Is Mallory Harrington jinxed because her name means luckless?

Things have gone wrong for Mallory since she was a small child. All she ever wanted was to have a complete family and live happily ever after. It appears she has it all when she marries Toby Harrington and they have a son. Unfortunately, their marriage ends when Toby has an affair with his law partner. After their divorce, Mallory feels guilt that she couldn't forgive Toby for his affair. As a Christian, she should be able to forgive him for his sin.

Mallory decides to do something for herself, and get a surgical procedure that she's always wanted. She makes an appointment with plastic surgeon, Doctor Seth Whitman, for it. Although she's attracted to the handsome doctor, she doesn't want to date him. She doesn't feel that she should ever get married again.

Seth realizes that having Mallory as a patient might not work. She intrigues him too much. He wants to spend more time with her, but definitely not on the operating table. Should he refuse to do her surgery and lose Mallory as a patient? Or just do the unethical thing and date her before the scheduled surgery?

Mallory learns that sometimes faith is about accepting what can’t be changed and grabbing what God offers her. Life must go on.

REVIEW

"Time, place and setting all enhance and move the plot along and create vivid imagery for her readers. For those who assume an inspirational romance cannot handle conflict, drama and suspense, I recommend they read Diane Craver’s Marrying Mallory, for it is all there."

Reviewed by: Fennel, Long and Short Reviews
longandshortreviews.blogspot.com
4.5. books

EXCERPT

Before leaving, she grabbed the paper by the computer. She stared for a minute at the attractive man with black hair. I'm glad I printed his bio and photo to show Heather and Elizabeth. As Mallory held the paper for a minute, she realized that this man would change her life… if she went ahead with the plan. After folding and shoving the paper in her purse, she headed out, anxious to leave to give her incredible news in person.

At the restaurant's doorway, the hostess escorted Mallory to the booth where her friends were already seated. Mallory smiled at both women. With her sleek, honey-blonde hair and subtle but deftly applied makeup, Elizabeth looked like she had stepped off a beauty contest runway. She wore a pale pink jacket with black pants. She liked Heather's leopard-print chiffon dress on her, but it wasn't something she'd wear. "Hi. You two must have gotten here early."

"I changed out of my nurse scrubs as fast as I could," Heather said. "I need to hear good news for a change."

"Hurry, sit," Elizabeth said. "I bet I know what you want to tell us. You got that teacher award, didn't you? You deserve it. I don't know how you stand teaching junior high students. They're such a high maintenance group."

"I didn't get the teaching award. It went to a high school science teacher." She noticed Heather's new haircut. "I like your short hair with bangs. It's very cute on you. I have two things to tell you. Here's the first." She twirled around before sitting beside Heather.

Elizabeth fingered a silver button on her jacket. "It's about time you bought new clothes for yourself. You look great in that skirt and top."

Awesome. Her blue skirt and v-neck top passed Elizabeth's approval. Her friend had a good eye for fashion. If she ever stopped being a speech therapist, Elizabeth should consider a clothing career.

With a pleased expression, Heather said, "Oh, I get it. You lost the rest of your weight."

She nodded. "I finally lost the last five pounds."

"So that's a total of fifteen, right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes and…" She paused. Now she was afraid to tell them. Maybe they wouldn't be excited for her. She was so proud of herself that she'd made the appointment and wanted to share it with her best friends. But looking at their happy faces, she wondered if they would be disappointed. They might think she was being superficial and vain.

Heather searched her face. "What's wrong? You went from a big grin to a frown. If you won the lottery, I won't be jealous. Just don't give any of your money to Toby."

"Geez, don't get me started," Elizabeth said. "Promise you aren't going to talk about your ex-husband."

She was saved for the moment because the waitress came to take their order. Toby had nothing to do with her big decision, but still her friends might disagree with what she wanted to do. After the waitress left, she pulled the paper out of her purse and handed it to Elizabeth. "This guy's going to change my life."

"He's hot. I can't believe you never told us about him. I'm glad you decided to date." Elizabeth passed the sheet to Heather.

Mallory shook her head. "I'm not dating him. I'm interested in what he can do for me."

While looking at the photo, Heather frowned. "I know this surgeon. He's Dr. Whitman."

She exhaled deeply. "I've decided to have surgery but decided to lose weight first. Today I called and made an appointment to see Dr. Whitman. He's supposed to be the best plastic surgeon for rhinoplasty. I didn't want to see him until I lost my weight. I was afraid if I went in being overweight, he'd think I also needed liposuction."

Elizabeth's perfect eyebrows shot up. "I seriously doubt he'd have thought that you needed liposuction."

So far, so good. Inserting body image in that way had been brilliant. Elizabeth latched on the weight issue first instead of nose surgery. She grinned. "It was a great motivator since it got me to lose some excess baggage."

Heather said, "I don't understand. You don't need to have plastic surgery."

"I agree." Elizabeth patted her arm. "I like your nose."

She stared at her friends' faces. "You two are lucky having small noses, but you know I've always hated my nose. I had to get a nose like my dad's. He looked fine with a bigger nose, but being a female I want a smaller one."