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Book Review – When You’re Ready by J.L. Berg with Giveaway

When You're Ready by J.L. BergWow, what a great book! I’ve had When You’re Ready by JL Berg on my kindle for a few months, and I shouldn’t have waited. It grabbed me from page one and never let go. It pulled every emotion from me, and I absolutely fell in love with a beautiful little 4 year old girl.

Clare’s husband died of brain cancer 3 years earlier. He was the love of her life, and they were so happy. She is now the single mother to the sweetest little 4 year old, Maddie, and still grieving the loss of Ethan. She keeps a sealed letter from him in her nightstand marked “When You’re Ready” on the envelope. But she still isn’t ready.  Maddie is her little ballerina who falls off of her pretend ballet barre in her room. After the fall, the poor baby was throwing up all over mom, so Clare brought her to the hospital (covered in vomit).

“A knock on the door marked the entrance of yet another person. As I turned my head, I found myself face to face with the real-life version of Dr. McSteamy entering the exam room. Is this our doctor?
Holy hell, I think I just whimpered a little.”

Dr. Logan Matthews is the son of a well-known millionaire. He spent his life trying to get approval from the guy, but always failed. When his marriage failed, he was cut off from his father for shaming the family. Logan’s marriage failed because he wasn’t able to love his wife. In fact, Logan didn’t feel himself capable of love, so he spent his time making himself a playboy Doctor reputation. And what a reputation he had!

But when he walked into the exam room, something changed. I loved that his first thoughts were of Maddie.

“She looked like an angel with a head full of long strawberry blonde curls and round cherub cheeks. She looked over at me with big brown eyes, smiled faintly and I found myself having the sudden urge to bring her into my arms, assuring her everything would be just fine.”

Then when he saw Clare:

“She was breathtaking.(…) I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes so green in my life. A man could get lost in them, never able to find his way back.”

They shared a moment…a definite moment. But then it was gone, until they bumped into each other again, after they both couldn’t get each other off of their minds.  Clare was still in love with her late husband. Logan thinks he’s incapable of love. But the connection he had to Clare and Maddie couldn’t be denied.

“Seeing Clare again felt exactly the same. It gave me a deep sense of being connected and tethered”

They took their relationship slow, getting to know each other through the ‘jellybean game’ (I loved this) and via text (I wish we saw some of those texts!). Logan knows this is different than anything he’s ever felt.

“I want a clean slate with you, Clare. You’re special to me. I don’t know what we’re doing or where it’s going but I never felt anything like this, and I can’t mess that up by doing the same shit I’ve always done.”

I loved that the build up was slow, and I especially loved all of the scenes with little Maddie in them. Kids have a way of getting to the heart of the matter and seeing the simple joys in life. Ethan, Clare’s late husband was always there. She still thought about the letter daily, but still, she wasn’t ready.

It’s here I must mention a side character, Clare’s best friend Leah, who I absolutely loved. She had no filter, and offered the comedy relief for the book. It seems like she was set up to have her own book. I can’t wait for it!

At about 90%, I was online recommending the book to friends saying what a great book it was and how there really wasn’t any angst…when HOLY FUCK. I was crying so freaking hard and cursing the author. SERIOUSLY????? No fucking way.

Likes:

  • I absolutely loved Clare. She was strong, generous, a great mom, playful, funny, just all around great.
  • Maddie. She was such an important part of the story and I loved her!
  • Logan. This guy needed love so badly. I loved how he respected Clare’s love for Ethan and was able to live with that.
  • Leah. I can’t wait for more of the crazy Leah!
  • How Logan fell for Maddie as much if not more than Clare (what else would you want for your kid?)
  • Clare’s love for sweets and how Logan always catered to her. (Why is she still skinny?)
  • The Jellybean game.
  • How we never really saw the cocky playboy that Logan supposedly was.
  • Clare’s family.
  • Dora the Explorer hatred (stop yelling at me Dora!)
  • Alternate points of view between Logan and Clare throughout the book. You always knew who’s you were reading.
  • Panty shredding!!!!
  • Great epilogue.

Dislikes:

  • Could use another round of editing, there were a number of errors including the wrong “you’re” used several times.
  • I wish we saw some of the texts they exchanged in the beginning of the relationship.

Still not sure:

  • The twist. I’m leaning towards a dislike here, but it did pull the book together. It was just too much!

Rating: 4.5 Stars 4 Heat

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Flame_FOUR copy

When You’re Ready by J.L. Berg was an amazing book. I laughed, I cried, I totally swooned, I cursed the author, cried again, and I fell in love with all of the characters. It was lovely to read a book where the child was such an important part of the romance, as it should be for a single mom. The relationship built slowly and realistically and the characters were very relatable. J.L. Berg took what could have been a hard subject to read about, and made it OK…even happy. I highly advise you pick this one up. I’ll be grabbing the next one as soon as it comes out.

Love is a risk, there are no guarantees. But, in the end, it is always, always worth it.

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Purchase When You’re Ready by J.L. Berg

Standalone 444 pages

Amazon | BN.com

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Comments

  1. Ginnie Hutto says

    This is way to complicated this early in the morning without my 10th cup of coffee. Great review though.

    Reply

  11. Nina says

    I read this a few weeks ago and I did like it. It was a bit roller-coaster-y but in a sorta good way. Ill read more of this author’s books – if I ever get through my mile long TBR list. 😀

    Reply

  16. Karen Henderson says

    Great review it made my coffee a lot better think I need to read this one like you it’s on my Kindle just haven’t made it to it yet

    Reply

  22. MARY says

    This book made me cry, I Loved it! When an author can put emotion into a book that affects the readers, (editors asside), it is well written. It was Hot, funny, sexy and HEART warming.

    Reply

  32. Tina Hammond says

    This looks like a great read… and I love the teasers. Thanks for offering a giveaway opportunity *keeping my fingers crossed*

    Reply

  47. Atalia M. says

    I’ve heard great things about this book. I’d love to get the chance to read this. Thanks for the opportunity! 🙂

    Reply

  48. Nicole says

    I’m in love with this cover! I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a pretty cover. Though the book itself is a work of art, all art tells a story, books just do that with words.

    Reply

  49. Sharon Chalk says

    If I don’t win this,lol, I will purchase it because you said its has a HEA because that what romance books should be,if theres no HEA it should be a fiction or some other category,not romance but I am really curious about the twist you mentioned because it sounded not like a happy twist,but you said HEA so Ill risk it if Im not lucky enough to win it lol

    Reply

  51. Erika says

    Sounds good! Added it to the never ending list of TBR which I will never in my life have enough time to finish them all! Lmao

    Reply

  52. Bookworm Brandee says

    I’ve had When You’re Ready on my wish list for awhile. Now I really want to read it. I love that a 4 yr old plays such an integral role! And I’m a fan of a slow build up to romance. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ana!

    Reply

  61. Jessie L says

    Enjoyed reading the post for this book! It’s going on my TBRs. Thank you for the giveaway!

    Reply

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