Golden Opportunity by Virginia Taylor is a good fit for readers looking for a heartwarming and lighthearted story about two people from different worlds who reconnect and find love despite their past misunderstandings and insecurities.

Hagen and Marigold grew up together and Marigold had loved Hagen even when he was young and did stupid things. Stupid things like not acting on the attraction they felt when they were young. And sleeping with any woman who looked at him. And getting married to the perfect woman who unfortunately died. Hagen hasn’t gotten over the loss and yet he still is attracted to Marigold.

Marigold is in need of a job, and she was offered one working with Hagen. She believes she will handle the work on her own, but of course the two start working closely together.

This was a fun, easy read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book and I am providing my honest review.

Marigold had an orderly mind and this warehouse was all higgledy- piggledy with its stuff. Then Marigold’s friend Antigone/ Tiggy showed up. Tiggy was an artist. Tiggy had met Marigold through her identical twin sister Calli. Marigold and Tiggy clicked maybe because they were opposites. Marigold had always been made to feel like she was part of Tiggy’s family. Tiggy was going to do some charity work in Cambodia for about three months and asked marigold tp take over as AAand C’s property developer and event coordinator. Marigold had done odd sewing jobs for Tiggy for the last six years from home and that was her way of supporting herself but also were the highlights of her boring existence. Tiggy’s brother Hagen was to show marigold around. Tiggy said he wasn’t the same man since his beautiful wife Marcia had been killed in a car accident. Marigold didn’t want to be mean but maybe hagen needed a little less stuffing. Tiggy gave Marigold a list of the weeks jobs . Marigold had been dealing with Tiggy’s lists for three years and her writing no longer puzzled Marigold.
Marigold felt her biggest problem would be finding things in the warehouse. Tiggy said she gave herself a day for each job when she was staging a house. The events take longer and the bigger the event the tricker. They often needed to hire chairs but most things could be found in the warehouse. Tiggy told marigold if she hadn’t agreed to take the job she probably couldn’t have left. Marigold was an experienced stager and knew Tiggy’s style. Marigold couldn’t remember the last date hse had. Then Hagen showed up and anyone could see he hadn’t dealt with his grief. Marigold hadn’t realized she would be working with Hagen daily. Hagen and Marigold start to get close and he even reveals the truth of his marriage. Hagen decides he wants Marigold as part of his life.
I enjoyed reading this book. It was a fun, easy, read. I enjoyed how Hagan and marigold interacted with each other. I advise you to read the previous books in this series in order so all flows smoothly. I liked the pace and plot of this book. I did find this predictable but that was okay with me. I liked Hagen and Marigold together. I liked the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend.

Hagen Allbrook has always considered Marigold Reynolds the one that got away. However, now he has another chance to finally prove how good they could be together when they start working together after she takes over his sister's role in his family's company for three months. Yet, the closer they get, the more personal things get and Hagen finds himself revealing the truth behind his marriage. Will Marigold put her trust in Hagen, or are her own secrets too much of a reminder that giving her heart to someone isn't safe?

The cover of this book is so eye-catching, but it's not the only reason I wanted to read this book. Really, I have loved this series from the very first book and have been looking forward to reading more about the Allbrook family after Hagen's sister Calliope was introduced in the previous book and I've got to say that this story is another wonderful addition to the series. Since Marigold and Hagen have quite a history,have nothing in common which makes them complete opposites, and yet, they seem so right together whenever they're in each other's company.

As for the way this story started, it had me hooked because Hagen doesn't seem all that keen to be working with Marigold, but I liked that the heroine isn't going to let him ignore her. However, in saying that, I loved how this story progressed, especially from the moment the hero realizes how much the heroine means to him and has always meant to him. I also liked learning all about the hero's past and what happened with his late wife that has him feeling so much guilt. Yet, what I liked most of all about the hero was his determination to win the heroine over, as she means a lot to him and this time he's not going to give up because he wants her in his life. While the heroine, I could understand why she doesn't have a lot of faith in men, but why couldn't she put her trust in Hagen, especially in the moment when she learns something about his past that she misinterprets. I also liked how loyal and hard-working she is, because not just anyone could step into Hagen's sister's shoes and be able to pull off what Marigold does.

Overall, Ms. Taylor has delivered another fantastic read for this series where the chemistry between this couple was and strong; the romance delightful; and the ending had me glad these two worked through their issues to be together, especially after all the effort the secondary characters went to in playing matchmaker. I would recommend Golden Opportunity by Virginia Taylor, if you enjoy the opposites attract trope or books, sister's friend trope, or books by authors Melinda Di Lorenzo, Stacy Finz, Susan Fox and Terri Osburn.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

I have not read any of the previous books so I can safely say this can be read as a stand alone. The book was an interesting read and kept my attention but I kept reading and reading to find out what the secret was about Hagen's marriage and the reason behind Marigold's turning him down.

