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Tales from Marrying Stone #4
Mr. Right Goes Wrong
No More Mr. Nice Guy.
Like a bad-choice-making boomerang, Mazy Gulliver has returned to her mom’s tiny house in Brandt Mountain. But this time, she’s got her teenage son, Tru, in tow and no intention of messing up ever again.Mazy’s so determined to rebuild her life she hardly minds beingthe new loan collector, or even working for Tad, her ex. She’s not here to make friends--or fall in love.
Sweet, dependable Eli Latham has loved Mazy since they got pretend married in second grade. But after being burned by Mazy for two decades, Eli’s got a new strategy. Mazy likes bad boys, so a bad boy is what he’ll be. How hard can it be to act like a jerk?
Not for the first time, men are making Mazy crazy, though she’s determined to do what’s right for her and Tru. But breaking old habits is hard, and if she really wants things to change she’ll have to face her biggest adversary: herself.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 29, 2014
22 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Morsi
61 books451 followersPamela Morsi was an American writer. She was the author of 29 romance novels, beginning in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 31, 2014
This book should have been titled Ms. Good Writer Goes Wrong. While the author has penned many of my favorites (seven of her titles are DIK’s for me) this hot mess almost seemed like it had been written by someone else using her name.
After thoroughly screwing up her life Mazy Gulliver finds herself pulling into her mother’s driveway with only a car full of possessions and her fourteen-year-old son Tru. As a woman who loves too much, too stupidly, too easily and too often she is starting over yet again after a failed affair has done critical destruction to her career. The first order of business is to find a job and Mazy has that easily covered. Waltzing into the bank where her baby daddy works she blandly informs the Sperm Donor that he can either give her a job or be sued for child support. Since he has been denying since high school that the boy is his he gives her a job.
That responsibility out of the way, Mazy settles into a quiet life of rebuilding her reputation, helping her mom and bonding with her teenage son. Just kidding! Why would she do any of that? After two days of getting settled in Mazy heads next door to visit her friend with benefits Eli Latham. Eli and Mazy have been best buds forever. He’s helped her heal a broken heart more than once. And it isn’t like Eli resembles the other guys she’s hooked up with; Eli is sweet, dependable, has a job, friends, a family and is nice. He’s a safe person to play with while she rebuilds. And besides, it’s been a while since she got any and she really needs this.
Eli knows that Mazy is just passing the time with him. When his brother points out the only guys she wants for anything more than a mattress are the ones who treat her like dirt a light bulb goes on: Eli can be a jerk! All he has to do is copy the guys Mazy has complained of in the past. Faster than you can say Mr. Hyde Eli starts ogling other women, kicking Mazy out of his bed after sex, not calling when he says he will, canceling plans or just not showing up – in other words, he becomes the jerks she has left him for in the past. He figures when he has her good and hooked he’ll turn nice again. But can he go the distance and be the jerk he needs to be to win his lady love? And when the time comes to change, will he find himself stuck permanently in Mr. Wrong mode when he’s really a Mr. Right?
I’ll start with why this book isn’t an F. It’s not an F because the author is an experienced writer and her prose is smooth and easy to read. It’s not an F because the glimpse of small town life we see around the disaster that is Mazy is charming. I’s not an F because a few of the peripheral secondary characters that were sketched out enough to be more than cardboard cutouts were interesting. But the other factors in the book? Definitely F material.
Let’s start with the main characters. They were scary. They weren’t scary cool like the characters of Gone Girl, they were just plain scary. Mazy is a woman who can’t live without a hookup. As Tru put it, “There is always going to be someone. I get it. For you, being alone is always going to be just a lull between . . . adventures.” The problem is that she picks men who treat her badly or as she put it “the guys that she’d truly loved . . . really were bad.” Over the course of her life she has moved in and out with many of them, dragging her young son along. One of them slapped him which stopped her from having them move in but it didn’t keep her from having them ruin their lives. What bothered me most is that Mazy didn’t own her sexuality; she wasn’t having fun with it and able to go about her life the rest of the time. Her sexuality owned her; her need for a man was what she based many of her life decisions on. Even that might have been okay if I had seen her be something besides needy – if I had seen her taking time to hang out with Tru or being kind to Eli without sex attached or even seen her as she took over household care for her elderly mom but none of that happened. The only positives I saw were her friendship with a local woman (which was a writing trick utilized to paint some background information on the town and provide some dialogue) and I saw her do her job. And yes, the scene where she is a big heroine for someone with a bank problem? That was her doing her job. So Mazy’s characterization can be summed up as sex addict.
See the rest of my review at http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookRev...
After thoroughly screwing up her life Mazy Gulliver finds herself pulling into her mother’s driveway with only a car full of possessions and her fourteen-year-old son Tru. As a woman who loves too much, too stupidly, too easily and too often she is starting over yet again after a failed affair has done critical destruction to her career. The first order of business is to find a job and Mazy has that easily covered. Waltzing into the bank where her baby daddy works she blandly informs the Sperm Donor that he can either give her a job or be sued for child support. Since he has been denying since high school that the boy is his he gives her a job.
That responsibility out of the way, Mazy settles into a quiet life of rebuilding her reputation, helping her mom and bonding with her teenage son. Just kidding! Why would she do any of that? After two days of getting settled in Mazy heads next door to visit her friend with benefits Eli Latham. Eli and Mazy have been best buds forever. He’s helped her heal a broken heart more than once. And it isn’t like Eli resembles the other guys she’s hooked up with; Eli is sweet, dependable, has a job, friends, a family and is nice. He’s a safe person to play with while she rebuilds. And besides, it’s been a while since she got any and she really needs this.
Eli knows that Mazy is just passing the time with him. When his brother points out the only guys she wants for anything more than a mattress are the ones who treat her like dirt a light bulb goes on: Eli can be a jerk! All he has to do is copy the guys Mazy has complained of in the past. Faster than you can say Mr. Hyde Eli starts ogling other women, kicking Mazy out of his bed after sex, not calling when he says he will, canceling plans or just not showing up – in other words, he becomes the jerks she has left him for in the past. He figures when he has her good and hooked he’ll turn nice again. But can he go the distance and be the jerk he needs to be to win his lady love? And when the time comes to change, will he find himself stuck permanently in Mr. Wrong mode when he’s really a Mr. Right?
I’ll start with why this book isn’t an F. It’s not an F because the author is an experienced writer and her prose is smooth and easy to read. It’s not an F because the glimpse of small town life we see around the disaster that is Mazy is charming. I’s not an F because a few of the peripheral secondary characters that were sketched out enough to be more than cardboard cutouts were interesting. But the other factors in the book? Definitely F material.
