The following book description was so good I couldn't have said it better so here it is:

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:09:44 -0400)

"Woodruff, star of the homebuilding show From the Ground Up, will do anything to keep the job she loves. Due to a painful broken engagement and a faith she's mostly forgotten, she's let her entire identity become wrapped up in the Miranda everyone sees onscreen. So when she receives news that the network might cancel her program, she must do the very thing she fears most: let the spotlight shine on her closely guarded personal life. The only problem? She's been living a lie--letting viewers believe she's married--and now she's called upon to play wife to a sweet, if a bit goofy, pretend husband to boost ratings.

Desperate to help his family and prove he's not a total failure, reporter Matthew Knox is looking for a breakout story. When he's offered the opportunity to do an online serial feature on Miranda Woodruff, he jumps at the chance, even if celebrity reporting isn't really his thing. But as soon as he meets Miranda, he knows she's keeping secrets.

When Miranda's former fiance suddenly appears on the scene again, she doubts her life could get more complicated. Juggling three guys, an on-the-rocks television show, and the potential exposure of her deception is way more than she bargained for. Can the woman who makes things look so good onscreen admit it's time to tell the truth about who she is? And if she does, will the life Miranda's built come crashing down just as she's finally found a love to last?"

I enjoyed the way this author writes. It was fun and cute and left me wanting to read more by this author. So I am going to start book two in this series next, 'Here to Stay'. ( )

Made to Last I was not sure how this was when i started. I thought it would have more promise. I feel lost to what all was to happen. I know she was to pretend to have husband. But thing go in different directions. A romance come about in the book. I really do not want to give away the it ends. I will let you decide how the book is to end. ( )

Aside from it being obvious who Randi was going to end up with, I really liked this book. Some twists were completely unexpected. Not too much of the story was typical romance, which is rare. Tagg captured my emotions and I was rooting for Matthew from the beginning. ( )

Miranda (Randi) Woodruff is the star of the handy-girl show From the Ground Up in Melissa Tagg's debut contemporary Christian romance Made to Last. Though Randi is a celebrity of the how-to world, she's managed to keep her private life private—sort of. But she has made one exception, referring often to the husband who taught her everything she knows about building.

Trouble is, that husband isn't. Her live-in boyfriend Robbie walked out on her three years ago. From then on she's kept hoping he'd reappear with an explanation, ready to set the date. Now, with the network threatening to cancel the show's fourth season, revealing and showing off her husband will be the perfect device, her handlers figure, to arouse public interest in this tomboy sweetheart-cum-black sheep missionary kid (MK).

Matthew Knox, whose career in journalism has had its ups and downs-—lately mostly downs—-gets the assignment to sleuth out the truth about Randi and write about his discoveries on a daily blog. Of course his editor has promised a plum Today cover story in the future, after this pulp assignment is done.

Things get complicated, though, when Matthew and Randi discover there is chemistry between them, ghosts from the past reappear, and the web of lies grows tighter and more constricting by the day.

Randi and Matthew are likeable and complex characters.

The intricate plot with its high stakes for all involved makes for a taut read throughout—no sagging middle!

Tagg's clipped and culture-savvy style suits the genre perfectly:

"Mission: Smile. Access her inner Colgate commercial and convince everybody she meant it" (Kindle Location [KL] 18).

"'You're the one who went all Jeopardy on me'" (KL 550).

Randi's MK issues along with Matthew's non-existent relationship with his dad add depth to the characters, make them more sympathetic, and provide a good arena to explore matters of faith, repentance, forgiveness, and redemption.

This was a fun and at times thought-provoking read. It may leave you pondering questions (nudged by the discussion guide at the book's end) like: "Have you ever had to let go of a dream? Have you ever had to face something hard in your past?"

I received Made to Last as a gift from Publisher Bethany House for the purpose of writing a review. Again my NetGalley Kindle version had "ff" issues: they were all missing and I was left to puzzle out sentences like: "The words burst from her, impatient pus of white air erupting from her lips" (KL 3954). Even technology glitches have their amusing moments, it seems. ( )

I was not sure how this was when i started. I thought it would have more promise. I feel lost to what all was to happen. I know she was to pretend to have husband. But thing go in different directions. A romance come about in the book. I really do not want to give away the it ends. I will let you decide how the book is to end. ( )