TAKE A CHANCE ON ME by Jennifer Dawson is a richly illustrated, character-driven novel that is definitely worth the risk. I give it 4 stars and recommend it to all lovers of contemporary romance.
In the novel, Maddie Donovan leaves her controlling fiancé at the altar, and with only fifty dollars in her tiny beaded purse and the wedding dress on her back, runs away from home. When her car breaks down, she schleps several miles in her wedding heels to the nearest sign of civilization, a bar owned by Mitch Riley.
Mitch Riley fled his own drama three years prior to Maddie's dramatic entrance, and has since been living quietly in his grandparents' farmhouse and running a dive bar. He falls in love at first sight with Maddie, and tries to keep her in town and in his home as long as possible. Both of their lives are upended, and both experience some significant epiphanies. Can they get it together before they push each other away?
I enjoyed TAKE A CHANCE ON ME. The characters were well-illustrated and developed. Despite the love at first sight aspect, which for me usually evokes incredulity, there is substantial support for the relationship, making it believable. There was plenty of humor and witty dialogue, and I loved how each of the characters was clearly unique.
The plot unfolds at a nice pace, and there is a nice balance between the dialogue and narration. I would have liked for the title to be found somewhere within the dialogue, to give it a more obvious connection to the substance, but that is just a personal preference. The relationships illustrated in the novel all have some sort of risk involved, making the title adequately reflective of the novel.
The romance is extremely graphic, including bondage and submissive/dominant aspects, earning a rating of 5 out of 5 on the heat scale. This is definitely an adults only novel.
Overall, I enjoyed the novel and am intrigued by how the characters fare in the next novel in the Something New series.
**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=12987.