Let’s start with the main characters. They were scary. They weren’t scary cool like the characters of Gone Girl, they were just plain scary. Mazy is a woman who can’t live without a hookup. As Tru put it, “There is always going to be someone. I get it. For you, being alone is always going to be just a lull between . . . adventures.” The problem is that she picks men who treat her badly or as she put it “the guys that she’d truly loved . . . really were bad.” Over the course of her life she has moved in and out with many of them, dragging her young son along. One of them slapped him which stopped her from having them move in but it didn’t keep her from having them ruin their lives. What bothered me most is that Mazy didn’t own her sexuality; she wasn’t having fun with it and able to go about her life the rest of the time. Her sexuality owned her; her need for a man was what she based many of her life decisions on. Even that might have been okay if I had seen her be something besides needy – if I had seen her taking time to hang out with Tru or being kind to Eli without sex attached or even seen her as she took over household care for her elderly mom but none of that happened. The only positives I saw were her friendship with a local woman (which was a writing trick utilized to paint some background information on the town and provide some dialogue) and I saw her do her job. And yes, the scene where she is a big heroine for someone with a bank problem? That was her doing her job. So Mazy’s characterization can be summed up as sex addict.
See the rest of my review at http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookRev...
July 19, 2014
If you're looking for a compelling story that will grab you and not let go until AFTER the last page, this is it. Why, you say? Read on. Hint #1: Mazy Gulliver has a bundle of baggage in her past that includes a crime and jail time, so she goes home with her 14-yr-old son to lick her wounds and get a job her baby daddy banker can't deny her. Hint #2: Tad, Tru's birth father, is a real jerk, and as a banker in town, he puts Mazy in charge of the bad loan customers. Her job? Squeeze them until they pay up or he can turn them over to a collections agency, a job she decides to turn into real help avoiding bankruptcy. Hint #3: Eli Latham is her next door neighbor and he's been in love with her forever, but Mazy used him and abused him not once, but twice, in between love affairs with bad boys. He concludes she'll never love him unless he becomes a bad boy, too. So... using the internet as a guide, he does his best to be bad--with disastrous results.
Particularly distressing to Mazy is her son's closeness with Eli. Also confusing is her ex's apparent change into a smarmy nice guy. How can she tell who's really the right man for her when all the men in her life suddenly seem to have changed their spots?
Particularly distressing to Mazy is her son's closeness with Eli. Also confusing is her ex's apparent change into a smarmy nice guy. How can she tell who's really the right man for her when all the men in her life suddenly seem to have changed their spots?
July 12, 2014
Light funny read, sweet at times.
Tru, Mazy's son is probably the best thing in the book, and Eli's relationship with his father.
I didn't really agree with the storyline but the book was entertaining to read.
This review is for a free copy courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley
Tru, Mazy's son is probably the best thing in the book, and Eli's relationship with his father.
I didn't really agree with the storyline but the book was entertaining to read.
This review is for a free copy courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley
July 18, 2014
MR. RIGHT GOES WRONG
Pamela Morsi
Mira
August 2014
Mazy Gulliver is through making horrible choices with men. All she wants is someone to love her and her teen-age son, Tru. Her last mistake ended with her doing community service hours in Delaware, and having to sell everything she owns to make restitution on said bad choices. Mazy and Tru move in with her mother, Beth Ann, in Brandt Mountain, North Carolina, where Mazy will find all the unconditional love she can hold from her mom. Desperate for a job, Mazy confronts Tru’s father, Tad Driscoll, the local banker, and demands he hires her, and he does. He gives her the worse job at the bank, but Mazy knows how to make a really good lemonade with all the sour lemons she has had in her life.
Eli Latham is the “boy-next-door” to Mazy, and has been in love with her most of his life. They have been good friends, and between Mazy’s looking-for-love among sleaze balls affairs, they have been friends with benefits. Eli is determined that Mazy has used him for the last time, and gets online advice about how to treat a woman like slime, which should get him Mazy’s undying love if she is running true to course.
Pamela Morsi writes beautiful, poignant love stories that have a tendency to reach the reader’s heart and squeeze tightly. Mazy is intelligent; she is an accountant with an eye toward business planning. She is a wonderful mother, and is truly blessed that Tru has turned out to be a caring, loving teen-ager who is more or less his mother’s keeper, and wouldn’t have it any other way. Eli hires Tru to help him around his cabinetry business, and the two of them become best friends. MR. RIGHT GOES WRONG is by Pamela Morsi, which means it is a keeper.
Ms. Morsi has never disappointed this reader with her wonderful, folksy stories of average people with the same basic wants and needs as everyone. Sometimes, we just don’t know what we want. MR. RIGHT GOES WRONG enticed me at the first page and kept me mesmerized until the last page. It is a marvelous thing when that happens.
Betty Cox for ReaderToReader.com
June 23, 2015
I'm a big fan of Ms. Morsi's from way back. I have read and loved all of her historical romances. I finally decided to try one of her contemporaries. "Mr. Right Goes Wrong" is, as one might expect, a book with smooth and lovely writing and I sailed right through it without ever wanting to put it down. The plot was quite tricky--how do you write a guy being am 'asshole' to his girlfriend without making the reader dislike him? How to you write a woman who is addicted to men who mistreat her and make her sympathetic?
Morsi wrestles this difficult dynamic well. I liked Eli from the start, though sometimes his actions made me cringe. As for Mazy, I came to like her more as the story progressed and she stopped putting up with bad treatment. I agree with some of the other reviewers that I liked Tru, Mazy's 14 year old son, best of all.
I'm looking forward to reading more of Morsi's contemporaries.
Morsi wrestles this difficult dynamic well. I liked Eli from the start, though sometimes his actions made me cringe. As for Mazy, I came to like her more as the story progressed and she stopped putting up with bad treatment. I agree with some of the other reviewers that I liked Tru, Mazy's 14 year old son, best of all.
I'm looking forward to reading more of Morsi's contemporaries.
August 16, 2014
Pamela Morsi has a gift. Better, she has many gifts, but for today I will speak only of two of them.
First gift: in every book, she can write stories intertwined with everyday wisdom. Usually the source of this wisdom is old people, granparents or neighbours. She really can describe old people in a way that is real and vivid, non conventional, and she can show that in every single moment of our lives there is something to be learned, to be understood, to be gifted. This happens in this book, too.
Two small examples:
“You may be right about not making things so easy for her,” his stepmother said. “It’s human nature to value those things that we have to struggle for and take for granted those things that seem to fall naturally into our hands. You’ve been pretty easy pickings in the past”.
“Too easy,” Eli agreed. “This time around, if Mazy wants me, she’s going to have to make an effort.”
Ida nodded sagely. “Well, as I said, I’m no expert. But I think it’s worth pointing out that people are not things. When couples come together, it’s for big reasons. Sometimes more than they believe. And the person who is right for you is exactly the one that makes you become who heaven intended you to be.”
***
“It’s part of being a parent. You teach your child to be kind to others by being kind to them.”
Second gift: in every book, she can picture real-life characters. Heroes and heroines well defined, interesting, but most of all realistic, so realistic that we are induced to think of them not as “the hero and the heroine”, but as “this man and this woman”. It happens in “Mr. Right Goes Wrong”, too. Mazy, Tru and Eli, Jonah and Ida, Beth Ann, Tad, Karly, Charlie, and the small population of Brandt Mountain in North Carolina are vivid characters. Particular care is used in describing Eli’s work as wood craftsman. The description of handmade custom pieces in woodwork is accurate and interesting.
