Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Compromising Positions – Mary Whitney

We weren’t supposed to be friends. We weren’t even supposed to like each other.

I’m Michael Grath. I’ll admit I was elected to Congress on my Republican family history. I was out to make a name for myself, until I met Jessie Clark, a spitfire Democrat.

She’d be my nemesis, if I could just stop flirting with her. We’ve got nothing and everything in common, and one big issue that divides us. All of this is going to land us in more than one compromising position.

So like I said, we weren’t supposed to be friends, we weren’t even supposed to like each other, and we certainly weren’t supposed to fall in love.

Series:
Release Date:  January 28, 2014
Publisher:  Self Published
Source:  Book Enthusiast Tours
Reviewer:  Shannon
Rating:

Reviewer’s Thoughts

Mary Whitney has a knack for writing political romance stories that make me dread getting to the last page because then the fun is over. Compromising Positions was one of those books.

I fell in love with Michael Grath and Jessica (Jessie) Clark.  Despite being brilliant (because they truly both were), they were two down to earth, awkward, nerdy, beautiful people who were trying to navigate their way through their freshman year in Congress.  Neither one expect to find love, but they did.  That’s not to say they didn’t have obstacles.  Party differences (he a Republican and she a Democrat), differing opinions on a variety of topics and Michael’s attempt to end a complicated relationship all play a role in their blossoming romance.

There was something about Michael and Jessie that made them irresistible, to me, as a reader.   No matter what situation either of them found themselves, I found myself laughing with them or hoping they could find a way to fix whatever issue they may have caused.  Mary Whitney made these characters very likable, very down-to-earth and flawed just like the rest of us.  It was an absolute pleasure to follow this couple as they weaved their way through Washington but somehow carving out the time to build a solid relationship.

If you haven’t read a Mary Whitney book before, definitely pick this one up.  You’ll love Michael and Jessie.

While keeping my eyes directly on the knife, I cut the garlic and asked, “So are you going to tell me about your date?”

“Nosy, aren’t we?” She snickered and focused on her own slicing.

“Well, was it a date or not?” I looked up at her with a wry smile. “Was I right?”

“You were right,” she said, without meeting my eye. “I suppose it was a date.”

There was my answer. It felt like a knife in my heart, so I thought I might as well twist it and be done with my little infatuation. “So you kissed him?”

“Huh?” Jessie turned to look at me with a gaping smile. “You are nosy.”

“Maybe. I’m curious.” I knew by the blush on her cheeks the answer was yes, and I regretted asking the question. I’d committed enough emotional suicide in my life. I didn’t need any more. I’d already done that with my marriage.

She shook her head, and looked again at the bread, she let out a breath. “A little. On my porch. No big deal, but I stopped it.”

That was surprising, and too much, but not enough information. “If it was no big deal, why did you stop it?”

“I guess I’m not ready for anything like that right now.” Her eyes shifted to me and then quickly back to her work.

“Not ready for anyone or not ready for him?” The question came out as dead serious as I meant it.

“Um… I don’t know about that. I told him I wanted to keep it light.”

“Light?” I stopped chopping and placed the knife down. “You said you wanted to keep it light?”

“Yeah.” She also put her knife down. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“No.” I smiled because it was a good thing to me, but not to Dr. Alan-I-Want-to-Do-House-Calls-On-You. I shrugged. “If you’re trying to tell him you’re not really interested, then there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Is that what it means? I heard the term once, and I thought it was appropriate. He’s a colleague.”

“Well, that’s what it would mean to me. If I was kissing a woman and she stopped it to say she wanted to keep things light, that’s not a good sign.” A wicked grin shone on my face while thinking of Alan getting shut down. “Until then, he probably thought you were going to invite him in.”

“Yeah. I didn’t want that.” She shook her head.

“Then you did the right thing.”

Jessie stared at me for a few seconds, but was quick to look away. My smile grew, realizing Alan was, for all purposes, out of the picture, at least temporarily, while I was inside Jessie’s home. I handed her the cutting board with chopped garlic. “Here you go.”

Mary blames Laura Ingalls Wilder and Margaret Mitchell for her obsession with romance novels. At an early age, Mary fell in love with the Little House series and its dreamy hero, Almanzo Wilder, who only wanted Laura to be Laura. Like many women, Mary later graduated to the ultimate, tall and dark bad boy, Rhett Butler, who loved Scarlett despite her flaws.

Mary has lived in many parts of the U.S., and after a first career in the non-profit world and politics, she’s settled in Northern California with her husband and daughters. She spends her days writing characters she hopes somehow capture the romance of Rhett and Scarlett and Almanzo and Laura. She’s a firm believer in what Rhett says to Scarlett:“You should be kissed and by someone who knows how.”

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Compromising-Positions-Mary-Whitney-ebook/dp/B00I1JT5X0/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_d_1

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