book review - Happily Ever After: A Novel

I'm finally getting back on my book review horse. It's been a while. Moving kind of threw me into a book slump. I found myself so spent most nights that mustering the energy to binge watch Netflix was all I could do. But now that we're unpacked, somewhat organized and half way settled I feel like I've finally gotten my book groove back. Honestly, I think our new sheets have a lot to do with it too. That and I have nothing left to watch on Netflix. ;)

So, I'm getting back to the word on page and first up is Happily Ever After: A Novel.

I've mentioned before that I totally judge a book by the cover. Sue me. The cover is what draws me in every time. This one looked fun and the design lover in me was like, "Oh, that's a pretty fantastic bed!" Then I read the brief summary........Sadie Fuller is a fairly typical forty-six-year-old divorced mom - a little overweight, unlucky in love, and stuck in the suburbs with no shortage of responsibilities. But Sadie is not like the other soccer moms on her block; while her daughter is at school, Sadie writes erotic fiction under the name KT Briggs. And then I was like, wait whaaaaaaaat? Then upon further inspection I realized that this is Elizabeth Maxwell's first novel. Sold. I'm a sucker for a great cover and an author's first book. There's something about the first one. I can't imagine the sweat, blood and tears that goes into writing, but I imagine it's a whole lot of emotions that goes into book numero uno.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. An erotic fiction author who doesn't tell anyone what she does for a living. I mean you never really know what goes on inside someone's daily life. So while reading erotic fiction isn't really my thing, reading about the life of someone who has such a big secret definitely piqued my curiosity. And the whole time I was reading, I was wondering to myself if anyone I know has a similar alter ego.

The book itself really isn't super steamy in the least.....it's actually a little awkward at times in that department. So if steamy scenes aren't your thing then no worries there, but if you blush easily then steer clear. This story is more about Sadie finding herself more so than Sadie finding love. And she's pulled out of a rather pathetic life slump in the most unexpected way when characters she wrote in a paranormal book she never finished writing actually come to life. Yes, you read that right. There is a little genre mashing going on in this here story friends. And at first it had me having sideline imaginary conversations with the author where I was like, "Girl, are you serious with this? Really, you're busting out two witches right here in the middle of this thing?" It caught me off guard in a weird way at first. It was a little like Bridget Jones meets Enchanted......are y'all following me here.......and it was odd at first. But the more I kept reading the more it started to make sense.....weird sense.....but sense none the less. And in the end while this story is a far cry from what I usually enjoy reading, I rather liked it. It was entertaining and a nice change of pace for me.

There was one quote that really stuck out for me, and I'd say it kind of sums up what this whole unorthodox story was really about. "Joy can be elusive. Sometimes to achieve it, you must step out onto the street, even if you know you might be run over by a bus."

I really can't agree more. In life and in love, no matter how many times you've been burned you've got to get back up and keep trying. Never settle. And never resign yourself to a life you don't love living.

You can find more reviews over in the sidebar. What are y'all reading right now?

*Update - I've just discovered that Elizabeth Maxwell is also Beth McMullen, who has written a number of books.......but this is still the first book published under the name Elizabeth Maxwell. ;)