But the main peculiarity of this book is that it’s an unusual love story. So, if you are in search of a traditional romance, in which the hero is the perfect gentleman (or he doesn’t seem so, but in the end we discover that it was all a misunderstanding) and the heroine the perfect lady, without flaws, a honor-and-duty martyr, this is not the book for you. Pamela Morsi makes us very aware of the faults and defects of her characters. But she makes us like them in spite of this.
Mazy Gulliver is a woman with a heavy past. She has been unwise, silly, not farsighted or prudent, many times in her life. Mazy has done a lot of errors, not unawares, but often ingenuously. She is like the 80% of her generation: simple, nice, willing-to-be-happy, enthusiastic, and confused. But we see that there is one thing that she has protected with all her strenght and will: her son, Tru. Pamela Morsi describes real interactions with adolescents, so we can’t see this love in a lot of kisses or sweet words between mother and son, but we can understand it from the choices and the words of the characters. Mazy returns home in shreds, but not won.
Eli Latham is a steady, centered, good man, but too kind for his own good. He decides to change to win Mazy. But the game, difficult at the beginning, gets more and more addictive. Eli offends and mistreats Mazy, sometimes saying really stupid or improbable things, sometimes using gross words or treating her like a waitress.
When Mazy is reforming herself, he is doing bad, adopting a rude behavior. Pamela Morsi emphasize his attemps as really clumsy, often funny and humorous, only rarely disturbing.
He turns into a jerk around her. But his change brings some improvement in his life: he stands up to his brother, and in the end he confronts to the bastard-to-the-core of all the story, Tad.
Luckily, in the end Eli has the courage to tell Mazy all his machinations and lies and returns a good, trustworthy man. But now Mazy is changed, grown, empowered in her self-esteem, so she takes her time to be sure to develop a relationship on an equal footing.
Mazy and Eli are not easy, immediatly likeable characters. But each one grows and finds his and her true self and value.
The book pictures the difficult path to maturity. His motto could be: every cloud has a silver lining. It shows that every mistake can be forgiven if there is the will to be better and live with emphaty and kindness.
We can love Mazy and Eli as much as they learn, in the journey that the book narrates, to love and respect themselves.
This makes the last romance of Pamela Morsi a heart-breaking tale.
ARC provided by Harlequin via NetGalley in exchange for an onest review.
First gift: in every book, she can write stories intertwined with everyday wisdom. Usually the source of this wisdom is old people, granparents or neighbours. She really can describe old people in a way that is real and vivid, non conventional, and she can show that in every single moment of our lives there is something to be learned, to be understood, to be gifted. This happens in this book, too.
Two small examples:
“You may be right about not making things so easy for her,” his stepmother said. “It’s human nature to value those things that we have to struggle for and take for granted those things that seem to fall naturally into our hands. You’ve been pretty easy pickings in the past”.
“Too easy,” Eli agreed. “This time around, if Mazy wants me, she’s going to have to make an effort.”
Ida nodded sagely. “Well, as I said, I’m no expert. But I think it’s worth pointing out that people are not things. When couples come together, it’s for big reasons. Sometimes more than they believe. And the person who is right for you is exactly the one that makes you become who heaven intended you to be.”
***
“It’s part of being a parent. You teach your child to be kind to others by being kind to them.”
Second gift: in every book, she can picture real-life characters. Heroes and heroines well defined, interesting, but most of all realistic, so realistic that we are induced to think of them not as “the hero and the heroine”, but as “this man and this woman”. It happens in “Mr. Right Goes Wrong”, too. Mazy, Tru and Eli, Jonah and Ida, Beth Ann, Tad, Karly, Charlie, and the small population of Brandt Mountain in North Carolina are vivid characters. Particular care is used in describing Eli’s work as wood craftsman. The description of handmade custom pieces in woodwork is accurate and interesting.
But the main peculiarity of this book is that it’s an unusual love story. So, if you are in search of a traditional romance, in which the hero is the perfect gentleman (or he doesn’t seem so, but in the end we discover that it was all a misunderstanding) and the heroine the perfect lady, without flaws, a honor-and-duty martyr, this is not the book for you. Pamela Morsi makes us very aware of the faults and defects of her characters. But she makes us like them in spite of this.
Mazy Gulliver is a woman with a heavy past. She has been unwise, silly, not farsighted or prudent, many times in her life. Mazy has done a lot of errors, not unawares, but often ingenuously. She is like the 80% of her generation: simple, nice, willing-to-be-happy, enthusiastic, and confused. But we see that there is one thing that she has protected with all her strenght and will: her son, Tru. Pamela Morsi describes real interactions with adolescents, so we can’t see this love in a lot of kisses or sweet words between mother and son, but we can understand it from the choices and the words of the characters. Mazy returns home in shreds, but not won.
Eli Latham is a steady, centered, good man, but too kind for his own good. He decides to change to win Mazy. But the game, difficult at the beginning, gets more and more addictive. Eli offends and mistreats Mazy, sometimes saying really stupid or improbable things, sometimes using gross words or treating her like a waitress.
When Mazy is reforming herself, he is doing bad, adopting a rude behavior. Pamela Morsi emphasize his attemps as really clumsy, often funny and humorous, only rarely disturbing.
He turns into a jerk around her. But his change brings some improvement in his life: he stands up to his brother, and in the end he confronts to the bastard-to-the-core of all the story, Tad.
Luckily, in the end Eli has the courage to tell Mazy all his machinations and lies and returns a good, trustworthy man. But now Mazy is changed, grown, empowered in her self-esteem, so she takes her time to be sure to develop a relationship on an equal footing.
Mazy and Eli are not easy, immediatly likeable characters. But each one grows and finds his and her true self and value.
The book pictures the difficult path to maturity. His motto could be: every cloud has a silver lining. It shows that every mistake can be forgiven if there is the will to be better and live with emphaty and kindness.
We can love Mazy and Eli as much as they learn, in the journey that the book narrates, to love and respect themselves.
This makes the last romance of Pamela Morsi a heart-breaking tale.
ARC provided by Harlequin via NetGalley in exchange for an onest review.
July 29, 2014
4.5 stars.
Mr. Right Goes Wrong by Pamela Morsi is a wonderful novel about starting over and finding love when least expected. Next door neighbors and childhood friends Mazy Gulliver and Eli Latham have had a couple of ill-fated romances in the past, but with Mazy’s sudden return, is it finally their chance for lasting happiness? Or will Mazy’s past and Eli’s doubts destroy their future together?
Moving back to her small hometown with her fourteen year old son, Tru, Mazy is determined to get her life back on track. Unfortunately, the only person whom she can irrefutably count on to give her the job she desperately needs is her ex, Tad Driscoll. Her relief at her new beginning is tempered by the mistrust her new job as a loan collector engenders in the small town but luckily, she can count on her friendship with Eli to bolster her sometimes flagging self-confidence.
