Review: The Engagement Game by Jenny Holiday (49th Floor #3)
The Engagement Game is the third book in the contemporary romance series from author Jenny Holiday entitled 49th Floor, which is a series of stories about individuals who work on the aforementioned floor of the Lakefront Centre and is set in Canada. This third in the series has forty-year-old Marcus Rosemann, who was introduced to readers in the second novel after forging friendships with Jack Winter and Dax Harris, CEOs of Winter Enterprises and Cherry Beach Software, respectively. Marcus is himself the CEO of Rosemann Agency, an advertising agency that he started on his own, much to the ongoing disappointment of his tyrant of a father who wanted Marcus to take his place as the rightful heir of Rosemann Investment Counsel. Wanting to further needle his father, Marcus decides that he will, indeed, take a date to his family's annual charity ball--one that his beloved, late mother started--and he does it with one very colorful, non-Jewish, vegetarian, liberal, and animal-fostering woman in mind: Rose Verma.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rose Verma is close to hitting the big 3-0, which is a deadline of sorts set by her mother. The last thing Rosie needs is to be stuck in an arranged marriage, even if it still seems to be the norm for many Indian families. This is why she has her Thursday dates and she hopes that she'll hit the jackpot sooner rather than later. But when Marcus Rosemann shows up at EcoHabitat, the non-profit organization where Rosie works at and that Marcus's mother supported, and blackmails her into being his date at a charity ball, she bargains her way to him agreeing to donate money to a project. However, a sudden announcement at the gathering quickly moves Rosie from fake girlfriend to fake fiancée, a role she isn't looking forward to playing but agrees to. Marcus's family continues their campaign to bring him back to the family fold and for him to join the family investment firm, and Rosie's mother wants to see her ready to settle down, but is Marcus and Rosie's charade turn out to be one with both of them as the losers?
It took awhile for me to get into the story of Marcus and Rosie, and there were times that I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Rosie was still going on her silly Thursday dates with guys she'd meet online even while she was pretending to be Marcus's girlfriend. The fact that Marcus has been fodder for gossip mongers and the tabloid press before should have made her wary and more careful about being out in public with other men, so the continuing Thursday dating thing didn't make much sense to me. I did like, though, the back and forth between Marcus and Rosie, especially since she wasn't afraid to tell him like it is and put him in his place when necessary. That's not to say, however, that Marcus was a pompous ass because he was actually a good guy who came from old money but wanted to make it one his own and he was very supportive of Rosie and her endeavors. Marcus best friend, Lauren Daelin, was memorable, as was the case of Danny in book one and Kat Harris in book two. The Engagement Game receives four stars. ♥
Date Read: 01 July 2016
Learn more about Jenny Holiday.
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