Review: "Just for Appearances" by Jenna Rutland (Lake Bliss #2)

Note: This ARC was provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rachel Clarke is a single mom with three young boys and wants to be able to live independently from her ex-husband's alimony payments. She's already lined up a new job but needs to hire someone who will take care of the kids over the summer break. One of her closest friends decides to send someone over and it's someone Rachel doesn't expect--it's her friend's son, John MacDonald, who also happens to be Rachel's first love, having fallen in love when she was a freshman in college tutoring him in his junior year of high school. She encouraged him to leave Lake Bliss all those years ago, believing it was what was best for him but breaking both their young hearts in the process.

John MacDonald has returned to the one place he's always had the best memories of: Lake Bliss. His grandfather has offered to help John open a youth center in town and if John is successful in this first endeavor, his grandfather will fund other youth centers for John to open around the country. The only problem is that John is a persona non grata of sorts in Lake Bliss and he needs Rachel to help endear him to the townsfolk that are still smarting from his decision to leave in his senior year of high school. They've held on to the belief that he robbed their town of winning their first football championship. If only they had all the facts, they'd have understood why he left.

John proves to be a great companion for Rachel's three boys but spending time with him reminds her of the love they once shared and the old feelings begin to creep in. John has never believed himself to be good enough for Rachel and his father has always gotten on his case about being a failure in both football and in life. Both Rachel and John know that by summer's end, he'll have to leave Lake Bliss in order to fulfill his vision of building other youth centers. John wants Rachel to have a man who will always be there for her and the boys. But appearances can be deceiving because no matter how much John and Rachel pretend they're just friends, it's obvious they aren't.

Just for Appearances is the second book in the Lake Bliss series by Jenna Rutland but can be read as a standalone. This is a contemporary romance with a second chance love story as its theme, one that I've often enjoyed reading because there's history between the lead characters and they finally get their shot at having their happily ever after this time around. Both Rachel and John were great characters and even though they both met and married, and subsequently divorced, other people after their own romance ended, nothing quite came close to how they felt for one another during their first go-around. This story was sweet and left me very much satisfied by the end.

While this was an advanced reader's copy (ARC), I did want to note two things that caught my attention: 1. Matt's surname is spelled "Regan" instead of "Reagan" (a minor thing) and 2. I didn't get how John never met Matt when he and Rachel were first together, especially since Matt and Rachel have known each other since they were kids and they're very close friends plus both men belonged to the same small town during that time. Of course, it's possible that Matt may have been in a different college than Rachel, so she never got to introduce him while she was originally seeing John. These aren't really extremely bothersome things; I just happened to notice them while reading.

All in all, this was an enjoyable story and one that I was able to finish in one sitting. I consider an added bonus the appearance of Dani and Matt Reagan and being to read about what they've been up to after their own story was told in the first book, Just for the Summer. Unlike Matt's ex-wife, whose concern for Matt was at least something nice about her, there was absolutely nothing going for Rachel's ex. I do wonder if the next book in the series will be about Jack, Rachel's brother, because he seems like an interesting character who needs his story to be told. ^.^ While not necessary, I recommend you read book one before reading Just for Appearances. Four stars! ♥

Release Date: 14 April 2015

Date Read: 08 April 2015

Learn more about Jenna Rutland here.

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