Mazy is painfully honest and refreshingly upfront about her past mistakes. There are a multitude of reasons behind her unfortunate selections when it comes to men, but she finally has a better idea of what precipitated her poor choices and she is not going to slip back into her old habits. The first step in her new, improved life is renewing her friendship with Eli, and she is stunned at the changes in her perception of Eli. For the first time, she sees him as the sexy, attractive man he has become instead of the boy next door.
Eli has been in love with Mazy most of his life and despite how badly things ended between them years earlier, he harbors no ill will towards her. The two eagerly pick up where they left off, but this time around, Eli is not going to let Mazy slip through his fingers. After watching her fall for bad boy after bad boy, he devises what he thinks is a foolproof plan that will keep her from leaving him. Instead of being the nice, loving, thoughtful man he really is, Eli puts his harebrained scheme into motion and morphs into the insensitive, selfish, offensive boyfriend she is trying to avoid.
It is very difficult to watch the relationship between Mazy and Eli unfold. She is so hopeful that she is entering into a new phase in her life and the fact that Eli is willing to let her back in his life is an unexpected bonus. Her confusion over his conflicting behaviors is heartbreaking and I hated seeing her self-doubts return. Mazy put up with his bad behavior for far too long, but in end? It was completely worth it because it showed her how much she had truly changed from the person she used to be.
Eli is such a nice guy that he lets people take advantage of him and in the beginning, it is easy to overlook his horrendous decision. He takes some really bad advice to heart and his past experiences with Mazy also play a role in the conclusions he reaches. Some of his reasoning is well-intentioned, and he finds it very difficult to be deliberately hurtful. But things go a little too far when he begins to relish some of his hurtful actions and when his plan falls apart, I was thrilled by how Mazy handled the entire situation.
With Mr. Right Goes Wrong, Pamela Morsi delivers yet another thought-provoking and dynamic novel that is sweet, hopeful and just a little poignant. The characters are flawed and imperfect and although watching them deal with life’s harsher moments is sometimes painful, it is incredibly gratifying watching them triumph over their problems. The romance between Eli and Mazy is touching and although they endure a few rough spots, their happily ever after is definitely worth the heartache.
Mr. Right Goes Wrong is another delightful novel by one of my favorite authors that I highly recommend.
Mr. Right Goes Wrong by Pamela Morsi is a wonderful novel about starting over and finding love when least expected. Next door neighbors and childhood friends Mazy Gulliver and Eli Latham have had a couple of ill-fated romances in the past, but with Mazy’s sudden return, is it finally their chance for lasting happiness? Or will Mazy’s past and Eli’s doubts destroy their future together?
Moving back to her small hometown with her fourteen year old son, Tru, Mazy is determined to get her life back on track. Unfortunately, the only person whom she can irrefutably count on to give her the job she desperately needs is her ex, Tad Driscoll. Her relief at her new beginning is tempered by the mistrust her new job as a loan collector engenders in the small town but luckily, she can count on her friendship with Eli to bolster her sometimes flagging self-confidence.
Mazy is painfully honest and refreshingly upfront about her past mistakes. There are a multitude of reasons behind her unfortunate selections when it comes to men, but she finally has a better idea of what precipitated her poor choices and she is not going to slip back into her old habits. The first step in her new, improved life is renewing her friendship with Eli, and she is stunned at the changes in her perception of Eli. For the first time, she sees him as the sexy, attractive man he has become instead of the boy next door.
Eli has been in love with Mazy most of his life and despite how badly things ended between them years earlier, he harbors no ill will towards her. The two eagerly pick up where they left off, but this time around, Eli is not going to let Mazy slip through his fingers. After watching her fall for bad boy after bad boy, he devises what he thinks is a foolproof plan that will keep her from leaving him. Instead of being the nice, loving, thoughtful man he really is, Eli puts his harebrained scheme into motion and morphs into the insensitive, selfish, offensive boyfriend she is trying to avoid.
It is very difficult to watch the relationship between Mazy and Eli unfold. She is so hopeful that she is entering into a new phase in her life and the fact that Eli is willing to let her back in his life is an unexpected bonus. Her confusion over his conflicting behaviors is heartbreaking and I hated seeing her self-doubts return. Mazy put up with his bad behavior for far too long, but in end? It was completely worth it because it showed her how much she had truly changed from the person she used to be.
Eli is such a nice guy that he lets people take advantage of him and in the beginning, it is easy to overlook his horrendous decision. He takes some really bad advice to heart and his past experiences with Mazy also play a role in the conclusions he reaches. Some of his reasoning is well-intentioned, and he finds it very difficult to be deliberately hurtful. But things go a little too far when he begins to relish some of his hurtful actions and when his plan falls apart, I was thrilled by how Mazy handled the entire situation.
With Mr. Right Goes Wrong, Pamela Morsi delivers yet another thought-provoking and dynamic novel that is sweet, hopeful and just a little poignant. The characters are flawed and imperfect and although watching them deal with life’s harsher moments is sometimes painful, it is incredibly gratifying watching them triumph over their problems. The romance between Eli and Mazy is touching and although they endure a few rough spots, their happily ever after is definitely worth the heartache.
Mr. Right Goes Wrong is another delightful novel by one of my favorite authors that I highly recommend.
August 21, 2014
This was my second book by Pamela Morsi, and I have to say I liked it just as much as the first (The Lovesick Cure)--that is to say, quite a bit!
Second chance stories are always some of my favorite reads, and this one was no exception. Mazy and Eli were never really "together"--at least in her mind. Though he has loved her for years, he's always been her best friend and rebound guy. Even when the book started and Mazy moved back home and they first got back together, it was obvious that she wasn't seeing him as an option for real relationship material.
Eli's plan to get her to take him seriously works (pretend to be a "bad boyfriend" a la the blog-o-verse)--sort of. I have to admit that at times what he did made me laugh, though just as often his actions made me cringe. (And more than once I just sat there, my mouth hanging open in "oh no he didn't" fashion. He did.) He absolutely took it too far, and I cried a bit inside when his actions had Mazy doubting herself again. (If only Eli's dad could talk! I'm sure he would have reined him in before it got to that point--though I suppose then Eli probably wouldn't have confided that much to him anyway, so...)
On the other hand, Eli's actions did have some positive implications. For one, he started standing up for himself more in other areas of his life--especially with his brother, who worked for him and took major advantage of Eli--which was definitely a change for the good. Mazy really wasn't seeing Eli as a relationship material and by not being so over-the-top eager to please as he'd been in the past, how she saw him was finally changed.
(Though she definitely had inklings all along that something was going on. Eli couldn't keep the "bad boyfriend" bit going all the time, and those glimpses confused Mazy, but also gave her hope.)
