Guest Review: Made to Last

Made to Last

By Melissa Tagg

Published on September 2013
Published by Bethany House
Source: Publisher

Miranda Woodruff, star of the homebuilding show "From the Ground Up," will do anything to keep the job she loves. Due to a painful broken engagement and a faith she's mostly forgotten, she's let her entire identity become wrapped up in the Miranda everyone sees onscreen. So when she receives news that the network might cancel her program, she must do the very thing she fears most: let the spotlight shine on her closely guarded personal life. The only problem? She's been living a lie--letting viewers believe she's married--and now she's called upon to play wife to a sweet, if a bit goofy, pretend husband to boost ratings.

Desperate to help his family and prove he's not a total failure, reporter Matthew Knox is looking for a breakout story. When he's offered the opportunity to do an online serial feature on Miranda Woodruff, he jumps at the chance, even if celebrity reporting isn't really his thing. But as soon as he meets Miranda, he knows she's keeping secrets.

When Miranda's former fiance suddenly appears on the scene again, she doubts her life could get more complicated. Juggling three guys, an on-the-rocks television show, and the potential exposure of her deception is way more than she bargained for. Can the woman who makes things look so good onscreen admit it's time to tell the truth about who she is? And if she does, will the life Miranda's built come crashing down just as she's finally found a love to last?

I enjoyed Made to Last from front cover to back. It was such a cute story with characters that I wound up loving. Randi was such a good main character. I don't agree with her choices to lie about so much, but that's overlooked since without that there'd be no story. Within the first chapter Randi was already shown to be a strong well-rounded character. She was funny, vulnerable, & I can totally relate to her remedy for a bad day. I enjoyed her relationship to the two leading men, who were opposites. She opened up to them a lot & that showed us more about her as well. Blaze was so funny. He was really chill & go with the flow, but he showed that there was a lot more to him as the story went on & I liked how he was so willing to help Randi both with her plan & in her life. I had mixed feelings about Matthew though. His relationship with his niece was so sweet, but I didn't like all of his motives & that he might potentially hurt Randi even if it was to help someone he loved. I'll avoid any spoilers on what happens with her & the guys though since I think that's one everyone will want to find out as they read. The pace of this one was good; it wasn't slow, but it wasn't rushed through either. I really enjoyed Melissa's writing style & sense of humor. I loved the story itself too. It was something I hadn't read before & that's always welcome!

   In all, Made to Last was a cute contemporary that also had some depth & amazing characters. If you're a fan of contemporaries I'd definitely recommend this one & I look forward to more from Melissa!