CHANCE MEETING by Christine Columbus
Fiction, Contemporary Romance
4****
Blurb: Melody is fostering her niece while her sister, Captain Opal Erickson, is deployed to Kuwait. A chance meeting at work with Clayton, a construction manager, awakens feelings of the love and romance. Everything is perfect until Opal reveals a family truth and swears Melody to secrecy. To honor her sisterly pledge, Mel attempts to reject any advances from Clayton, until he guesses the truth. Torn between loyalty to Opal and love for Clayton, she pours herself into work, making a mess of everything. When the dust settles, Mel is left wondering if she’ll be able to put the pieces of her life back together.
THOUGHTS: Melody is looking after her 6-year-old niece while Opal, Mel’s sister, is deployed overseas. In addition, she’s been given a promotion at work which more than doubles what she’s responsible for. When she meets Clay at work, sparks fly, especially when they find out their mutual love of baseball. Thing come to a head when she finds out a family secret, decides to quit her job because of a rude boss, and has issues with Clay… all in the same day, pushing her to her breaking point.
The characters are all well-developed, though Clay does seem a little too good to be true at times. Especially when he takes over the little girls’ backyard camp out. Mel threw me off a little when she didn’t stand up for herself with her boss, but then she did stand up for her team, so that worked out. The ending was definitely a HEA one that left me smiling. This is a sweet romance that is emotionally satisfying and an easy read.
Definitely recommended.
Sparkling Book Reviews 
Thank you for your review, and I was excited to see that you definitely recommend Chance Meeting. I always love to hear a reader’s thoughts on the stories/characters I’ve created, and I, too, was frustrated with Mel for not standing up to her boss. But, like you pointed out, she did stand up for her team. I became a writer so I could control the characters and the outcomes, only to find out sometimes the characters just aren’t capable of being/doing what I want.
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