Do I agree with all of his choices? Heck no. Does he make up for them in the end? I think so. And her initial reaction to finding out the truth is spot on, and well deserved. ;)
In a nutshell--we have two characters who both need to learn, make mistakes, and grow to get to a place where they can be together and work on an HEA. They do all of the above, and on top of that it's an entertaining read. Sign me up for the next book by Pamela Morsi!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Second chance stories are always some of my favorite reads, and this one was no exception. Mazy and Eli were never really "together"--at least in her mind. Though he has loved her for years, he's always been her best friend and rebound guy. Even when the book started and Mazy moved back home and they first got back together, it was obvious that she wasn't seeing him as an option for real relationship material.
Eli's plan to get her to take him seriously works (pretend to be a "bad boyfriend" a la the blog-o-verse)--sort of. I have to admit that at times what he did made me laugh, though just as often his actions made me cringe. (And more than once I just sat there, my mouth hanging open in "oh no he didn't" fashion. He did.) He absolutely took it too far, and I cried a bit inside when his actions had Mazy doubting herself again. (If only Eli's dad could talk! I'm sure he would have reined him in before it got to that point--though I suppose then Eli probably wouldn't have confided that much to him anyway, so...)
On the other hand, Eli's actions did have some positive implications. For one, he started standing up for himself more in other areas of his life--especially with his brother, who worked for him and took major advantage of Eli--which was definitely a change for the good. Mazy really wasn't seeing Eli as a relationship material and by not being so over-the-top eager to please as he'd been in the past, how she saw him was finally changed.
(Though she definitely had inklings all along that something was going on. Eli couldn't keep the "bad boyfriend" bit going all the time, and those glimpses confused Mazy, but also gave her hope.)
Do I agree with all of his choices? Heck no. Does he make up for them in the end? I think so. And her initial reaction to finding out the truth is spot on, and well deserved. ;)
In a nutshell--we have two characters who both need to learn, make mistakes, and grow to get to a place where they can be together and work on an HEA. They do all of the above, and on top of that it's an entertaining read. Sign me up for the next book by Pamela Morsi!
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 6, 2014
3.5 Stars. This was a roller coaster ride for me. I hated Mazy at first and found it really hard to connect with her. PM told me that she only had her son's best interest at heart and in some ways she did, but to me in the ways that counted she didn't. She let the men in her life drive her actions, instead of what was best for her son. But of course that was the whole focus of the book, so I kept that in mind as I read this book in one sitting. So then we have her yo-yo of a rebound lover, Eli. Now Eli was a super sweet guy and that was his downfall with Mazy, she only liked loses that were going to treat her like sh&t in the end. But due to a bad situation in her recent past, she had to get some counciling and she was finally woke up to the facts as to what was causing her to be attracted to men like that. So Eli, who has always been in love with Mazy is going to become the guy that she is attracted to, another words, a complete A&*hole and he really accomplishes his goal. I ended up hating him, because he got so good at it. For a mintue there, Mazy was falling into old habits, but finally she wakes up and kicks Eli to the curb. What??? That wasn't suppossed to happen!! Finally Eli comes clean with Mazy about what his nefarious plan was all about. She let's him have it, but what I don't understand was the long period where Mazy finally says yes. I didn't get the need to write that part in and the consquences of what went on during that time fram. But it all turned out in the end. This was a well written book, just it had some hot button issues with me and so I struggled with it at times, even though I read it in one sitting. Wish PM write some more historical Americana romances, IMO that is where she really shines, but I will take what I can get. Don't let my review stop you from trying this book, it had its fun moments and Tru, Mazy's son was as sweet as honey and I only wish we would have got some more insite as to what was going on in that 5 year gap with him.
August 19, 2014
Mr. Right Goes Wrong is another tale of bad boy/gal protagonist returning home to lick his/her wound with unrequited love interest devotely waiting through all those years in between. The said protagonist is Mazy Gulliver, a mother of a teenager son. She's an ex-con with a heart of gold. Only because of a major psychological trauma at a tender age, she's turned into stupid, lovesick, doormat kind of a girl who has been run over by many jerks, one after another. The son is a product of one of the series. She's all good and reasonable and everything except for this one little thing -- she always picked the wrong guy. In another corner, we have Eli Latham. Long-time best friend. Sometime rebound guy. He's in love with her since forever. She knows about it since forever. So apparently Eli has been only her sure thing, her play thing. Things could have gone on like this, but this time around Eli has a plan. To be as douchy as any guys that Mazy has ever fallen for so that she would finally notice him. I don't need to spoil you how things pan out. They're the protagonists of a light-hearted romance so there's no suspense there. What's interesting is the author's attempt to redeem the heroine. What you heard from me so far shouldn't endear her to anyone, right? So here comes the redemption, the change of heart, the seeing the light thing. Is it believable? Some, but not 100%. I'm still so happy when Eli did cruel things to her which means I still don't like her much. I don't hate her for Eli though so that's something. Eli, however, is quite an entertaining character. The way he unseemly vacillates between bad guy persona and sweet guy he truly is is quite funny. His relationship with his father is heartfelt and his interactions with his family seem realistic, considering his character. He and Mazy's son truly are the bright spots in this book. With the girl alone, this book is a two star. With them, it's a solid four. 4 stars.
July 30, 2014
Sweet, romantic, light funny read :)
This book is like every other hq romance book...
2 people (MC's) meet in the past, then about a couple of years later, meet in a small town, the same town (coincidence right?), the girl tries to avoid the guy, but the guy tries to make the girl like him, so they hang out.
Then a situation happens, and they dot speak. Then their friends try to get them back together, and in the end the MCs notice they have chemistry, so they hit the sack together :3, then they confront their love to eachother, get married, have kids, and lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER XD...
I basically told you every single HQ books description known to man kind xD (for romance in that matter :)
The reason it being an ok book, is because I basically just skimmed away through the entire book, the plot was the same as every other HQ romance book (atleast from what I've read, I could be wrong), aaaaaaaaand hmmmmm, oh yeah, this book I wasn't into that much, yes it's a fun, summery, sweet romance book, but I found myself rolling my eyes a lot and I just wanted to finish.
After this, I'm reading bother HQ book, let's hope the same thing doesn't happen... -sigh-...
This book is like every other hq romance book...
2 people (MC's) meet in the past, then about a couple of years later, meet in a small town, the same town (coincidence right?), the girl tries to avoid the guy, but the guy tries to make the girl like him, so they hang out.
Then a situation happens, and they dot speak. Then their friends try to get them back together, and in the end the MCs notice they have chemistry, so they hit the sack together :3, then they confront their love to eachother, get married, have kids, and lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER XD...
I basically told you every single HQ books description known to man kind xD (for romance in that matter :)
The reason it being an ok book, is because I basically just skimmed away through the entire book, the plot was the same as every other HQ romance book (atleast from what I've read, I could be wrong), aaaaaaaaand hmmmmm, oh yeah, this book I wasn't into that much, yes it's a fun, summery, sweet romance book, but I found myself rolling my eyes a lot and I just wanted to finish.
After this, I'm reading bother HQ book, let's hope the same thing doesn't happen... -sigh-...
