I am a sucker for waking up in Vegas married without remembering what happened the night before story lines.
This is a very moving story. A good read. ( )

I am a sucker for waking up in Vegas married without remembering what happened the night before story lines.
This is a very moving story. A good read. ( )

Good book. Penny and Quinn were confused when they woke up in bed together. Neither could remember how they got there nor could they remember the circumstances leading up to the marriage certificate they also discovered. Penny desperately wants to believe that it is fake, a joke played on them by someone. Quinn is pretty sure it's real. Penny is desperate to keep the marriage quiet until they can arrange a divorce, but Quinn doesn't seem to be all that worried, as they head back home to Wyoming.

I liked Quinn. He's home on leave, recovering from injuries received during one of his PJ missions and trying to get back into fighting condition. He doesn't want to think about what will happen if he isn't able to go back to the job he loves. Quinn is also getting to know his grandmother, Vivian, a very wealthy and very eccentric woman. I really liked the way that he was so calm compared to Penny's drama. I loved his calm in a crisis personality and his sensitivity to Penny and her issues.

I had a harder time liking Penny. I understood her initial panic, but her constant refusal to acknowledge their marriage began to irritate me. Penny had a lot of issues that influenced her. Her childhood in and out of foster homes, thanks to her mother's alcoholism, made her superconscious of being the subject of gossip. She fell in love with a man who had also been a foster child with her. Unfortunately, he was killed in the war just a week before their wedding, causing her to lock down her emotions. She also had self-esteem issues, believing that it was easy for people to walk away from her.

I liked the development of Penny and Quinn's relationship. They had a history together, though not one that Penny liked to remember. She'd had a crush on him when she was fifteen, and he shot her down when she tried to make advances to him. She didn't know that he had noticed her even back then, but he was an adult, and she was just a kid, so he kept himself under control. Thanks to their unexpected marriage, those old feelings have been stirred back up again. Penny panics because Quinn makes her feel things she hasn't felt since Andy's death. She's afraid to get involved with Quinn because, especially with his job, she can't handle the idea of losing again, so she keeps pushing him away. I liked how Quinn realizes that he'd like to keep Penny in his life. I ached for him the morning after her birthday when her fears got the best of her. I liked his big moment at the end as he made another attempt to show Penny how he felt. His words are so heartfelt and emotional. I loved her surprise and shock when she finally accepted the truth.

Penny's boss and Quinn's grandmother, Vivian, was quite a character. She is blunt and outrageous with some of the things she does, but deep down, I think she just wants to be accepted by her family. I enjoyed her run at politics and attempts to get the incumbent to debate her. I also loved the part with her sons and the paintings - clever! I get the feeling that she has a lot of love to give, she just doesn't know how. ( )