We Live and Breathe Books: Library Loans

Serendipity by Becky Chalsen
Published by Dutton on June 4, 2024
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction
four-half-stars

Goodreads

This summer, will three weekends in a Fire Island share house be enough time for Maggie Monroe to fix her life, find love, and make sure she doesn’t lose her friends for good?

It’s been six years since Maggie followed her screenwriting dreams to Los Angeles and forgot to look back. But things in Hollywood didn’t go quite to plan. Now, twenty-five and suddenly home in New York, Maggie doesn’t know who she’s more anxious to her ex-boyfriend, Mac, or her ex–best friend, Liz.

For Liz, Maggie is the girl who abandoned her at the worst possible moment and an unwelcome surprise who could derail her perfect summer. Liz is recently engaged to her high school sweetheart, Cam, but Maggie’s arrival brings old wounds bubbling to the surface, exposing the cracks in Liz’s apparent happily ever after.

When Maggie accepts her former friends' unexpected invitation to join in their summer share house, a rental named Serendipity, she knows it’s the chance she needs to get her life back on track. For three weekends, Maggie, Liz, Cam, Mac, and their closest friends will take the ferry to Ocean Beach, Fire Island, for some sun-kissed bliss, if only they can avoid the drama of their past catching up to the present.

With the nostalgic flavor of a stack of sepia-toned Polaroids, and perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Jennifer Weiner, and Ann Brashares, this big-hearted, page-turning story delves deep into a complicated friend group as they navigate one messy yet magical midtwenties summer.

Chalsen brought me back to Fire Island, but this time, I was joining old high school friends. One surprise during their reunion was Maggie's return. She had fled the east coast six years prior, leaving behind her boyfriend and best friend. Could Maggie mend her broken friendships and get her life back on track with three weekends at Serendipity?

Serendipity was a lovely story of friendship which I greatly enjoyed. I always find books that focus on adult relationships interesting. As we grow and change, so do our friendships, and there was a lot going on below the surface here.

Most of the story was told from Maggie and Liz's points of view, but every now and then, another person would be given a chapter. I sort of loved the structure of the story and appreciated getting those extra first person accounts.

I found myself so invested in all the drama, and there was plenty of it. But this was also a really heartwarming tale of friendship, love, redemption, and forgiveness. It was just so easy to fall into this story. It was a summer that was eye opening for many and filled with big changes, and I was filled with hope for everyone in the end.

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey
Published by Avon on July 16, 2024
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
four-half-stars

Goodreads

A sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny...

Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.

Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.

Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah.

I absolutely LOVED Fangirl Down and was thrilled to return to this world. The Au Pair Affair was another Big Shots hit for me.

This book had all the trademarks of a Tessa Bailey story. It was fun and packed with lots of humor, but it was Tallulah's backstory that grabbed me. Tallulah kept talking about how she needed to find her old self, that care-free girl who was daring and lived her life out loud. Something had happened which made Tallulah doubt herself, her judgement, and her instincts. My jaw was on the floor when this extremely traumatic event was revealed. I never expected it to be something that horrific, but I loved Burgess' reaction.

Of course, he was furious, but he also wanted to help Tallulah take that first step to trusting herself and being able to reclaim her life. Believe it or not, that element of story resulted in some humorous moments, but I also loved seeing Tallulah's confidence in herself grow while the affection between her and Burgess took root and blossomed.

In the beginning, Tallulah had some reservations about Burgess given his "Sir Savage" hockey persona, but he was such a cinnamon roll of a man. He was fiercely protective of those who mattered to him and showed a gentle side often with Tallulah and his daughter. I also loved how he took advice from Tallulah. She made some observations of how he interacted with people and offered suggestions. Burgess really listened and looked inside himself to be a better father, captain, and person. The third act break up was so stressful, as they always are. Bailey was really squeezing those tears from me. But I can report that those tragic and sad tears turned to happy ones by the end.

It was great to catch up with Wells and Josephine from Fangirl Down, while also getting to meet Sig and Chloe who will be featured in the next Big Shots book. Great characters, fun rom-com moments, emotional depth, and a wonderful romance made this a win for me. I hope there are many more Big Shots books to come.