July 31, 2014
Although it's still my most fervent hope to see Pamela Morsi writing historical romantic fiction again, that does nothing to lessen how good her contemporary stories are. It doesn't change the fact that I spent all day yesterday--when, believe me, I didn't have the time--reading MR. RIGHT GOES WRONG. Mazy's past presents her as almost an anti-heroine, but by the time you finish the first chapter, you'll know better; she's someone you probably know and you hope you were nice to in high school. Or maybe she's who you were in high school. Either way, both she and her friend Karly will earn places in your heart. So will Eli, the man who is almost too good at pretending, and Tru, Mazy's son, who is a hero-in-waiting.
August 2, 2014
What does a good guy do when he wants to be the one and only for the messed up girl he has always loved? He tries to be the bad boy she seems to crave. Maybe the bigger problem is he has a thing for a bad girl? There are complected problems for both characters that they need to work through before they can truly be in a real grown-up relationship. Love the setting and the support characters. Tru, the teen age son seems the most mature of the group. Morsi writes characters with warmth and complexity. She once again pulled me in with sweet love story of ordinary people that made me feel I had been in the workshop and had coffee at the local coffee house.
July 30, 2014
Pamela Morsi is a real hit-or-miss author...and sadly this book was a miss!
I tried hard to enjoy the foibles of Mazy & Eli, but mostly I was just annoyed with both of them. Eli was a real jackass & I kept waiting & waiting & waiting for Mazy to grow a pair!
I don't enjoy books with a last-2-pages happy ending...and after 398 pages of this book, it left a lot to be desired. Sadly, you just never know by the cover blurb if a book will be good or not.
This was is a NOT.........
I tried hard to enjoy the foibles of Mazy & Eli, but mostly I was just annoyed with both of them. Eli was a real jackass & I kept waiting & waiting & waiting for Mazy to grow a pair!
I don't enjoy books with a last-2-pages happy ending...and after 398 pages of this book, it left a lot to be desired. Sadly, you just never know by the cover blurb if a book will be good or not.
This was is a NOT.........
June 28, 2014
Rating 3.5 stars
I read this the moment I got approved but sadly I was left wanting by this one. More soon!
ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley.
I read this the moment I got approved but sadly I was left wanting by this one. More soon!
ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley.
July 19, 2014
I very much enjoyed this book and read it almost in a day, it kept calling to me - the plot had me engaged and the characters were endearing.
July 22, 2024
**MINOR SPOILERS**
This book is a stand alone book, I think, even though it is listed as book 1 of 2 in the Right Brain series. I have read the other book awhile ago, but I do not think the characters are related at all. I think it is loosely connected through an idea rather than characters or story. It is also unconnected to the books of the Marrying Stone series.
I have read books by this author before. She has written historical as well as contemporary books and I usually find that they are quiet gems. That is not true in this case.
I did not care for Mazy, the main character, for the majority of the book. In the beginning, you find out that she had an affair with a married man and embezzled to help him leave his wife for her. She has slept with many men, both as one night stands and as a string of disastrous relationships. She slept with a boy in high school to try to get him away from his girlfriend and got pregnant. She has had a previous relationship with the other main character, Gabriel, and was not very nice in the way she broke up with him. When the story starts, she moves back home to turn her life around. Late in the book, I began to respect her for that.
My impression of Gabriel was the reverse of Mazy’s. At first, I thought he was pretty wonderful. The way he helped his father every day was very moving and loving. There are stories about how he helps others that make you realize that he is a decent, hardworking guy. Then he decides that the way to get Mazy’s love and attention is to act like a jerk and really becomes one. At that point, I started to realize that his behavior was immature and unlikeable. He evens starts to like acting like a jerk. There are a few incidents where his behavior translates into him standing up for himself, which is good, but in others he really is unkind and demeaning in his behavior. Mazy puts up with it. Later, she stands up for herself and I was glad of it.
Tru, Mazy’s son, is a great character and I really liked him. I looked to see if there was a book about him and I did not see one. I would have loved for him to have a happy ending. He put up with a lot from his mother, seeing her relationships through many different men and being arrested. He was smart, kind, and helpful.
In the end, I did not care for this book. I did not like the two main characters. Because I have read other books by the author that I did like, I would read a book by her again, but I would consider her on probation. (I use that term because Mazy was arrested).
This book is a stand alone book, I think, even though it is listed as book 1 of 2 in the Right Brain series. I have read the other book awhile ago, but I do not think the characters are related at all. I think it is loosely connected through an idea rather than characters or story. It is also unconnected to the books of the Marrying Stone series.
I have read books by this author before. She has written historical as well as contemporary books and I usually find that they are quiet gems. That is not true in this case.
I did not care for Mazy, the main character, for the majority of the book. In the beginning, you find out that she had an affair with a married man and embezzled to help him leave his wife for her. She has slept with many men, both as one night stands and as a string of disastrous relationships. She slept with a boy in high school to try to get him away from his girlfriend and got pregnant. She has had a previous relationship with the other main character, Gabriel, and was not very nice in the way she broke up with him. When the story starts, she moves back home to turn her life around. Late in the book, I began to respect her for that.
My impression of Gabriel was the reverse of Mazy’s. At first, I thought he was pretty wonderful. The way he helped his father every day was very moving and loving. There are stories about how he helps others that make you realize that he is a decent, hardworking guy. Then he decides that the way to get Mazy’s love and attention is to act like a jerk and really becomes one. At that point, I started to realize that his behavior was immature and unlikeable. He evens starts to like acting like a jerk. There are a few incidents where his behavior translates into him standing up for himself, which is good, but in others he really is unkind and demeaning in his behavior. Mazy puts up with it. Later, she stands up for herself and I was glad of it.
Tru, Mazy’s son, is a great character and I really liked him. I looked to see if there was a book about him and I did not see one. I would have loved for him to have a happy ending. He put up with a lot from his mother, seeing her relationships through many different men and being arrested. He was smart, kind, and helpful.
In the end, I did not care for this book. I did not like the two main characters. Because I have read other books by the author that I did like, I would read a book by her again, but I would consider her on probation. (I use that term because Mazy was arrested).
September 19, 2018
The writing was good and I appreciated that Morsi avoided over-the-top drama - everyone felt very real, both good and bad characters - but the initial premise, in which the hero acts like a jerk and the heroine makes excuses for him because she's attracted to bad boys, just left a bad taste in my mouth and I couldn't quite get past that. I mean, I'm glad that it was as much about the hero learning how to be a better person as it was about the heroine learning to be a stronger person, but he was just such a dick for so much of the book that the fact that we're told that he felt bad about it and didn't want to do it doesn't make up for that.
July 21, 2017
Liked it.
June 13, 2018
When scum meats trash...you get the MCs of this book.
September 27, 2019
Not as good as the others in the series. Both the hero and the heroine suffer from convoluted thinking! 😆
September 4, 2020
Interesting story. Lots of life lesson included. Not my favorite topic. Had trouble liking Mazy. Will read others by this author
December 31, 2020
Um, there was pretty much no way this premise wasn't going to get problematic. But, that said, I read it faster than I intended to, so it kept my interst.
