My Pearl Heart by J.N. Sheats
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jasmine Hayes is a savvy businesswoman who spends most of her time and energy running the business she owns with her best friend and partner, Cadence. Their business, Divine Events, caters to the most rich and successful people in New England. Jasmine throws herself into her work planning social events for the wealthy and elite upper class as a way to forget her painful past. Her life is going good until James Connor comes along and turns Jasmine’s world upside-down.

James literally sweeps Jasmine off her feet after she slips and falls and before she knows what is happening James suddenly kisses her. Jasmine is swept up in the passion and intensity of the kiss and afterwards finds that she cannot stop thinking about James. Unfortunately, fate has intervened and Jasmine learns that James is engaged to her best friend, Cadence. Not only that, but James’ family is the wealthiest family in New England and are practically considered royalty. Jasmine has no business swooning over a man that she cannot have, nor should she try to be involved with a man who has a reputation for drinking heavily and making poor business decisions. Jasmine does everything she can to avoid James, but as Cadence’s best friend, and wedding planner, it is impossible to avoid James or Cadence. No matter how hard she tries to avoid him, James seems to pop up everywhere and makes it impossible for Jasmine to forget him or their incredibly passionate kiss.

James has not been able to stop thinking about Jasmine since he first met her two years ago at an event she organized for his family. Jasmine is known for not only being a savvy businesswoman but for her quick wit and hot temper. It was her hot temper that got the best of her when she kicked James out of his own party. At first, James was upset and angry but then he realized that Jasmine was right to kick him out and it was the boost he needed to turn his life around. Two years later, he has worked hard to stand on his own two feet and become a better person. The only thing standing in their way is his upcoming nuptials to Jasmine’s best friend, Cadence. Even when Jasmine learns that the marriage is nothing more than a business deal between James and Cadence it does nothing to change her mind about being with him. He is still forbidden fruit for Jasmine, and she does not know if she can wait for his and Cadence’s business deal to be complete in two years so she can be with him.

I immediately liked the character of Jasmine and felt that she was very relatable. She was smart, sassy, feisty, quick-witted, and had a bit of a hot temper at times which intrigued me. Jasmine was not only a savvy businesswoman but she valued her employees and put their needs above her own which I found commendable. James came across initially as a bit of a player at first. In all honesty, I could not stop thinking as I read that he was a jerk for kissing Jasmine while her best friend, his fiancée, Cadence, was in the other room. It was something that I felt only a real player would think was okay to do. However, as I started reading and got more involved in the story, I realized there was more to James than what I initially thought. Although he might have started out as a spoiled, rich kid Jasmine made him realize that he was not on a good path and that he needed to change his ways. After meeting Jasmine at one of his family’s social functions he worked hard to turn his life around. If Jasmine had not told him off and thrown him out of his own party he might have hit rock bottom. From that moment on, James could not stop thinking about the woman who made him want to be a better man. Jasmine obviously had a profound effect on James for him to want to change.

The character of Cadence was one that I wanted to slap many times throughout the book. She was clearly spoiled, self-centered, controlling, manipulative, and cruel. The way she treated Jasmine who was supposed to be her best friend was appalling. Poor Jasmine tried not to see the bad in her friend and did her best to brush it off and make excuses for her, but it still hurt her deeply. Jasmine overlooking her friend’s bad behavior was relatable because too often we are oblivious to how we are being treated by those that are supposed to love us and we only want to see the best in them. It is not until after the fact that we can see the relationship for what it was and realize that the warning signs were there all along. I feel that for many of us this is something we have experienced so it is easy to see why Jasmine tried to ignore how Cadence treated her.

This was a remarkable read that was full of love, passion, romance, wit, humor, and even some hard lessons about the importance of true friendship. I highly recommend.

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