About the Book
After four years with her boyfriend, Cadie McCaffrey is thinking of ending things. Convinced Will doesn’t love her in the “forever” way she loves him, Cadie believes it’s time for her to let him go before life passes her by. When a misunderstanding leads to a mistake, leaving her hurt, disappointed, and full of regret, she finally sends him packing.
But for Will, the end of their relationship is only the beginning of his quest to figure out how to be the man Cadie wanted him to be. With the dubious guidance of his former pro-athlete work friends and tactics drawn from Cadie’s favorite romantic comedies, Will attempts to win her back. It’s a foolproof plan. What could possibly go wrong?
Bethany Turner is back with more of the heart and humor readers love. Anyone who enjoys a good romance or binges romantic comedies on Netflix will devour this delightful story.
Excerpt
Four years ago, on my thirtieth birthday, I had two very important realizations.
1) I didn’t meed a man in my life in order to be happy or fulfilled.
2) My chances of meeting and falling in love with a man—and having him fall in love with me—would increase exponentially if I lowered my standards.
Not my standards for the man, of course. No, with the introduction of realization number one, the standards for the man had never been higher. If I didn’t need a man, then there was no harm in being very picky and waiting for the right one to come along. But with the introduction of realization number two, I could no longer deny that I did very much want to be in love . . . whether I needed to be or not.
In my heart of hearts, I knew I had no desire to settle for anything less than a man who would make at least one of the Bronte sisters proud. But there wasn’t much chance of falling in love with any man at all if I stayed hung up on the idea of my romantic life playing out like the classic novels and films I loved so much.
Cary Grant does not exist in my Millennial world.
Of course, I wasn’t expecting Will Whitaker to show up, or for him to burst onto the scene as if acting out a storybook meet-cute.
You know what a meet-cute is, right? It’s that charming first encounter between two characters that leads to a romantic relationship between them. Suffice it to say, with realization number two, I had given up on ever experiencing a true meet-cute. Actually, I was pretty convinced that I wouldn’t know a true meet-cute if it fell on me. I’d spent most of my life trying to force the meet-cute. Trust me . . . that doesn’t work. Intentionally bumping into guys and dropping your books rarely results in them saying, “Hey, let me help you with that.” I’ve found that “Hey, watch where you’re going!” is more common.
So by the time I turned thirty, I was absolutely convinced that meet-cutes were a thing of legend.
Enter Will, stage left.
Review
I’ve come to the conclusion that Bethany Turner could make a doctoral dissertation on the history of watching paint dry entertaining, so it’s probably not unexpected that I absolutely loved this story that had, you know, a plot and characters and everything you could possibly want in a story. Well, except dragons. #tipfornexttime
But in all seriousness, in just two books, Bethany Turner has become one of my favourite voices in contemporary Christian romance. Not only is it one of the most natural, unique, and entertaining voices out there, but her stories are pushing the envelope for Christian fiction in a really meaningful, appropriate, and grace-filled way—and making us laugh into the bargain. Exhibit A:
“Instead of running to the Lord with my shame and heartbreak, I had spent the week vegging out in the Garden of Eden, acting like I was simply wearing my fig leaf because it was the latest thing in Madison Avenue foliage wear.”
One of my favourite things about this novel—aside from everything I just said!—is that this story isn’t about falling in love; it’s about what it takes to make love (in the romantic/forever sense) work. It’s about the mistakes we make, and it’s about the way we respond to those mistakes (and one of them is a biggie for Christians). It’s about the way our romantic daydreams don’t always translate so well into real life, and it’s about the way real life—with all its ups and downs—has the potential to be so much richer than our romantic daydreams. And yes, it’s about that old “lack of communication” chestnut, but while that can be frustrating when it’s the whole basis for romantic conflict, it’s only part of a much bigger picture in this novel.
So, in case you need a summary, I loved everything about this story: The characters (primary and secondary), the writing, the plot. EVERYTHING. (Even dragons wouldn’t have improved it, if I’m being completely honest.)
It’s probably worth adding here that if pop culture and romantic comedy movies were a subject at school, I would get a big fat F—I’m woefully ignorant and probably missed soooo many references throughout this story. But do you know, it didn’t detract from the story at all. So there’s potential that other readers our there will enjoy this EVEN MORE than I did, if you can imagine that. I can’t, personally, but I dare you to try!
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Other Books by Bethany Turner
Read my review for The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck.
About the Author
Bethany Turner is the director of administration for Rock Springs Church in Southwest Colorado. A former VP/operations manager of a commercial bank and a three-time cancer survivor (all before she turned thirty-five), Bethany knows that when God has plans for your life, it doesn’t matter what anyone else has to say. Because of that, she’s chosen to follow his call to write. She lives with her husband and their two sons in Colorado, where she writes for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight.
Connect with Bethany: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Fabulous review, Katie – dragons and all 😉
Haha! Thank you, my friend.