Questions
- Charlie longs to fulfill her late father’s dream of making King’s Department Store thrive again. Alex wants to make his grandparents happy by marrying and then having a child. Do you think Charlie and Alex were right in putting their families’ dreams ahead of their own? Why? Why not?
- When Charlie crashes into Alex there’s instant chemistry. Have you ever met someone you had an immediate reaction to – negative or positive? Do you believe there’s such a thing as love at first sight?
- Alex, a businessman, must bargain with the stepmother in order to marry Charlie. Did you agree with Alex’s decision to bargain? What other method could he have used to get what he wanted?
- Alex wants to marry Charlie. But he’s a stranger to her. Only when he makes himself vulnerable to her, does she see a glimmer of the real man underneath. What’s another way Alex could have shown Charlie who he was as a person?
- Faced with the realization Alex went behind her back and bought the store, Charlie makes a difficult decision. Did you agree with her decision? Why or why not? What would you have done differently?
- Alex hands over the store’s reins to Charlie. What is Alex’s motivation for handing over the store?
- In the book, Charlie comes up with several window displays and ad campaigns involving her relationship with Alex. Do you think Charlie should have put their relationship on public display?
- Throughout the book you see Charlie interact with her stepfamily and all kinds of friends she treats as family. Do you agree with Charlie that sometimes friends can be just like your family? Or is blood thicker than water?
- Charlie gets what she’s always wanted – the store. Now that she has it, she doesn’t know if she still wants it. Have you ever gotten what you wanted and, once you had it, didn’t want it anymore?
- One of the themes in the series is to follow your dreams. What kinds of dreams do you envision for Peg, the executive assistant? Rico? Yourself?