About the Book

Title: Ain’t Misbehaving

Author: Marji Laine

Genre: Contemporary Inspirational Fiction

Release Date: January 16, 2017

True, Annalee’s crime amounted to very little, but not in terms of community service hours. Her probation officer encouraged her with a promise of an easy job in an air conditioned downtown environment. She didn’t expect her role to be little better than a janitor at an after-school day care in the worst area of town. Through laughter and a few tears, Annalee finds out that some lessons are learned the hard way, and some seep into the soul unnoticed.

Carlton Whelen hides behind the nickname of CJ so people won’t treat him like the wealthy son of the Whelen Foundation director. Working at the foundations after-school program delights him and annoys his business-oriented father. When a gorgeous prima donna is assigned to his team, he not only cringes at her mistakes, but also has to avoid the attraction that builds from the first time he sees her.

Click here to purchase your copy!

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

What an incredibly captivating contemporary romance! This is my first novel by Marji Laine and I’m so glad that her book found me. The story is well-written, the plot is intricately planned, the dialogue is so real and engaging, the characters are wonderful, the faith component of the storyline is seamlessly integrated, and the book moves at a great pace with lots of twists and turns.

Annalee is such a beautiful heroine, inside and out. Granted, she’s the baby daughter of a rich attorney running for the mayor seat in Dallas but she’s different from the high-society women. Annalee is sweet, compassionate, loving, down-to-earth, selfless, artistic, creative and so in need of approval and belonging. Yet she has trouble trusting men because of her past experience. CJ is the sole heir to the Whelan empire who has rejected all of his father’s demands to serve as the director for a children’s after-school center in a low income area of the city. He is devoted, loyal, kind, compassionate, hard-working, but he himself has trouble trusting women. Circumstances bring them together but so many incidents and accidents try to keep them apart, especially a particular secret CJ keeps from Annalee. Their slowly blooming friendship and romance is achingly sweet and often tear-filled.

CJ’s faith is amazingly solid and yet he still makes plenty of mistakes, clearly showcasing his need for the Savior and grace. Annalee’s receptive heart and sincere prayers are touching and quite inspirational.

Anyone who enjoys a well-written contemporary inspirational romance novel would absolutely love this book. I was given a copy of the book by author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Marji Laine has completed seventeen years of homeschooling with the surreal notion that

she’ll now have time on her hands. But that’s unlikely. Her publishing company, Write Integrity Press, keeps her extremely busy. In her spare time, she teaches a high school and college Bible Study, leads a Sunday morning high school fellowship group, directs a children’s choir, and sings in her church’s adult choir.

She enjoys road trips with her family and friends, photography, scrapbooking, and participating in musical theater. Her favorite past time is game night with her family and her kids’ extended collection of friends.

Guest Post from Marji Laine

AIN’T MISBEHAVING delves into the depth of life from the perspective of a shallow, sheltered woman. Annalee Chambers has been raised to pay attention to all aspects of society, particularly the appearance of success. Being cultured and socially-educated, she’s not really prepared to work in one of the poorest sections of town. And she’s really not expecting to find such joy intertwined with such poverty.

Having my story set in my hometown has some fun aspects. I got to handpick the homes for the main characters and the locations for the after-school program. And even now when I drive past some of those places, I get all excited about the story again.

For instance, I chose a particular building downtown to be CJ’s (the hero’s) condo. It’s in One Arts Plaza. This condo was for sale when I was writing the book so I was able to download actual pictures of the place including the view from its southeast facing patio. You’ll laugh, but I don’t drive by that building without looking up to the 18^th floor and half expecting to see CJ standing there.

AIN’T MISBEHAVING goes much deeper than only the setting, though. It was written a number of years ago, so many that I barely remembered the storyline. But when I started editing, I was moved to tears again and again. These characters are so real, and I would love to meet them!

I hope you’ll enjoy AIN’T MISBEHAVING and watch for Annalee and CJ to have an extra special cameo part in Book 2 of the Dallas Duets, PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ.