the do-over – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★☆ (3.5)
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Bethany Turner
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: March 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When McKenna Keaton walks into the boardroom of Wallis, Monroe, and Burkhead, she expects to be named senior partner. Instead, she learns she’s being investigated for embezzlement. To wait out her unpaid leave, McKenna sublets her Upper West Side apartment and goes home to Durham, North Carolina, to save money. Saving face is going to be another thing entirely, but she assumes her problems will blow over soon.

While living in her childhood hometown, McKenna learns about a family curse that—if real rather than imagined—could suggest she has less than a year to live. This information is troubling (of course!), but it’s the reunion with former classmate Henry—Durham’s favorite son—that flips her world upside down. Henry is now a celebrated documentarian, back in town to premiere his latest masterpiece. Vulnerable to (and desperately needing) a distraction as her life falls apart, McKenna begins seeing the shy nerd from high school in a whole new light.

As she waits out the results of the investigation and wonders if her literal life is hanging in the balance, McKenna debates her future and questions her past. She might survive it all in one piece—but a new love and a newly-examined life might be the only things that can save her.

ENJOYABLE.

This was my first Turner book and I don’t think it’ll be my last. I really enjoyed this story and all the different nuances it held.

With a, we knew each other in high school and are now reconnecting, trope (one of which I didn’t know I’d love), I was wrapped up in this romance. It’s very fast paced and at times I could have used a bit more. Yet, it held some sweet moments. Some where I wanted to shake the characters, but a happy ending for all.

I liked that McKenna had a lot of opportunity for growth. She’s very much stagnant in HER mindset and making people understand that’s who and what she wants to be. While nothing wrong with that, I loved that she found ways to reconnect with her sisters, slow down a bit, AND still accomplish professional goals she was after. The bit of mystery with her career was a nice added touch.

There was a big theme of family history here and I’m not sure I’ve read much of that as a subplot. I really liked the background and passion McKenna’s Dad and Henry had for telling stories from the past. This plot wove well into the full story and I thought it was a unique writing choice.

I struggled with the conflict, that’s mostly why I took off that last 1/2 star. Just became frustrating and drawn out a bit too long. It was a fantastic audiobook and still a solid read and I look forward to more!

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: make-outs
Trigger/Content Warnings: false accusations resulting in loss of job

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: November 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this riotous young adult romp for fans of Recommended for You and A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, a teen girl has the worst Valentine’s Day ever—only to relive it over and over again.

After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another nightmare V-Day.

Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways.

How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?

Thank you to Simon Pulse and Netgalley for an eARC.

THIS WAS FUN.

Painter really does a great job with young adult contemporaries. They have the right vibe I love and the book is filled with some seriousness but also a lot of light and fun that brings a smile to my face.

“I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.”

Groundhog day plots can go multiple directions for me. This one was super fast paced so before I got bogged down in repetitiveness the story moved on to the next day and the fallout arose. I was overly amused noticing all of the little Taylor Swift lyrics thrown in here. And there were a bunch of Ferris Beuller-esque antics that I enjoyed.

Emilie took her life by the steering wheel of the car she couldn’t stop crashing into Nick with and was able to really exhibit some good character growth. I liked that she found the strength to stand-up to her parents and speak her mind about changes she wasn’t fully in control of. Being a child of divorce I felt a lot of these sentiments.

It was a gorgeous story and the romance was SO GOOD. I adored Nick from the get-go. He was kind and a cinnamon roll. Totally obsessed with them. Totally obsessed with Painter’s books. This is easily another one to love on y’all!

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: strong
Romance: make-outs
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: car wreck (nobody is injured), death of a sibling (off page prior to book, recounted), depictions of grief, divorced parents