Mine to Keep, book 8 in the Southern Wedding series, was the perfect book to kick off my reading goals for 2024. Plans were afoot to give upon the series after the disappointing experience with Mine to Take and Mine to Promise. However, the previous instalment gave me hope. Then Mine to Keep knocked it out of the park. Wow! Mine to Keep delivered sweet, sexy, swoon worthy and laugh out loud moments. Madison definitely saved the best for last. Readers who enjoy the enemies to lovers, age gap, boss/employee relationship and grumpy/ sunshine trope featuring a single father will want to read this one.
Grace I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Title: Mine to Keep
Author(s): Natasha Madison
Series: Southern Wedding #8
Also in this series: Mine To Kiss , Mine To Have , Mine To Hold , Mine To Cherish , Mine To Love, Mine to Take , Mine to Promise , Mine to Honor
Published by Self Published on January 5, 2024
Pages: 274
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
Source: Publicist
Format: eArc 
Purchase: Amazon|Audible
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It wasn’t hard for me to walk away from my family without looking back—the time had come for me to live for myself.New city. New job.My new boss? He’s gorgeous.It’s too bad that handsome face is wasted on such a condescending prick.He hates me, and the feeling is mutual.The only reason he may not be the literal devil is because he’s a devoted single dad, making it clear Caine is, in fact, capable of human emotion.
Caine
I’m good at two things:1. Raising my daughter to be strong and independent.2. My job.When my new assistant walks into the office, I become good at ignoring her. She’s sassy. Smart. Beautiful.Much younger and off-limits for more reasons than I can count.That doesn’t mean I want her any less.She hates me—but as each day goes by, it’s harder and harder to remember why I hate her too.
Mine to Keep gives us Caine and Grace’s story. Grace desires to make a career change and to achieve her she took a job in a new city m She looked forward to starting her new job. However, what was supposed to be an exciting first day on the job turned into a complete disaster when she came in contact with her jerk of a boss. However, his reaction to her did not intimidate her. She went toe to toe with him, which led to some heated moments between the two. Caine never knew what hit him.
I loved the interactions between these two. Several times they had me chuckling. Caine tries fighting his attraction to Grace, as he believes she’s too young for him. Hence, the reason for his condescending attitude. Eventually, his attraction to her won the battle. I sensed a modicum of insecurity in him. One of the things that had me chuckling was his bouts of jealous when certain persons showed an extensive interest in Grace.
The sexual tension leapt from the pages. The scene in which they both finally gave into their feelings was intense. Their romance had the perfect balance of sweet and steamy. I adored Grace’s relationship with Caine’s daughter.
Now, while I loved this story, the conflict which occurred almost at the end of the story had me fuming. Caine’s insecurity once again reared its head. Thankfully, he addresses it, which involved him grovelling. Mine to Keep was a wonderful read and good way to kick off the new year.
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About Natasha Madison
When her nose isn’t buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she’s in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It’s a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn’t listen to her…
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
