Accidentally Perfect

By Marissa Clarke

Workaholic Lillian Mahoney has given everything to her job. The hugely popular lifestyle show she helped create monopolizes her time, energy, creativity, and anything remotely resembling a life. But all it takes is the show’s womanizing, egomaniac star throwing a massive hissy on live TV to utterly implode Lillian’s career in a New York minute.

Now Lillian’s hiding out in the gorgeous and completely unknown seaside village of Blink, Maine. Out of gas. A stolen wallet. A broken heel. And worse, she’s somehow managed to completely piss off the town’s resident hunk, Caleb Wright. She’ll show that hot, grumpy single father exactly what she’s made of.

But Blink isn’t quite what Lillian expects—and neither is Caleb...or his feisty teen daughter she can't help but love. And while her entire life and career are in shreds, Lillian might just discover what happens when she gives her bad first impression a second chance.

Each book in the Hideaway Harbor series is STANDALONE:
* Accidentally Perfect
* Accidentally Famous

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781649371904

Marissa Clarke

Marissa Clarke is a multi-award-winning, RITA® nominated author of romance for adults and teens. She lives on an island in the middle of a river. Seriously, she does. When not writing, she wrangles her rowdy pack of three kids, two Cairn Terriers, and one husband. She also writes young adult novels as Mary Lindsey and loves to connect with readers. She can be found at www.marissaclarke.com and on Twitter at @MaryL_MarissaC.

Reviews for Accidentally Perfect

[bookscookslooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes you just want to escape into a world you will never inhabit. A world away from the laundry, the kids if you have them, cooking dinner (although if you have to cook be sure to check out some of the yummy dinner recipes I have here on the blog!) That is why reading a book is such a wonderful escape – especially a fun, light book like Accidentally Perfect.In this story we meet Lillian who is the woman behind a burgeoning lifestyle show – only the people that watch think the person in charge is the star of the show, Niles. In truth Niles is an egoistic, bombastic fool who couldn’t cook his way out of well, anything.When Niles loses it on live TV he blames Lillian accusing her of purposely sabotaging him. To try and cool things down – as Niles has a contingent of rabid fans – Lillian gets away until things can cool. She finds herself in a teeny, tiny town called Blink.Let the jokes begin….But the reader gets is not a joke but rather a delightful romance that builds slowly and comes to a very lovely conclusion. Lillian learns that she should be herself, that she doesn’t have to hide behind anything. She also finds the truth of love.It was a quick, easy read as I noted but one I thoroughly enjoyed.

[ftbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Niles Sharpe, the face of Living Sharpe has a meltdown on national television, Lillian Mahoney, owner of the company, makes the decision to indulge Niles' fan club and take some time away from him and from New York. She heads to Blink, Maine to her sister's cottage for a couple of days until the fervor over her part in Niles' tantrum dies down. On the way, Lillian has her wallet stolen and runs out of gas before she stumbles on the local diner and a group of quirky residents from Blink who discover that they need her help as much as she needs theirs. Accidentally Perfect is a cute, small town romance with a group of fun locals and quaint locations. Although there isn't a lot of action in the story, it doesn't ever get boring. Told in alternating third person POVs of the two main characters, the story of a dying small town and the possible remedies overshadow the romance. The solutions to the problems in the story are a bit too coincidental and easily solved, but overall, Accidentally Perfect is a light, enjoyable read with likable characters in a very agreeable setting.

[susan0316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I started this book thinking that it would be a light fluffy romance and it ended up being way more than that. Yes, there is a romance but it's also a story about a small town and the wonderful people who live there and a look at a big city rich girl versus a small town boat builder. Lillian is a workaholic. She started and owns a popular lifestyle show that is on television, magazines and specials. Her products are well known and have many followers. Her days are fully scheduled and she spends all of her time working or creating ideas for the program. When the co-host of the show, blows up on TV and accuses her of trying to make him look bad her sister, the co-owner of the brand, asks her to go on vacation for a few weeks until the scandal blows over. Niles is just the talking head of the program but has many fans who follow him on social media and think that he owns the company.Lillian goes to Blink, Maine - population 204. She starts off wrong with Caleb who is a boat builder in town. He's well thought of by the people in town but was really nasty to Lillian because he thought that she was there for some nefarious reason. The anger and nasty remarks toward each other lessen as the sparks begin to fly between the two of them. As Lillian spends more time in Blink and gets to know the townspeople better, she wonders if she can ever go back to NYC and her busy lifestyle when her heart wants her to stay with Caleb in Blink.I'll admit that I wasn't really impressed with Caleb in the first third of the book -- Yeah, he'd had a tough life after his wife left town and left behind their daughter, now a teenager - but he was really snarky to Lillian and made no secret of his dislike of her. For me the story picked up after they got more friendly. The other plus in the book for me were the townspeople. There's a store owner who loves spreading secrets, a female 'handyman' who befriends Lillian and an entire group who welcomes Lillian to town even before they know who she is. Lillian was a great character and changed over the course of the book as she learned to relax and enjoy life. This was a heartwarming story about love and family and a town full of great people. It's a heartwarming story and everyone gets their happily ever after.This is the first book in a new series and I look forward to going back to Blink, Maine with another story in the future.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a sweet and charming read. Everyone in Blink, Maine are people that I would want to hang out with and be friends. This does include Caleb and Roger. They both were grouchy men but by the end they had changes of heart and were very likable. It was nice to see Lillian let loose. She too was a bit uptight in the beginning. Yet, I loved how she tasted the various pies for the pie contest. Next time I eat a slice of pie, I will be trying it from the side first. There were many humorous moments that I found myself smiling and laughing. Accidentally Perfect is the perfect book to add to your spring reading list.