thanks for letting me read the book.

3.5 stars

Meant For You is a stand alone book that apparently falls within a series but is not marked that way. There is both cursing and on-screen sex in this book.

This is my first Michelle Major book, so I had no idea there were others that came before this one that held some of Owen and Jenny's background. While this book technically stands alone and things were explained enough to get a feel for what had happened between them, I wish I had known to read those first so that I'd have a better feel for these two star-crossed characters and their many friends.

This book is both a second chance romance and a fake-relationship story, two things that I always enjoy. While I often found myself scowling at Jenny for being so blasted prickly, Owen's incredibly sweet personality (I would have 100% sent Jenny packing in their very first scene together) and Cooper's adorable-but-often-ridiculous manner evened out my annoyance with her. Although I get that her personality is brash and defensive, her lack of awareness of other people's feelings was horrendous. When she blurted out his parentage like a total jerk after being caught red handed betraying him <i>yet again</i>, I very much wanted to smack her. Owen was a seriously nice guy who deserved so much better. While in the end they did get their happily ever after and the epilogue was really sweet, I wasn't convinced that their relationship really would work out.

This is a pretty quick, interesting read with characters that never have a dull moment to just relax. If you enjoy either a second chance romance or a fake-relationship story with lots of twists and turns, you would probably enjoy this book.

I requested and was granted an ARC via NetGalley. I was under absolutely no obligation to write this review.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
As a mom, you will do anything to protect your kids and Jenni is no exception. Twelve years ago, her world was turned upside down with an unexpected pregnancy, the rich boyfriend who turned out to be a douchebag, and once again, all the "mean girls" at her fancy private school looking down on her as if she were the trash that needed to be taken out. Now the mean girls are back and have goaded her into attending her high school reunion with her current fiancé, the one and only Owen Dalton. You know, the nice guy that she just happened to run off because he was "just that into her?" Oh, did I forget to say he was rich, too?

Owen hasn't forgotten Jenni or what she did to him almost two years ago. He misses the friendship he had with her and hasn't quite gotten over the feeling that he wasn't enough for her. One more person in his life that he wasn't quite enough for. His parents tended to think he wasn't athletic enough, his former fiancée probably thought he wasn't sexy enough, and it was obvious that his brother thought he wasn't enough of anything since he was the one who stole his former fiancée away from him.

Today is different. Jenni needs a favor and so does he. Owen will pretend to be her fiancé at her high school reunion and Jenni will return the favor at his brother's wedding. The sticking point? What will Jenni's twelve-year-old son think? Turns out that Cooper is the man with the plan.

Loved the book and all its elements!

a cute sweet read

Jenny runs into the mean girls from school who torture her about her ex boyfriend married and living elsewhere. They start taking shots at Jenny's son with the ex which momma bear Jenny won't take. So she makes up this fictitious fiancee who is rich, successful and absolutely devoted to Jenny and her son.

Owen's heart was broken when Jenny broke up with him. But when she comes back needing assistance for a night, to pretend to be a fiancee, all bets are off. Owen's changed since Jenny dated him and he's not going to fall into old habits.

This was a sweet book with Jenny being so realistic and similar to myself, I could imagine myself in the story. Jenny (and I) speaks before she thinks and that mouth gets her in trouble. And who doesn't have that every so often??

Meant for You by Michelle Major.......Oh my, this book was amazing as always. Michelle Major writes books that pulls the readers into the story and we feel all the emotions with the characters. Jenny and Owen get a second chance, while faking a relationship and I enjoyed every minute of it. I highly recommend this book, it is so good. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

A second chance romance and fake relationship story? With a nerdy hero? Sign me up!

Both Jenny and Owen come into this book with baggage galore. Besides their brief past romance that ended badly, they each have more than their share of family and past relationship drama. Jenny never knew her dad and was dumped in high school by her son's father, and now her mother is suffering from dementia. Owen, who's never felt like he fit in to his own family, lost a fiancee to his younger brother--a fiancee who's about to marry that younger brother in a few short weeks. Add in the fact that Jenny's the one who torpedoed their first attempt at an HEA, and yeah, this one's gonna be drama-filled with a capital D, with angst to spare.

