Temporary

by Sarina Bowen and Sarah Mayberry

[stacey_is_sassy]

IT'S ALIVE!!!

Surviving 100 days with Callan Walker

I think it’s easy to be selfish when it’s…easy to be selfish. Do you know what I mean? I’ll give you an example – I can’t cook, so hubby does most of the cooking in our house. Now, when I say I can’t cook, I’m kind of fibbing. I can cook, just not very well, or not as well as hubby does. So, while hubby is cooking dinner each night, I happily spend the time reading. Am I being selfish? Maybe, I should keep him company, or could help chop vegetables or something? But, I don’t. I don’t because it’s easy to be selfish.

Callan Walker has found it bloody easy to be selfish. He’s a good looking bloke with plenty of money and a jet-setting lifestyle. The life he’s lived has been fun and pretty frivolous. Why change a good thing? If it's not broken, don't mess with it. And, if it happens to piss your overbearing, controlling mother off...well that's even better.

Callan’s life takes a pretty big nosedive when Jack, his beloved uncle, passes away. It makes him stop and assess where his life is going. When he finds out that his estranged mother took it upon herself to have Jack cremated with no funeral, Callan is livid. He decides he better head to New York and oversees that Jack’s last wishes were honoured. Imagine his disgust when he finds out his mother hired a stranger to pack up Jack’s goods and calculate his assets for a quick sale. Over Callan’s body…or when Callan meets the stranger…under his body.

Grace has a temporary job she HAS to keep. She has the sole care of her 15-year-old sister and needs the temp job to become permanent. She’s determined to ignore the extremely hot Aussie and his sexy accent especially considering he's the boss's son. Grace is sure that his flirting is a ploy to get whatever he wants…and it may just work.

I really enjoyed Temporary. It made me laugh seeing the American character swooning over Callan's hot accent. HAHAHAHA!! I’ll have to make a recording of hubby to see if we can make my overseas friends swoon. If I sweet talk him, we can get him to say Bloody Hell a few times or maybe even get him to offer to shout us a beer (buy a beer). As an Aussie myself, I can vouch that Callan is the real deal. I’ve met Callan or blokes like him. Actually, that’s a lie. I can’t say I know too many Aussie blokes with six-pack abs (unfortunately). They must be all hiding overseas.

Temporary kept my attention from start to finish. There were plenty of scenes that packed an emotional punch. Both Callan and Grace have pretty messed up mothers at completely different ends of the scale. Callan’s mother is a woman who loves work over everything else. She’s controlling, manipulative and evil. Grace’s mother is not there…literally. She’s a drug addict who chose that life over her children and now it’s Grace’s responsibility to raise her sister Olivia. As a mother myself, I found it very hard to relate or imagine acting in either way. I’m far from perfect, but I do love my kids unconditionally and want only their happiness.

The spark between Callan and Grace was evident from the very start. Considering Grace’s need for her job, she held out as long as she could. I understood her logic of why she eventually caved. Even on your hardest days, facing the toughest battles, a little time out for yourself should be a treat to yourself. She didn’t plan on forever, Grace just wanted a bit of a spark to brighten her day. Turns out that spark lit quite the inferno for both of them.

Temporary was a great story about finding love when you’re feeling lonely. Callan, because he’d just lost the one family member he respected and loved and Grace because she was struggling with the pressure of raising her sister on a temp’s salary. Two very different people, living very different lives, finding a connection that neither could deny. It wasn’t easy and it was definitely bumpy. Luckily, Callan can make a mean lah-tay (that's a latte, I'm trying to sound out how I say it) and offer an Iced VoVo (bikkies) to tempt your taste buds…and help you forget he’s a drongo.

I will definitely be back for more from this author duo and by that ending, there’s hopefully more already in the works.

Stacey is Sassy, received an advanced copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.