About Books#89: Love and Other Mistakes

When I started this book I was expecting a fun, fluffy read. Boy did it have something saved up for me. Just about every nitty-gritty thing that could go wrong to someone? It probably happened somewhere this book. And it absolutely took me along for all the Love and Other Mistakes.

I was offered an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are strictly my own.

The story

Natalie Groves was meant for great things. But soon after her fiancé left, Natalie’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly her grand plans evaporated . . . and God felt very far away.

Fast-forward seven years, and an internship presents Natalie a chance at her destiny—but she needs a job to work around it. And the only offer available is worse than a life sentence. Her ex Jeremy, now back in town, is desperate for help with his infant son and troubled teenage niece, Lili. And Natalie may be just the one to help Jeremy . . . provided they don’t kill each other in the process.

When Jeremy and Natalie join forces, sparks fly. But will either of them get burned along the way?

The opinion

As I said – the actual story of this book? Not at all what I thought I signed up for. Like – at all.

I as expecting this book to be nice and luffy, instead I'm 20% in and it's childhood trauma, bad parenting, old heartbreaks, money trouble, company shut down, a 2yo in a hit and run and more childhood trauma

— Walking Through The Pages 📚📚 (@SaarTalks) July 25, 2019

And, let me be clear: we’re not talking a bit of drama. Love and Other Mistakes really delves into the dark side of live in a lot of ways. Firstly there’s Natalie. And, let’s be real – she’s not had an easy deal, the past ouple of years. She went from happily engaged, happily working with her father (pun intended), happily doing her studies… To none of that. To face the loss, both around her, and of her sense of self? It made the past 7 years something of a struggle.

Jem (Jeremy) hasn’t had it much easier – his childhood, marked mainly by the death of his mother and a ‘heavy on the tough’-love approach of his dd has made him more than a little lacking in the faith in love department. Having to move back home a single father, and not having spoken to his own father for actual years? Doesn’t help the situation.

Neither does the fact that he suddenly has to take care of his niece Lili who basically has seen her whole world (and family – mainly family) fall apart in a very short span of time. I mean, out of all of them I probably felt for Lili most. She literally is thrust into a situation that her parents deal with in the worst possible way – and then order her to be quiet about.

Throughout all this the author manages to show a variety of perspectives on each situation, and yet avoids repeating herself. That, combined with the powerful way all these characters were written down? It dragged me through this entire book in a matter of hours.

The rating: 4/5

I mean, I figure it’s pretty obvious by now that I really enjoyed this book. While definitely not the book if you want something light, Love and Other Mistakes will be perfect if you want a book that will really take you along with these characters as they make their way through some pretty difficult circumstances. Oh, and if you’re in the market for some great character development!

-Saar