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A review by arwy
Mack Daddy by Penelope Ward
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Five Wonderful Mac & Frankie Stars
This book is stunning!
It was such an emotional read for me. I think I didn’t pay much attention while reading the blurb, especially to the last paragraph but when I started reading the book, it came to me as quite a surprise that both characters seemed to be in a relationship with other people. Francesca (or “Frankie” as Mack called her) was living with her boyfriend of two years Victor. And Mack seemed to be married to his son’s mother Torrie (luckily, I misinterpreted this part, and at least he wasn’t married to her anymore).
I absolutely hate any kind of cheating, even when a person is in a relationship with somebody, nothing physical happens with this other person (the third party), but that person still has feelings for somebody else than their current relationship partner. For the same reason, I hate love triangles. It’s just too much drama for me, and I can get very upset reading stories like this. And let me tell you, I realized that main characters had current or past relationships with somebody else, and I still couldn’t put the book down. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. It was so well-written and addicting.
What can I say? I rooted for Mack and Frankie till the very end. They both were just wonderful. So nice, caring, mature, and so in tune with each other even after all the years apart. It’s very rare that I like both main characters exactly the same and don’t want to smack in the head at least one of them at some point of the story, but here I am, completely charmed by them both. I didn’t care who they were with before or even at the time when they meet again in the beginning of the book. There was just so much love, and loss, and all kinds of obstacles between these too, I cried through the second part of the book and thought it would never work. Literally, everything was against them. And I just knew, they were so right for each other, it would break my heart if they couldn’t be together in the end. I just didn’t know how this could happen...
I really liked Mack’s neighbour in Boston, Mrs. M. She was this wonderful 82-years-old woman with a whole lot of wisdom, the most understanding and caring heart... and the dirty mouth you would never expect on somebody her age. I think if it wasn’t for her, things would have gone very differently. She was a fairy godmother these two needed.
Even though we don’t see a lot of her, I also really liked Mack’s sister Michaela. At some point by the end of the book, I wanted to tell her, You go girl! You are thinking exactly the way I’m thinking and I would’ve done the same thing if I were in her shoes.
And of course, I need to mention a shy little boy with dark-brown curls and thick glasses, who I stole my heart from the moment he appeared in the book. It was Jonah, Mack’s and Torrie’s son. I just wanted to hug and cuddle him and shield him from all the bad things in the world. That poor kid with so much anxiety and other issues he had to deal every day. I’m no stranger to mental health problems, and if I could, I would’ve totally taken it all away from him. And just like Mack, I can’t thank Frankie enough for everything she did for little Jonah. She really did light up Mack’s and Jonah’s world.
I can’t recommend this book enough up to the point that I’ve just finished it and I want to reread everything again just because I can’t seem to let go of my two favourite characters and I want to experience everything again. And if there is one thing that I hate incomparably more than cheating and love triangles, it’s rereading something that I’ve just read. But the book is so good, and the story so great, I’m making exceptions for it from my every rule.
Five Wonderful Mac & Frankie Stars
This book is stunning!
It was such an emotional read for me. I think I didn’t pay much attention while reading the blurb, especially to the last paragraph but when I started reading the book, it came to me as quite a surprise that both characters seemed to be in a relationship with other people. Francesca (or “Frankie” as Mack called her) was living with her boyfriend of two years Victor. And Mack seemed to be married to his son’s mother Torrie (luckily, I misinterpreted this part, and at least he wasn’t married to her anymore).
I absolutely hate any kind of cheating, even when a person is in a relationship with somebody, nothing physical happens with this other person (the third party), but that person still has feelings for somebody else than their current relationship partner. For the same reason, I hate love triangles. It’s just too much drama for me, and I can get very upset reading stories like this. And let me tell you, I realized that main characters had current or past relationships with somebody else, and I still couldn’t put the book down. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. It was so well-written and addicting.
What can I say? I rooted for Mack and Frankie till the very end. They both were just wonderful. So nice, caring, mature, and so in tune with each other even after all the years apart. It’s very rare that I like both main characters exactly the same and don’t want to smack in the head at least one of them at some point of the story, but here I am, completely charmed by them both. I didn’t care who they were with before or even at the time when they meet again in the beginning of the book. There was just so much love, and loss, and all kinds of obstacles between these too, I cried through the second part of the book and thought it would never work. Literally, everything was against them. And I just knew, they were so right for each other, it would break my heart if they couldn’t be together in the end. I just didn’t know how this could happen...
I really liked Mack’s neighbour in Boston, Mrs. M. She was this wonderful 82-years-old woman with a whole lot of wisdom, the most understanding and caring heart... and the dirty mouth you would never expect on somebody her age. I think if it wasn’t for her, things would have gone very differently. She was a fairy godmother these two needed.
Even though we don’t see a lot of her, I also really liked Mack’s sister Michaela. At some point by the end of the book, I wanted to tell her, You go girl! You are thinking exactly the way I’m thinking and I would’ve done the same thing if I were in her shoes.
And of course, I need to mention a shy little boy with dark-brown curls and thick glasses, who I stole my heart from the moment he appeared in the book. It was Jonah, Mack’s and Torrie’s son. I just wanted to hug and cuddle him and shield him from all the bad things in the world. That poor kid with so much anxiety and other issues he had to deal every day. I’m no stranger to mental health problems, and if I could, I would’ve totally taken it all away from him. And just like Mack, I can’t thank Frankie enough for everything she did for little Jonah. She really did light up Mack’s and Jonah’s world.
I can’t recommend this book enough up to the point that I’ve just finished it and I want to reread everything again just because I can’t seem to let go of my two favourite characters and I want to experience everything again. And if there is one thing that I hate incomparably more than cheating and love triangles, it’s rereading something that I’ve just read. But the book is so good, and the story so great, I’m making exceptions for it from my every rule.