November 13, 2023
It took me too long to warm up to the MC.
March 17, 2017
I hated all the main characters. They all made bad, stupid choices. Repeatedly. The villain was believable at least. And all the more hated.
The redeeming parts were all won by the side characters. The son. The newly acquired best friend. The mother and father of the "heroine" and "hero" respectively.
The redeeming parts were all won by the side characters. The son. The newly acquired best friend. The mother and father of the "heroine" and "hero" respectively.
August 27, 2014
Pamela Morsi is a favorite writer whose Americana historical romances I dearly love. In Mr. Right Goes Wrong, Morsi's latest contemporary romance, she takes two people whose lives are made up of mistakes and bad choices and gives them the chance to prove to themselves and each other that change is possible.
Mazy Gulliver has been a doormat and a slave to love her entire adult life. She has chosen one wrong man after another with disastrous results. Mazy returns home with teenage son Tru to stay with her mother, determined to begin again and do right by herself and her son. Mazy's first move is to secure a job at the local bank as a loan collector working for Tad, Tru's biological father. She then visits her best friend Eli who is looking mighty fine these days. Sexual chemistry is still there between them, but Mazy is not sure Eli is for her until later when she slowly begins to believe that Eli may be her Mr. Right.
Eli Latham is the guy next door. He is sweet, nice and dependable and not Mazy's type, except when it comes to sex. Mazy is back in town and Eli's heart can't help but hope, but she is working with Tad the Cad -- does Mazy plan to get back with Tad? Eli still loves Mazy and comes to the conclusion that if she is looking for a new jerk in her life then he, Eli, is going to be her Mr. Wrong.
Morsi's Mr. Right Goes Wrong is both a romance and a personal road to wellness that encompasses both main characters, with Mazy the type of female protagonist that many readers may not like right off the bat. She has gone from one relationship to another, dragging her son Tru along the way. For a large portion of the novel as Mazy attempts to make sense of her life, she slowly turns a corner in her job but is still the clueless doormat I mention above in her newly minted relationship with Eli. She is downright pathetic at times and I admit to gnashing my teeth throughout many scenes. In Morsi's hands, however, there are reasons behind Mazy's actions as well as character growth and a good payoff at the end.
Of the two, Eli may be the most "sympathetic," at least initially. He's a fine, responsible man who loves Mazy unconditionally. Eli is also one of the most beta male characters I've encountered in a while -- caring, giving, and seriously laid back. But in his quest to win Mazy, Eli becomes as judgmental as the rest of those people he hated for hurting Mazy and goes too far. As he goes down the "beta to hard ass" road, Morsi brings Eli's character full circle and he makes a few personal discoveries of his own, not all them comfortable or pleasant.
Morsi excels at incorporating secondary characters from a small town and making their roles count. So we have tertiary characters that make an impact, as well as secondary characters such as Tru, -- a great character by the way and the love of Mazy's life -- Tad the Cad, Mazy's mother, and Eli's family. As a secondary storyline, Morsi successfully adds depth to this story by focusing on Tru's budding relationship with his biological father as well as on the relationship he develops with Eli.
In Mr. Right Goes Wrong, I find that the characters' journeys to personal wellness and happiness are interesting but equally frustrating. Morsi, however, has a talent for creating down to earth characters with depth and infusing subtle humor in her stories even when the issues they confront are complex. I recommend this romance to readers who appreciate Morsi’s writing style and enjoy a well earned happy ever after.
Mazy Gulliver has been a doormat and a slave to love her entire adult life. She has chosen one wrong man after another with disastrous results. Mazy returns home with teenage son Tru to stay with her mother, determined to begin again and do right by herself and her son. Mazy's first move is to secure a job at the local bank as a loan collector working for Tad, Tru's biological father. She then visits her best friend Eli who is looking mighty fine these days. Sexual chemistry is still there between them, but Mazy is not sure Eli is for her until later when she slowly begins to believe that Eli may be her Mr. Right.
Eli Latham is the guy next door. He is sweet, nice and dependable and not Mazy's type, except when it comes to sex. Mazy is back in town and Eli's heart can't help but hope, but she is working with Tad the Cad -- does Mazy plan to get back with Tad? Eli still loves Mazy and comes to the conclusion that if she is looking for a new jerk in her life then he, Eli, is going to be her Mr. Wrong.
Morsi's Mr. Right Goes Wrong is both a romance and a personal road to wellness that encompasses both main characters, with Mazy the type of female protagonist that many readers may not like right off the bat. She has gone from one relationship to another, dragging her son Tru along the way. For a large portion of the novel as Mazy attempts to make sense of her life, she slowly turns a corner in her job but is still the clueless doormat I mention above in her newly minted relationship with Eli. She is downright pathetic at times and I admit to gnashing my teeth throughout many scenes. In Morsi's hands, however, there are reasons behind Mazy's actions as well as character growth and a good payoff at the end.
Of the two, Eli may be the most "sympathetic," at least initially. He's a fine, responsible man who loves Mazy unconditionally. Eli is also one of the most beta male characters I've encountered in a while -- caring, giving, and seriously laid back. But in his quest to win Mazy, Eli becomes as judgmental as the rest of those people he hated for hurting Mazy and goes too far. As he goes down the "beta to hard ass" road, Morsi brings Eli's character full circle and he makes a few personal discoveries of his own, not all them comfortable or pleasant.
Morsi excels at incorporating secondary characters from a small town and making their roles count. So we have tertiary characters that make an impact, as well as secondary characters such as Tru, -- a great character by the way and the love of Mazy's life -- Tad the Cad, Mazy's mother, and Eli's family. As a secondary storyline, Morsi successfully adds depth to this story by focusing on Tru's budding relationship with his biological father as well as on the relationship he develops with Eli.
In Mr. Right Goes Wrong, I find that the characters' journeys to personal wellness and happiness are interesting but equally frustrating. Morsi, however, has a talent for creating down to earth characters with depth and infusing subtle humor in her stories even when the issues they confront are complex. I recommend this romance to readers who appreciate Morsi’s writing style and enjoy a well earned happy ever after.
September 24, 2015
I love the romance genre. I’ve spent some time trying to hide that fact, but I’m now welcoming it with open arms. So here we go. I had previously read Pamela Morsi’s Love Overdue, about a librarian in a small town. Oh, it was so great, I naturally assumed that I would like Mr. Right Goes Wrong. The synopsis didn’t really interest me at first - I’m not crazy about romances where one of the main characters has a kid so I worried about how this was going to go.
SPOILERS AHEAD****
So Eli’s plan is super complicated and not at all okay. There at least three instances were Eli muses over his plan and the reader is allowed to see it. But every time, it seems like Morsi is trying to explain it and make it seem rational. Eli’s plan does not come off as sane or normal. In the beginning, he feels horrible for the way he’s treating Mazy and falls into his old habits of praising her and loving her. But after a while he gets a bit power hungry and says how he likes kicking Mazy to the curb after sex or getting her to clean up for him. By the halfway point of the book, Eli comes off as slimy and kinda douchey. I think Morsi wants to develop Eli, having him go from being a push-over in every aspect of his life (see: his relationship with his brother) to someone with backbone. But the way that Morsi goes about it made me a little queasy.
