My Life in Shambles is a novel by author Karina Halle.
They say bad things happen in trilogy. After my boyfriend broke off our engagement. I lost my apartment and got laid off from my job, I can certainly attest to that.
They also say that life is what happens when you say yes to new adventures. When my two sisters invited me to New Year’s Eve in Ireland, I decided to drop all caution and go for it. I’ll let “say yes” be my new solution.
Little did I know I would spend New Year’s Eve having a hot and dirty night with Padraig McCarthy, the damn sexy Irishman. The brooding and intense sex god is one of Ireland’s top rugby players. One rugby player suggested to me: go with him to his tiny hometown of Shambles and pretend to be his fiancée for a few days, just to give his ailing father some peace of mind.
Not when a town pops up in your business, not when the media hunts you down, not when your past comes to life in the picture, not when your heart and emotions are truly lost. threaten.
My Life in Shambles is a one night stand which turns into a fake engagement and a roadtrip to the hero’s small Irish hometown the following day! This book does deal with heavier themes of a dying parent, cancer, mental health, chronic illness, grief, and loss.
Valerie lives in Philadelphia and everything is going wrong for her: her fiancé breaks off their engagement, she loses her apartment, and then loses her job all within days. While home for the holidays, her sisters give her a hard time—telling her she is holding herself back in life, she’s too afraid of what others think, and just isn’t up for adventures. They tell her she should join them on their upcoming trip to Ireland and she decides to go for it! Her New Years resolution is to say yes to more, starting with the trip. On their first night in Ireland, the sisters end up at a bar for New Year’s Eve and she immediately takes notice of the the hero across the room. She realizes everyone seems to know him but she doesn’t and with a little push from her sisters, she approaches to ask if she can buy him a drink. Padraig first says no but then later can’t take his eyes off of her and offers to buy her a drink instead.
Padraig is Ireland’s top rugby player who just had bad news delivered to him earlier in the day—he finds out his father, who has prostate cancer, is not doing well and he needs to go home to his little hometown of Shambles to see him before it’s too late. He doesn’t have a good relationship with his father and has his own health concerns as well. He knows he doesn’t want to spend the night alone and after spending time with Valerie at the bar, a restaurant, and then ending at a club kissing on NYE, he ends up inviting her back to his place where they share a passionate night together. After spending the night together, the next morning neither of them wants it to be over and he has a wild idea for her to join him on his trip to Shambles and pretend to be his fiancée to appease his ailing father.
I really enjoyed the emotions in this story. There is definitely a heavy tone throughout the book. Padraig is not only trying to come to terms over the soon-to-be loss of his father but he was also recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of MS at just 29 and deals with all aspects of that news. Valerie has never felt like she fit in anywhere and finally starts to feel like she belongs for the first time in her life while in Shambles with Padraig. Valerie was in an accident when she was younger and has scars covering her legs. I loved their roadtrip down the Irish coast to Shambles while they get down all the details for their fake engagement. His family owns a bed and breakfast and I liked the times with his Nan and “The Major” who also lives there.
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