Jenny drove me a little nuts with her insistence that she and Owen couldn't possibly have a future together. I mean, I get her hangups about being left--first her dad, then Cooper's--but her original freak out that ended relationship number 1 with Owen? I had a hard time feeling the panic behind her actions. Maybe that's because we only heard about it afterwards--it happened before the events of this story--but we get it from both her and Owen's POVs, and either way it left me feeling kind of...meh. This means I spent 90% of the book feeling vaguely annoyed with her, which was a bit of a bummer, but Owen and Cooper did their slightly geeky, manly best to keep me distracted from that fact.

Though I really did like Owen, Jenny's son Cooper stole the show in this one. He's polite and respectful towards adults, but with a mercenary streak a mile wide when it comes to looking out for his mom. Plus, you've got to love the kid who's so invested in his mother's fake relationship that he's the one who comes up with their "how we got engaged" story (it involved enchiladas...and fried ice cream...and a fireworks display--though Owen nixed the latter element as too much, party pooper that he is) ;)

Though it's not listed as part of a series, Meant for You has characters from at least three other Michelle Major books: Kissing Mr. Right , Recipe for Kisses , and Tell Me Again --the heroines of each are part of Jenny's group of friends, and Ty (aka "Mr. Right") is both Jenny's original BFF and friends with Owen. I've only read Ty and Kendall's book prior to this one, though; so reading Meant for You as a standalone should work out just fine.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / C+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This was quite the little firecracker of a book. I loved how the whole fake fiance came about. It showed exactly how spirited Jenny could be LOL And I also loved how Owen stepped outside his comfort zone to make it happen. It showed how truly meant to be these two kids were :)

Jenny and Owen have history. History that isn't very favorable. They also have similar social tendencies, meaning they were both looking from the outside in as they grew-up, just in different ways...Jenny lacked the money to be a cool kid and Owen lacked the balls, for lack of a better term lol But that was then and this is now and someone got Jenny aaaaaall riled up so she turns to Owen to help her save face. Cue the journey to HEA :)

I've never read a Michelle Major book and I kinda feel like I've been missing out. The story was easy (except maybe Jenny was a little too much. She got in her way a lot lol). It sucks you in and you get invested. Owen was an adorable character that stole the show on more than one occasion. Overall, very enjoyable second chance romance you can read in one afternoon :)

Copy provided for blog tour review

Single mom Jenny Castelli has a temper to match her red hair. When the former mean girls of her high school insult her son, Jenny fires off a big lie—that she’s engaged to a rich, handsome guy and is bringing him to their ten-year reunion. Now she needs to find the perfect fake fiancé for one night. And only one man fits the bill.

Geek turned tech entrepreneur Owen Dalton already had his heart broken by Jenny Castelli. Still, he finds himself agreeing to her proposition—even as he struggles to remember that the chemistry sparking between them isn’t real. But when Jenny’s ex makes a play for custody and Owen is forced to deal with the family who always treated him as “second best,” their arrangement suddenly becomes very personal. And that lie they’ve been telling everyone? It isn’t nearly as big as the one they’ve been telling themselves.

My favorite romance books are those where there are "fake fiance's" and kids involved. I will put this on my reread shelf. Owen is kind of a sad guy to me. His whole life he's been this dorky kid who's wanted to be accepted by his parents or specifically his dad and he just never felt like he measured up. He's always been the smart one. His younger brother's always had his dad's attention and love. His fiance left him for his brother because she thought he was the better catch. To me, I'd rather have brilliantly sexy over just "plain handsome" any day, but that's my opinion. Owen's brother is a total tool in this book, and I disliked him to the point, I wanted him to beat him with his golf clubs (you'll see the part of the book where they play golf) but alas he didn't. Jenny was a frustrating character because part of me wanted to slap her and the other part wanted to hug her. She's so smart, but part of her is just dumb for letting Owen go in the first place. They have excellent chemistry together, and Owen would do anything for her. For Jenny to betray Owen once, I was like "okay she's running from her feelings!" When she goes to do it again, I was about to throw my kindle to the side and pick up a paperback. There were a couple of twists and turns I didn't see coming in this book, and when they were revealed, I was like...HOLY MOSES!! I'm so used to books that have this "Big Reveal," and then it's something on the Heroine's side that when they revealed on Owen's side, I was left with WTF?

Overall, I fell in love with the characters and would like to see Connor grow up and have his own book...Hint Hint! He stole this book. His "real" dad who showed up for a bit part was such a creeper and I know we have to have those types of characters in books but...uh, just put creeper dad and tool brother in a boat and ship them out to shore!! I haven't read Michelle before, but I'll be picking up any previous books of hers and anything she writes after this because I really thought this was a cute read.

