Review: "Up in the Air" by Mindy McKinley

Up in the Air by Mindy McKinley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After an incident involving the mayor's son, charter jet pilot and infamous Chicago playboy Camden Chase is sentenced to serve community service in the pediatric ward of a local hospital. Cam's used to winning over women with his good looks and charm, so it comes as a surprise when Maggie Watson, the first-year resident assigned as his tour guide, is apparently immune to his flirting. Maggie's definitely not happy about being forced to show Cam around on his first day; she has enough to do without adding babysitting to the list, and it doesn't help that Cam comes across as arrogant and shallow at first. As she observes his interactions with their young patients, however, she begins to see a different side of him. Maggie decides to give Cam a chance, but can he prove that he's worthy of her trust?

I liked Maggie and Cam as a couple, but I was a bit disappointed by how fast their relationship progressed. Based on her initial feelings about him, I expected that he'd have to work harder to win her over, which would have created some fun banter and enemies-to-lovers vibes. At any rate, I liked how supportive they were of each other from the time they got together. Maggie had a tough family situation because of her younger sister's illness, and Cam didn't hesitate to jump in and help when an emergency arose during one of their dates. In return, Maggie encouraged Cam to pursue his dream of expanding his family's company into a new market, which was critical when so many others saw him as only a "good time guy."

Aside from the romance, my favorite part of the story was the subplot involving SkyChase, Cam's family charter jet business. After a recent health scare, Cam's father decided to retire and turn over management of the business to his three children. Carter, the oldest, became the CEO, and Cam had to choose between keeping his current job as a pilot or taking on greater responsibility within the company. Their younger sister Clara, a model and influencer, had to decide if she wanted an active role in the business at all. I was really intrigued by what we saw of Carter in this book. I can't wait for his story to find out why he's so uptight, and why he's so frequently dismissive of his younger siblings and their ideas. I'm even more excited for Clara's story to be told in the next book of the series. There was some definite tension between her and Cam's friend James that I can't wait to explore.

Overall, I enjoyed "Up in the Air" and would recommend it for all contemporary romance fans. I plan to continue with the series.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

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