I Am Delilah by Josi Kilpack

Although Delilah works in New York, she’s a small-town girl and eager to finish her job as a nanny and return to Big Fork Montana where she’ll marry her high-school sweetheart. When she ends up the focus of a Hollywood stunt centered around her being the Oscar date of Hollywood heartthrob Sam Hendricks, life as she knows it becomes a thing of the past. Delilah promptly refuses him, only to find that it isn’t so easy to step out of the limelight once you’ve ended up in the middle of the public eye.
Sam Hendricks is not used to taking no for an answer, and when his rejection become a leading story, he determines to do whatever it takes to turn the tide of public opinion back in his favor. Again and again Delilah refuses him until she proposes an offer—if he’ll spend two weeks on her family’s dairy farm, she’ll be his date to the Oscars. In no way is this a fair trade, but Sam feels he has no choice and therefore agrees to her proposal—they both agree no one will ever know.
Unfortunately for them both, there are plans other than their own at play, and when everything goes wrong they are faced with another fallout, bigger than the first.
(I AM DELILAH was originally published as STAR STRUCK in 2004)
 
Review
Here’s how I’d love to summarize the story. Boy meets girl. Boy proposes something to girl. Girl does not accept. Boy persists. Girl counters him with a challenge which he must take up, before she accepts his proposal. Boy reluctantly agrees. Challenge gets underway. Girl’s fiancé appears. Boy is unable to keep his part of the deal. There’s anger and distrust. Girl is then convinced that boy is innocent. She keeps her part of the deal. And here’s where it gets even more interesting. The end. Unexpected. And I’m not going to spoil it for you by revealing it.
I enjoyed the book. Sam irritated me as he was meant to. Delilah made me admire her for her consistent behaviour, her down-to-earth attitude and her loyalty. The other characters too were well crafted – Delilah’s Neil Diamond crazy Mom and Leif, Delilah’s fiancé, who is equally good with farm work as he is at giving stylish haircuts!
A good, clean, well-told story that gave me a lot of smiles!
Disclosure: I received a free e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.