I was given a copy of this ARC from the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review. All of the above comments are my express opinions and no one else's.

Michelle Major is one of my favorite authors. A big reason why is because she exposes love from all sides. She shows warts and all. That makes for stories that are at times heartbreaking but rewarding. Meant For You cast a spell on me. It's hard to be vulnerable when it can lead to open wounds, hurt feelings and insecurities. Jenny is a warrior when it comes to protecting her son and her pride, but this mama lion has scars embedded into her heart so deeply, that her biggest strengths have also become her worse weaknesses. Case in point, a lie of convenience snowballs into more than she bargained when she has to put up or shut up. Will the solution turn into an answer to a prayer or the beginning of an even bigger nightmare? I lost my heart to Owen. He was a man with his own share of painful insecurities but his heart was a thing of beauty. Identifiable characters and memory defining moments made for a poignant read.

Book Info
Paperback, 268 pages
Expected publication: March 28th 2017 by Montlake Romance
ISBN 1503943666 (ISBN13: 9781503943667)
Other Editions (3)
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK BLURB


Single mom Jenny Castelli has a temper to match her red hair. When the former mean girls of her high school insult her son, Jenny fires off a big lie—that she’s engaged to a rich, handsome guy and is bringing him to their ten-year reunion. Now she needs to find the perfect fake fiancé for one night. And only one man fits the bill.

Geek turned tech entrepreneur Owen Dalton already had his heart broken by Jenny Castelli. Still, he finds himself agreeing to her proposition—even as he struggles to remember that the chemistry sparking between them isn’t real. But when Jenny’s ex makes a play for custody and Owen is forced to deal with the family who always treated him as “second best,” their arrangement suddenly becomes very personal. And that lie they’ve been telling everyone? It isn’t nearly as big as the one they’ve been telling themselves.

My Thoughts


Growing up Jenny Castelli was often the target of ridicule as she did not have wealthy parents like many of the girls her age.

Owen Dalton always felt out of sync with his peers as well as his own family, a true geek at heart he did not play sports in school nor did he desire to be part of the popular crowd. At first he is wary of Jenny’s plan but upon further thought the benefits to both far outweighs any negatives.

Jenny finds herself in need of a fake fiancé to escort her on the night of the 10th reunion of her High School graduation. She had no intention of going until cornered by one of her former bullies, then for some reason the lies just started pouring out and Jenny found herself caught in a web of deceit.

What started out as a way for Jenny and Owen to provide each other support soon becomes so much more complicated, in the best way possible, than either ever dreamed about over the years.

What can I say but love second chance romances, especially the ones where the couple fight their feelings tooth and nail before finally realizing they are meant to be together.

[EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it won't be the last, I really enjoyed this second chance romance.
Jenny Castello is a single mum doing her best to raise her son, run her business and provide for her mum who is in a care home. The last thing she needs is a high school reunion with girls who made her life a misery but more to the point she doesn't need to see her sons father who walked away when he found out she was pregnant, Jenny comes up with a big fat lie letting them believe she is engaged to a rich sexy geek turned entrepreneur, problem is she needs to convince Owen to go along with her....
Owen Dalton had his heart broken by Jenny once before and now he finds himself being asked to play a fake fiancé for the night, he can't say no to Jenny but she must do something for him in return. Owen has always been the child that was never good enough, even though he is now one of the US's most eligible bachelors he stills thinks he has to prove himself so taking the beautiful Jenny to his brothers wedding is perfect. Will the feelings that Owen and Jenny still have for each bring happiness or will the people from their past ruin their stab at second chance romance......
I loved this sweet romantic story, the characters are loveable and once you add in a delightful little boy call Cooper you have the perfect book to take to the beach or curl up in front of the fire with.
Looking forward to reading more from Michelle Major

3.5 Here's Showing Them Stars
* * *1/2
Sometimes it just has to happen...
The pain and anger of being targeted once again by all the Mean Girls from her High School Days... Hit the chord...
Before she knew it, our gal proclaims her life is amazing and she has a wonderful man... so special and successful it shuts the cat calls from these women.
Only trouble is now what to do...
Good thing she approaches the Tech Tycoon who was the geek... and he decides to play along.
Better thing is when drama happens and all the playing along becomes real.

Reviewing for publication RT Book Reviews May edition