Regrets Only is the second book in the Marriage Pact series, but it can be enjoyed by those who have read The Marriage Pact and first-time readers alike. A fast-paced and charming story, Regrets Only centers on Marci’s picky best friend, Suzanne, whose event-planning skills are almost as legendary as her exploits with men.
At thirty-three, Suzanne Hamilton has it all. A successful party-planning business with an elite client list. A swank condo in a hot Atlanta neighborhood and a close group of friends – especially her longtime best friend Marci. A list of men a mile long who have tried to win her heart and failed. Plus, she’s just landed the event that will take her career and social status to the next level. What could she possibly have to regret?
Then a freak accident changes everything, and Suzanne discovers that her near-perfect life is just a few steps away from total disaster. She is humiliated and at risk of losing it all… except the surprising support of her newest celebrity client. With nothing else to go on, Suzanne follows him into an unexpected job and unfamiliar territory. Soon she will question everything – her career, her past, her friendships, and even her own dating rules.
But when her catalog of past relationships turns into a list of criminal suspects, she is faced with the horrifying possibility that she may not live to regret any of it…
Review
This is the follow up to M.J. Pullen's - The Marriage Pact. I really enjoyed how the author didn't stray from her writing style, however it did seem to be a bit predictable at times due to its similarities with the first book.
That being said, it had a very smooth plot and I actually enjoyed the new characters even more than those in the first book.
This was a very quick read and a perfect get lost in a book type. I definitely recommend it.
Guest Post
Why I Chose Indie Publishing by M.J. Pullen
People often ask me questions about indie or self-publishing. As the publishing industry shifts and churns, opinions about self-pubbing range from excitement to disdain – with lots of confusion in between. I can’t claim to be an expert, but I can tell you about my own experience and why I chose this path.
I’ve been a writer off and on my whole life. In high school and early college, I was sure that a writing life was the life for me. I even got accepted to an MFA program… But I chose a different path, and life happened. I didn’t have the discipline or patience to eat Ramen noodles while waiting for query letters to come back. Frankly, I don’t think I knew enough to be a writer in my early 20’s anyway. I did some freelance projects, sold a few magazine articles, and attended creative writing groups at night. But the idea of breaking into publishing felt like winning an Oscar: bright, shiny, and unattainable by average human beings like me.
Fast forward one decade, two marriages (still in the second), two graduate degrees, a couple of mortgages, a kid, and a few career moves. I found myself missing non-academic writing, scribbling story notes while riding the bus and on coffee breaks. Soon I’d written nearly 40,000 words (later scrapped) and my husband pointed out maybe it was time to actually sit down and write a novel. Finishing things has never been my strong suit, so the idea of writing a book with an ending was appealing. So I did.
I finished writing The Marriage Pact when I was six months pregnant with our second child, working part time and tired all the time. We had just learned my dad had likely-terminal lung cancer and our twoyear-old was… well, two. Despite all this, I was anxious to see what people thought of my book. I wanted a way to share it with my friends and family, and I wanted my dad to see my name in print before he died. If strangers got to read it or I made any money, that was a bonus. At that point in my life, the idea of trying to find an agent and wait for rejection letters was more than daunting. It was pretty much unthinkable.
So I researched self-publishing and talked to some friends who had done it well, and decided to pull the trigger. Honestly, I didn’t worry about whether self-publishing would destroy my writing career; I didn’t have a writing career. Just over two years and 100,000 downloads later, I think I made the right choice.
I’m finishing the third book in the Marriage Pact series, the books have sold better than I ever would have imagined, and I love interacting with fans (I can hardly believe I have fans!). I don’t know if I will ever explore traditional publishing or not. For now, I’m just happy to be doing something I love!
When she’s not chasing two little boys or trying to wipe something sticky off the floor, M.J. (Manda) Pullen is the bestselling author of two contemporary women’s fiction novels: The Marriage Pact (2011) and Regrets Only (2012). She is working on several new projects as well, including more women’s fiction and a YA paranormal adventure series.
M.J. grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Writing has always been a big part of her life, both professionally and personally. She studied English Literature and Business at the University of Georgia in Athens, and later Professional Counseling at Georgia State University in Atlanta. She practiced psychotherapy for five years before taking a sabbatical to spend more time writing and raising her brood. Since high school, she has also been an executive assistant, cashier, telemarketer, professional fundraiser, marketing guru, magazine writer, grant-writer, waitress, box-packer, HR person, and casual drifter.
M.J. loves creating true-to-life characters who are flawed, relatable, and most importantly redeemable. She tries to explore all aspects of relationships, from romantic entanglements to battles between mortal enemies, and everything in between. She reads and writes across many genres, and learns something from everything she does. No matter what she’s writing, M.J. believes that love is the greatest adventure there is, and that hopeless romantics are never really hopeless.
After years traveling and living in places like Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, M.J. has now returned to her home city of Atlanta (actually Roswell, for hard-core Roosevelt fans and connoisseurs of suburban culture), where she lives with her husband and two young sons. She loves to hear from readers and other writers – so drop her a line!
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