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Hello sassy people! Today’s post is about My Better Life by Sarah Ready! Thank you, Sarah Ready and Social Butterfly PR for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review!
I think I will never find a book by Sarah Ready that I don’t love to pieces. This is one more. This story was so fun and cute, but so deep, at the same time, it’s the exact type of book I look for.
My Better Life
(Soul Mates in Romeo #6)
by Sarah Ready
When East Coast elite and wealthy bachelor Gavin Williams wakes up in a rural West Virginia hospital, he doesn’t remember who he is or where he’s from.
He doesn’t remember his heiress fiancée, his luxury homes, his exotic travels, or his private plane.
And he especially doesn’t remember insulting local country-girl and fiery redhead Jamie Sutton, smashing her dreams, and leaving her in a pinch.
So when a redhead in overalls stands over his hospital bed and convincingly tells him he loves banjos, hound dogs, and rustling chickens, what’s he supposed to do?
Suddenly Gavin is scrambling to fit into a country life that doesn’t feel familiar and that can’t possibly be his. A wife? Kids? A chicken coop?
His life is full of holes and secrets, desires and dreams, and as Gavin learns more he begins to wonder—will he ever remember? And what happens when he does?
Genre: Romance, ARC
Publisher: Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC
Year: 2022
Nº of pages: 336
Is it on KU?: Nope
Subgenres: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Amnesia Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Fake Relationship, Forced Proximity, Single Parent, Small Town Romance
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 4/5 (steamy)
Spice scale: 3/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️
POP (Put Out Percentage): 44%
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): No TW (According to StoryGraphs)
Main characters: Gavin and Jamie
Hero: Sturn Brunch Daddy – “Cinnamon roll meets alpha male. Definition of a gentleman in the streets freak in the sheets”
Heroine: The Female Messiah – Fights for your cause and meets her commitments. She is the stubborn sister or friend who is determined and quick-tempered and says it like it is. She will tell you what you need to do in no uncertain terms.
Pacing: Medium
Mood: Amazing, Cute, Deep, Delicious, Fun, Hot, Important, Sweet
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Double P.O.V.
Character development: Deep
Diverse Cast: Nope
Read in: 2022
My Rate: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
This story was pretty much perfect. It had a lot of depth, with trauma recovery and childhood trauma, but it was balanced by the humor of a small town and a very close family unit, the very sweet moments between the kids and Gavin, and also between Gavin and Jamie.
It was amazing to see the process of Gavin falling in love with Jamie, a woman he said, in the beginning, was unremarkable. It was amazing, to see him fall in love with a life that he deemed horrible when he first arrived. And it was an incredible growth process, to go from someone who despised that town, Jamie’s dirtiness, and their simple way of life, to be a guy who is just happy to be able to provide for his family. I love that his recovery was not caused by her. This is not a story of “man meets woman, woman fixes man”. He has his own process, he has his own journey, that is alongside her, but not because of her, and I love that.
It was also incredible to see the process of the whole family falling in love with Gavin, even the most resistant, like Grandma, but especially the kids. It was heartwarming to see these kids, who at such a young age, already had the trauma of losing their father, get someone to be there for them, to do all the things a father would do, and love them as such. And I am astounded by how well Sarah wrote these kids, they each had not only a unique personality but a unique trauma/reaction to their trauma. Each of them had a need, that Gavin arrived to fulfill.
I started this book hating Gavin, and I’m ending it with him as one of my new book boyfriends.
And I just loved the use of amnesia. I love this trope and think is not used enough, and this was the perfect balance between rom-com and heavy topics, with a lot of romance and sweetness, so it is just perfect. And as in all of Sarah Ready’s books, this almost made me cry several times, but it put me back together again.
Equality rate: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
I love Gavin’s masculinity. He is an amazing example of non-toxic masculinity. He is a man, he is manly, he provides for his family and is proud to do that. He is a man, without the need to assert his dominance, who loves his children, who likes to help his wife take care of them, and the house. He is a man who can be without sex, to respect his wife’s wishes. He is a man who accepts that his partner has a dream and a gift and he will help her achieve them, even if his own job is shoveling poop every day. And he is a man who realizes, he made mistakes in the past, even if he doesn’t remember them, he wants to fix them.
The only reason this book did not get a 5-star Equality Rate is because of the lies. This is a fiction work, and a very enjoyable one, but this in real life would be absurd, even more, if we reversed the genders. If a man had gone to the hospital, to pick up a woman with amnesia and “force” her to work in his house, we would be horrified, so I feel the need to take down a point in this regard. But I still loved the book, it has entered my favorites of the year list.
Recommend this?: Absolutely
Fall in love today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/392paLT
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/mybetterlife
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3m0BTl6
Nook: https://bit.ly/3M1HF0s
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3x2Vckm
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3alPKji
About Sarah Ready
Author Sarah Ready writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy. Her books
have been described as “euphoric”, “heartwarming” and “laugh out loud”. Her debut novel The Fall in Love Checklist was hailed as “the unicorn read of 2020”. She loves to write fast-paced, emotionally compelling romances about quirky, smart women and the men who love them.
Before writing romance full-time Sarah had lots of fun teaching at an Ivy League. Then
she realized she could have even more fun writing romance. Her favorite things after
writing are adventuring and travel. You’ll frequently find her using her degree at a dino
dig site, crawling into a cave, snorkeling, or on horseback riding through the jungle – all
fodder for her next book. She’s lived in Scotland, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and
NYC. She currently lives in the Caribbean with her water-obsessed pup and her awesome family.
You can visit her online at www.sarahready.com
Connect with Sarah
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2PVEe4j
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3wt7D6B
BookBub: https://bit.ly/3wtATKA
Website: http://sarahready.com/
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Well, that is all for today, I hope you like this post, hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Feel free to leave your opinion about it in the comments and I will see you next time!
Bye sassy people!
- I know that some comments I make about decent guys on my posts are the bare minimum a guy should do, so no, they don’t deserve to be treated like gods for doing the minimum, but at the same time, I’ve read a lot of sexist books and I appreciate authors who make characters that can serve as role models and examples of how a decent guy acts and what a loving and respectful relationship looks like. I believe we should always encourage these authors and bring attention to the ones that still write sexist characters and stories.
- I make a lot of comments about sexism and healthy role models in books, but a lot of times these characteristics don’t make the book a bad book and definitely don’t make the author a bad author. Please never shame these authors and these books for these comments, I simply feel that we need to have awareness of the less than ideal situations some books bring us, and not use the romanticized problem as examples of what a relationship should be. Most of these authors are still amazing, and the content they write doesn’t reflect directly with their personal views and opinions. Always make sure to respect and be kind to everyone, even while criticizing their content.
Find Me In
Meet Me
Brazilian architecture student and book lover
One of my goals in analysing my readings was to talk about important topics, like feminist and consent, because literature, art and culture influence us, and I believe we should always encorage authors who talk about this topics.
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020
I read 148 books in 2020, come see them!