What I was annoyed with was the lack of communication between Hagen and Marigold. When she mentioned that she knew that he started sleeping with "any woman who blinked at him" after she left, he doesn't even comment on that, which is kind of disappointing to me. I did like that he later thought about what Marigold was going through at the time and wondered if he would have been able to handle it. Lastly, why was Hagen not able to tell that he was with a virgin?? There was only one small comment coming from Marigold's point of view and that was it.

Hagen was not easy to like as you could see what Marigold saw - a young guy who thought he was pretty hot stuff and dating big, busty girls, and acting pretty entitled. It kind of makes you wonder what she really saw in him to love when he was younger, but he seems to matured now.

Marigold tended to shut down and kind of run away instead of confronting any issues. I did like when they were able to tease each other and had fun on their dates. It was great that two women had to shake up Hagen and get him to sit down and talk to Marigold so that they actually had a chance for their HEA.

I so love books with families that meddle for all the right reasons. This surrounds Marigold Reynolds who lost her mother after a long illness. Being that her parents were divorced it left her the primary caregiver. Which she never thought twice about.
Although her mother came from a family in good standing in the community several generations in they, unfortunately, lost their wealth. When they divorced, her father also from a wealth, but newer money. Their family name never held the same status as her mothers and he never shared it with her anyway.
Yet, she was taught all the proper ways from eating, greetings, setting a table, and speaking. She with her second-hand clothes was taught to stand proud. It turns out she becomes best friends with Tiggy and her twin Calli but at six she lost her heart to their older brother by two years Hagen when he was eight.
The Allbrook family never cared she dressed in hand me downs or that her hair is an orange-red so bright is could like your way in the dark. She was always made to feel like part of the family. Since the divorce, her father forgot he had a daughter especially when he had her first half-brother. So, she craved family.
Hagen never paid attention to his sister’s friend until the year she joined the swim team at sixteen, he was eighteen. Life had changed he lost his heart to that day. Marigold though was jailbait and so he shut the attraction down.
At his parents fiftieth they meet up again. She shuts it down. Saying things that hurt his pride. Rather than get to the root he beds all things on campus. Six years have passed. A year ago, he lost his wife. Tiggy needs a break from being her stand in as hostess, interior homes dresser, and all-around sister. So, she asks Marigold to step in. She agrees. Life just got interesting. Why? Because she doesn’t realize she will be working daily with you got it, Hagen.
This was a quick read with a lot of fun reading fun. You will enjoy it. There is a lot of family underhanded fun afoot. The soul-searching gets to the heart of it too. I give this: 5 stars. Provided by netgalley.com.

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Golden Opportunity was good in parts but the heroine did annoy me a bit! Her character seemed inconsistent to me and her lack of ability to resist the hero was a little too reminiscent of romances of years gone by.

The author did a beautiful job making me feel all the emotions.
Without giving so much away, True love will always show. The way this book was written made a lot of sense. It will have you excited from beginning to end.
It’s a MUST READ! Please add to your TBR.

Cute read. Not too deep, not too surface. I wish Hagen hadn’t been quite so closed off in the beginning but all’s well that ends well.

Wound up not really interesting me. Mostly, it had to do with the Victorian Age vocabulary but the setting is modern Australia. Just wasn't a good mix for me. Maybe it's because I'm American, but I just don't see all Australian's talking like that today. (Feel free to correct me)

A second chance at love for Hagen and Marigold, but can they make it work?

I really wanted to like this book a lot, but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

It was nice getting to see both Marigold and Hagen's perspectives as they work out their feelings for each other. They have known each other for years but due to timing and circumstances they never were able to explore a possible relationship.

I didn't connect well with either of them, though, and found some of the flashbacks to be a little jumbled. It was possibly because Marigold and Hagen each remember things differently. Their experiences together in the office and working on each other's homes was interesting, and I appreciated that it was a different industry than is usually featured.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The romance between Marigold and Hagen was enjoyable. I like the friends-to-lovers romance trope, and this book fits under that umbrella. Marigold and Hagen had some definite chemistry and the read was a hot one with steamy scenes. I really liked Hagen's character and how he always tried to win over Marigold and make her feel special. I reduced one star because I was not such a fan of Marigold. She is not open with her thoughts and emotions and constantly pushes Hagen away. I don't think she even shares with him her "big secret"; only we, the reader, really know it. Other than that, this was a read I'd recommend.

This book was WONDERFUL. I loved every second of it so much. It was fun, flirty and romantic all at once. It stars two characters Hagan and Marigold who fell for the other in high school but who never had great timing. Now Hagan's wife is dead and M is working for his company and he sees a way to finally get a second chance with her.

One of the issues they face is that M is not wealthy and H is.. So she expects him to marry the second time another rich woman. But Hagan wants her and I loved all the ways he works to try and get closer to her and never let her go.

This story was wonderful. It was fun and flirty and really terrific if you love 2nd chance romances and romances with family connections.

I only had one issue with the story and that is that Marigold is a virgin and that was never discovered or discussed with Hagan.

Cute and fun

This is my second book by Virginia Taylor.  She is now one of my go-to authors

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Romance by Design
Standalone
HEA

I look forward to reading more from this author.