Words cannot express how much I loved, loved, loved My Saving Grace. It is a total standalone and a wonderful way for new readers to discover the very talented Melanie Moreland. But once you get a taste of her fabulous story telling, you'll want to dive in and read the Contract series where we are introduced to Gracie's parents, Richard and Katy, and the BAM/Vested Interest series where we are introduced to her endearing extended family.
My Saving Grace takes place about twenty some years later after BAM (Bentley, Aiden and Maddox). The three men formed their own business in college, each found love, and are secondary characters in this new spin-off series featuring the second generation–their children as well as others who appeared in the original series.
Gracie, as she is known to her family and friends, is a brilliant law student doing her paid internship, or Articling as it is known in Canada, under Jaxson Richards, a complicated, broody attorney with deep blue eyes, a dimpled chin, and a back story to break your heart. He's brilliant and takes his younger mentee under his wing teaching her everything about copy and trademark law as well as the tricks of the trade. She may have been inexperienced practicing law, but through her example, taught him about patience, love, trust, and family...something he had yet to experience in his 31 years on this earth.
These two had such a sizzling connection from their very first meeting. I loved that they met by chance and how their relationship slowly developed and how he admired her work ethic, spirited personality, and bright mind. I loved how he was drawn to her and how she was unlike any other woman he had known. I love how they brought the best out in each other, how they challenged each other, and were a team at work and also in their private life after they became intimate, a secret only two of them could share.
Melanie always makes me cry as you feel every single emotion as they navigate their relationship and work-life balance. I love her relationship with her parents and family and friends, and how they gave her unconditional support.
There was such build up for her story as we were teased with Jaxson showing up at her best friend's wedding as her husband at the end of A Merry Vested Wedding! Gracie is strong, insightful, poised, sexy, and isn't afraid to admit her shortcomings. She's as real as it gets and is so relatable. Gracie knows her faults as well as her self-worth, she's independent and vulnerable, and doesn't loose sight of her dreams, even if it breaks her heart in the process.
You have to love Jaxson! He's flirty and dominate, and I love how he commands a room and how alpha he gets around her. She just can't understand his temperament going from hot to cold and I love how she calls him out on his behavior even though he is her boss! His assistant, Michael, is also a super fun edition to this story, and I loved the interactions between the three of them at work.
This book reached deep into my soul and left me with the biggest smile when I finished reading it. Melanie created a world I want to live in with people I want as my friends in real life. I love how protective her dad, Richard VanRyan, is, and how Jaxson told him, "husband trumped dad" and didn't back down. I love how he was able to ask for forgiveness, and how warm, attentive, and affection he became once he let down his guard and shared his feelings. Grace did save him, and this is a perfectly named title for a beautiful book with a gorgeous cover and page after page filled with heart, heat, and hope.