The Best Way to Usher in the New Year? Books, Of Course!

A movie came out in the first half of 2021 called Finding You, about an aspiring violinist struggling to nail an audition at a prestigious music college, who then travels to Ireland, crosses paths with a heartthrob movie star, and embarks on a type of self-discovery adventure. Since my eldest daughter is a musician and Ireland has always captured my imagination, watching this was a no-brainer. (It turned out to be a fun, wholesome movie with a great message, so I highly recommend it!)

I later discovered this movie was based on the book, There You’ll Find Me, by Jenny B. Jones, and it’s now currently in my TBR pile. Jones, however, has an impressive backlist of YA and New Adult books that kept this fan of clean rom-coms busy reading back-cover summaries and trying to choose between titles. In the end, I latched onto So Not Happening, a light-hearted YA romance that didn’t disappoint.

Summary:

Bella Kirkwood loves her glam life in New York City. But when her mom remarries and relocates the family to rural Oklahoma, Bella has to say goodbye to Manhattan and hello to a small town world she didn’t sign up for. After her brutally honest blog rant goes viral, Bella goes from a NYC trendsetter to a social reject overnight.
Relegated to the school paper, Bella jumps at the chance to win over classmates she’s burned—and maybe even impress the hot editor, Luke Sullivan. Cute, nerdy Luke does all he can to get Bella to quit, but she’s not going anywhere. Especially when she overhears a cryptic conversation about a football player’s fatal so-called accident. She’s just discovered the scandal of a lifetime, and who keeps getting in her way? The smoldering, infuriating Luke Sullivan.
Can Bella and Luke expose the football team’s shocking secret before it’s too late? The closer Bella gets to the truth, the more her own life—and heart—are on the line.

Just so you know before going into it, So Not Happening is Book 1 in the 3-book series, A Charmed Life. Thus, while it doesn’t end on a completely satisfactory note for the romance reader (that comes in a later book), it doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger, either. Whew!

I truly came to love the characters in this book, although I didn’t immediately connect with Bella, as she starts out rather shallow and materialistic. Which just makes for a great character arc, right? There is also a faith element in this series as Bella struggles in her strained relationship with God. It caught me off-guard at first, since the book summary didn’t allude to having such an aspect, but it never came across as preachy, and I found Bella’s off-the-cuff prayers refreshing and organic to the story.

If you or a loved one enjoy light-hearted, clean YA books, or if you’re looking for wholesome contemporary reads for your teenage daughter, I would highly recommend this book and series. That said, once you find yourself browsing Jones’ many other titles, watch out: your TBR pile is about to grow! 😉