Review & Giveaway: "Construct a Couple" by Talli Roland

I'll confess that I have a bit of an author crush on Talli Roland. She's a Canadian gal, just like me, but she's living the dream- she's living in London and she's writing amazing women's fiction! I literally could not wait for her latest book, Construct a Couple, to come out. In fact I believe that I have been waiting for it since I read the first book in the series, Build a Man. I may have e-mailed Talli a few times to check on the book's progress....but I won't admit to that. Irregardless, I was very excited when I was finally able to get my hands on a copy!

Serenity Holland is living the dream. Having moved to London a while ago to pursue an entirely new sort of life, she's finally getting it all figured out. She's in a relationship with her dream man, Jeremy, and she has finally landed herself a job in the journalism field. However things don't remain perfect for long. When Serenity finds out some shocking information about Jeremy's ex-girlfriend that may threaten Jeremy's charity as well as his reputation, she decides to take matters into her own hands in order to protect the man that she loves. She isn't counting on the fact that it's incredibly difficult to keep secrets, not to mention damaging to all those involved. Will Serenity be able to save the day?

Having read and loved Build a Man, I couldn't wait to read Construct a Couple, and it was well worth the wait (and I really love the cover too)! Serenity Holland returns in this quirky, immensely enjoyable story about what you would do to shield a loved one from being hurt. As usual Serenity does not take the conventional path to getting the job done, but manages to find her way only after she screws things up beyond recognition, which leads to some laugh-out-loud scenes. Construct a Couple is humorous, but it has its serious moments too. Serenity and Jeremy are both trying to overcome disappointments from their past relationships and they discover that the best relationships take effort and trust to make them work.

Although Construct a Couple is part of the Serenity Holland series (Build a Man came out in November 2011 and the third in the series is scheduled to be released sometime in 2013), it can definitely be read independently of the other book. Talli Roland has taken great care to make sure that the story makes sense even to those who don't know the full story of how Serenity and Jeremy met. I would still recommend buying a copy of Build a Man, though. It is certainly worth the read!

My only complaint about Construct a Couple is that I wanted more Jeremy involvement! He is such a sweet character and I loved him in the last book. He's definitely present in this book, but not as much as I would have liked because he's so busy making his charity successful.

Construct a Couple definitely lived up to my expectations and I already can't wait for Talli's next book to release (The Pollyana Plan, due November 2012). If you're a fan of the humorous fiction by Sophie Kinsella I would recommend that you give Talli Roland's books a try!

Thanks to the author I have two ebook copies of Construct a Couple to give away! I'll make it simple to enter: Since Jeremy in the book is very involved with his charity, what's your favourite charity?? I personally have several that I support but since I was a young mom myself I generally try to donate to local teen pregnancy centers. Tell me what your favourite charity is before the contest closes on June 27, 2012 and you're entered to win! Please make sure that you include an e-mail address or way to contact you if you win. The contest is open to anyone anywhere who is able to download an ebook. Good luck!!!