Review: Construction Beauty Queen – Sara Daniel

Chicago socialite Veronica Jamison is determined to shake off her sheltered lifestyle and overbearing parents. She heads to her grandfather’s small town of Kortville, ready to roll up her sleeves and work for the family construction business. She’ll prove her worth, even if it means answering to the company’s ruggedly handsome co-owner, Matt.

Matt Shaw just wants to run his business, spend time with the niece he’s raising on his own, and give back to the townspeople who have stood by him. Managing a spoiled-rotten princess he knows he’ll never be good enough for? Not part of his plan. But as he gets to know Veronica, he learns there’s more to her than her beautiful looks and designer clothes. She’s got a heart as rich as her background.
With the quirky townspeople rallying against Veronica inheriting her grandfather’s business, it’s up to Matt to try to drive her out of town. But how can he, when instead she’s driving her way into his heart?

Series:
Release Date:  September 25, 2012
Publisher:  Entangled Publishing
Source:  Provided by Publisher
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

This book was exactly what I needed today.  It was sweet, funny and something to get completely lost in for a couple of hours.

Veronica Jamison is determined to prove to everyone that she is more than the wealthy parents think she is.  Selling her graduation present, paying off her student loans and heading to the small town where her grandfather lives is where she’s determined to make her mark.  But Veronica finds out it isn’t going to be as easy as she thinks it is…especially when they town is determined to drive her out.

Veronica was a woman with a plan, but it’s hard to put that plan in place when everyone is against you.  What no one counted on was Veronica’s determination.  She wanted to prove that she had a brain and that she was more than a Chicago society wife.  She had to deal with prejudices from both side:  those that thought she was slumming it in Kortville just for kicks and those that didn’t think she had a brain in that pretty blonde head that could think past dinner parties and charity fundraisers.  But most of all, Veronica had to believe in herself.  When she finally decided to she could what she wanted and left everyone’s opinion behind, she made her professional dreams come true.

Matt Shaw was trying to live in his brother’s footsteps by running his brother’s construction company and raising his niece in the home his brother had.  Matt was one of the Kortville townspeople who had a less than stellar opinion of Veronica when she came to work with him, but he soon discovered she was a woman who’s determination and grit he admired.  But he also grouped her in with the one woman that broke his heart, putting Veronica smack it he middle of his own personal tug of war against what he had in the past and what he didn’t dare dream of for the future.

Veronica and Matt both ended up having to take a good hard look at themselves and determine who’s dreams they were going to go after:  their own or those of their loved ones.  It wasn’t easy (and the townspeople of Kortville didn’t help), but eventually they both found exactly what they wanted.

As I said, this was a sweet and funny story that captivated me for a couple of hours just when I needed to drift away for a little while.  Sara Daniels created a wonderful small town with some very quirky, noisy townspeople, but a place I would like to visit again (say for Connor and Becca’s story).