For the most part, I liked Mazy. Morsi did a good job of creating Mazy, and showing her flaws as well as her strengths. For all her mistakes mazy is an excellent mom, dedicated to Tru and to trying to change herself to be a better parent for him. I liked that Mazy seemed aware of her past mistakes and seemed concentrated on not repeating similar patterns. But at the same time, it takes Mazy forever to see that Eli is treating her badly. She wants to be with a good guy, someone who will treat her well and respect her. In the past, Eli has done just that and so she returns to him, believing that she can finally break her pattern of dating jerks. Even at the three-quarter mark of the book, she is still rationalizing Eli’s behaviour and making excuses. I know that patterns and habits are hard to break, but there seemed to be a disconnect between how self-aware Mazy was and the actions she performed.
Mazy sticks up for herself and tells Eli that she’s not sticking around for him to disrespect her (yay!). They are apart for two weeks, then at Thanksgiving, they chat, Eli explains his whole plan and somehow everything get solved. Mazy forgives him and they make up, promising to see where things go between them.
I have no problem with Mazy taking Eli back, especially since in the beginning he was such a nice guy and he knows he should have never treated the way he did. But at the same time, would you really want to be with a guy who had deceived you that much? Who had changed his personality to trick you into being with him? I’d have some serious questions and worries if I were Mazy.
A lot of other stuff happens in this book, making it longer than it needed to be. By the time I had reached the end, I was hoping for a really great ending. But I wasn’t so lucky. The end was cute, sweet and I smiled, but it was one of those endings where it feels like everything gets tied up a little too quickly.
Mr. Right Goes Wrong was a fun, (somewhat) quick read, but I wouldn’t revisit it for a second time. There was a lot of potential for this book, but somewhere along the lines it got muddled.
SPOILERS AHEAD****
So Eli’s plan is super complicated and not at all okay. There at least three instances were Eli muses over his plan and the reader is allowed to see it. But every time, it seems like Morsi is trying to explain it and make it seem rational. Eli’s plan does not come off as sane or normal. In the beginning, he feels horrible for the way he’s treating Mazy and falls into his old habits of praising her and loving her. But after a while he gets a bit power hungry and says how he likes kicking Mazy to the curb after sex or getting her to clean up for him. By the halfway point of the book, Eli comes off as slimy and kinda douchey. I think Morsi wants to develop Eli, having him go from being a push-over in every aspect of his life (see: his relationship with his brother) to someone with backbone. But the way that Morsi goes about it made me a little queasy.
For the most part, I liked Mazy. Morsi did a good job of creating Mazy, and showing her flaws as well as her strengths. For all her mistakes mazy is an excellent mom, dedicated to Tru and to trying to change herself to be a better parent for him. I liked that Mazy seemed aware of her past mistakes and seemed concentrated on not repeating similar patterns. But at the same time, it takes Mazy forever to see that Eli is treating her badly. She wants to be with a good guy, someone who will treat her well and respect her. In the past, Eli has done just that and so she returns to him, believing that she can finally break her pattern of dating jerks. Even at the three-quarter mark of the book, she is still rationalizing Eli’s behaviour and making excuses. I know that patterns and habits are hard to break, but there seemed to be a disconnect between how self-aware Mazy was and the actions she performed.
Mazy sticks up for herself and tells Eli that she’s not sticking around for him to disrespect her (yay!). They are apart for two weeks, then at Thanksgiving, they chat, Eli explains his whole plan and somehow everything get solved. Mazy forgives him and they make up, promising to see where things go between them.
I have no problem with Mazy taking Eli back, especially since in the beginning he was such a nice guy and he knows he should have never treated the way he did. But at the same time, would you really want to be with a guy who had deceived you that much? Who had changed his personality to trick you into being with him? I’d have some serious questions and worries if I were Mazy.
A lot of other stuff happens in this book, making it longer than it needed to be. By the time I had reached the end, I was hoping for a really great ending. But I wasn’t so lucky. The end was cute, sweet and I smiled, but it was one of those endings where it feels like everything gets tied up a little too quickly.
Mr. Right Goes Wrong was a fun, (somewhat) quick read, but I wouldn’t revisit it for a second time. There was a lot of potential for this book, but somewhere along the lines it got muddled.
August 1, 2016
I will start by saying that I think it was fairly brave of the author to try something this different in a romance. Having the hero intentionally act awful, so awful he not only starts to convince himself but makes us dislike him, was a risky move. I wanted to say I respect that daring. However, I also feel it backfired, as I really didn't like this character, at all. He starts out being a crappy MRA moaning about how "girls hate nice guys like meeeeee!" and ends up being absolutely unbearable as he gets off more and more on treating her like garbage. This didn't work for me.
August 13, 2014
Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars
‘He did enjoy being the jerk, he was willing to admit that. But he didn’t want to be that guy forever, did he? He liked being himself. Couldn’t he love her that way? And if he couldn’t, was it really worth it?’
Mr. Right Goes Wrong was honestly not exactly what I was expecting after I read the book blurb. Instead of seeing nice guy Eli become a bit edgier and bring out his inner bad boy, I was surprised when he brought out, well, his inner jerk.
I thought this was a very well written story with a lot of interesting small town characters. The plot pulled me along, wanting to see how things would work out for our protagonists. That being said, I’m afraid that the way Eli treated Mazy, and the way she just accepted his bad behavior, frustrated me.
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‘He did enjoy being the jerk, he was willing to admit that. But he didn’t want to be that guy forever, did he? He liked being himself. Couldn’t he love her that way? And if he couldn’t, was it really worth it?’
Mr. Right Goes Wrong was honestly not exactly what I was expecting after I read the book blurb. Instead of seeing nice guy Eli become a bit edgier and bring out his inner bad boy, I was surprised when he brought out, well, his inner jerk.
I thought this was a very well written story with a lot of interesting small town characters. The plot pulled me along, wanting to see how things would work out for our protagonists. That being said, I’m afraid that the way Eli treated Mazy, and the way she just accepted his bad behavior, frustrated me.
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February 26, 2015
I received this book free from the Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book was very funny. Mazy Gulliver had a bad reputation when she was younger. She comes back home with her son, Tru, looking for a job. She ends up working for her ex-lover as a debt collector. Eli Latham. a former friend has always had a crush on her. Since he knows she likes bad boys, he recreates himself into a bad boy. The problem is that Mazy wants a good influence for her son. This is such a fun book to read.
This book was very funny. Mazy Gulliver had a bad reputation when she was younger. She comes back home with her son, Tru, looking for a job. She ends up working for her ex-lover as a debt collector. Eli Latham. a former friend has always had a crush on her. Since he knows she likes bad boys, he recreates himself into a bad boy. The problem is that Mazy wants a good influence for her son. This is such a fun book to read.
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