"But I know that when nothing makes sense and life is as
hard as it's ever been, God is even more present in the middle
of all the brokenness. Because Jesus changes everything."
- Anna
Description:
Rachel Somers is America's #1 relationship coach-America just doesn't know it. Rachel writes the books, but her Aunt Donna plays the face of the operation. Living in fear of their secret being exposed, Rachel has no choice but to keep up the charade or lose the big money required to care for her father. With the deadline for their next book closing in, Rachel finds herself out of inspiration and running out of time. The last thing she needs is her aunt and publicist concocting a harebrained scheme to join forces with some radio star in the hope it will help deliver the elusive next book idea.
Lucas Grant is a star of late night radio, though it's come with an unexpected price of hoards of women who keep calling his sports show to ask him for relationship advice. They make his ratings look great, but they also mean he has to waste hours talking to people like Dr. Donna Somerville about feelings instead of his first love: football. When a big time producer calls, it looks like his hard work is about to pay off. But the offer comes with a catch, the producer is convinced Dr. Donna is not what she seems and he wants Lucas to discover her secret. To do that, he needs to win over her tight-lipped assistant who holds the key to his success and he begins to suspect, his heart. Can love find a way through the lies that force them apart?
Kara Isaac is the RITA® Award-winning writer of five novels. She lives in New Zealand (yes, it’s really as beautiful as it looks in the movies!) where she spends her time chasing three small people, writing horribly bad first drafts, and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in the South Pacific. Find out more at KaraIsaac.com.
My thoughts:
Believe it or not, I was actually given the privilege of reading this book a couple months ago - and loved it! Then I completely forgot to write a review for it, so we’ll see if this makes any sense.
As already stated, I adored this book! I don’t know that I can say it was my absolute favorite of Ms. Isaac’s books (it may be tying with The There Was You), but if not the top, then definitely an extremely close second! As in all of her books, the characters just simply step off the pages! Within a couple turns, I felt as though I knew Rachel and Lucas almost as well as some of my real-life friends. I sat there, cheering them on, crying with them, and so wanting to give them a hug or Gibbs’ slap from time to time. I also couldn’t help but love Lacey, Donna, Anna, and little Joey and Libby.
"Secrets and relationships can't coexist
in the long term.
Eventually you will have to choose one over the other."
- Rachel
This book is much more than a simple romance. It is a story of friends. Of advice, both good and bad. Of the wrestling of fear and guilt, faith and doubt, truth and lie. It’s a story of pain and struggle, but also joy and laughter. Of overcoming. And of course, love. Not just in a romantic sense, but also the love of friends that were thought to be long lost, of family, and of learning to love even those that have been deemed unlovable.
I’ll also go ahead and address a potential issue for some - the characters don’t automatically become Christians at the end of this story. Yes, it’s still Christian fiction. There is still a strong thread of faith woven throughout the story. But the author doesn’t wrap it up all nice and neat in a perfect little religious bow. And I applaud her for that. She stays true to the characters and the story. An instant conversion at the end wouldn’t have been realistic and you know what? Sometimes life doesn’t end like that either, regardless of how much we wish it would. I so appreciated the truth and transparency in even that aspect of this book.
I know, I included this book on my most anticipated books of the new year and you're probably thinking, "if it was so good, how could you forget to write a review?" My answer? I'm married and I forget a lot of things now. My husband distracts me. LOL Okay, so maybe that's it. Or maybe I'm just a scatterbrain. Both are entirely viable excuses, right?
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this random review! As always, if you'd like to learn more about the book, links are below.
Tallyho!
