GUEST POST AND REVIEW: WHEN IT'S RIGHT by JEANETTE GREY

Today I have a review and guest post from Jeanette Grey, author of When It's Right.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: 12/3/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 79
Source: Author
Rating: 4 stars

"He's the last resolution she intends to break. "

Still licking his wounds after a messy breakup, Nate is at loose ends for New Year's Eve and itching for a wild and crazy adventure to jolt him out of his rut. Now if he could only convince his best friend, Cassie, to break away for an impromptu road trip to Times Square.

Fun as it sounds, Cassie is reluctant to accept Nate's invitation. Little does he know, she's made resolutions of her own-resolutions about finally getting over her long-standing crush on him. Telling herself this trip will be the perfect "last hurrah," she packs her bag.

The trip is a fiasco from the outset. A car that won't start, a freak storm that strands them on the side of the road, and a long drive with too much time for true confessions. Cassie's rocks Nate to the core, leaving him wondering if the best thing that ever happened to him has been right in front of him all along.

Warning: Contains two best friends, a secret crush, and a road trip that leads to tow trucks, unexpected hotel-room sharing, epiphanies, sex, and more.

 

The Story Behind When It's Right

 

While I'm often a little gun-shy about writing tropes, this book features my very favorite one: friends to lovers. It's a trope that never feels tired to me, simply because that's how the greatest love story of my own life went. My husband and I were best friends for four years before we finally got our act together, and I don't think I'll ever get sick of writing that moment of awakening when two people who are already close come to realize they can be so much more.

       

I worked as a teacher for three years, but Cassie is the first character I've ever written who is one. She's also the first blonde, and the first heroine with remotely athletic inclinations.

     

Nate's also something of a first, but only in the way that he isn't motivated by a tragic backstory. Rather, he's a fairly well-adjusted guy who just happens to have made a series of fairly terrible decisions when it comes to love.

       

I started writing this story shortly after learning that my husband had gotten an amazing new job—and that we'd have to move from North Carolina to upstate New York. I didn't even really realize what I was doing until much later, but the plot arc of the book evolved into the main characters taking a road trip from North Carolina to New York City. Sometimes the mind works in mysterious (and not-so-mysterious) ways.

 

One of the major turning points of the book centers around a car accident, where a sudden storm sends our intrepid hero and heroine careening off the road. This time I knew exactly what my subconscious was doing—I had walked away basically unharmed from a similar wreck just a few weeks before. My arms were actually shaking as I wrote the scene.


The only person more shocked than I was that I decided to write a New Year's Eve book was my husband. While we've had our fair share of wild and crazy New Year's Eves, recently we've come to find that we prefer spending them quietly, at home, with just the two of us. Then again, maybe that just made it all the more fun to throw my characters into a New Year's Eve that they spend anything but quietly. J

My Review
I adore holiday novellas, particularly those that surround Christmas and New Years. But I especially love the novellas that have so much emotion in such a small space. The novellas filled with beautiful writing and a heartfelt story that has me wishing for more, yet fulfilled. When It's Right is one such novella, and Jeanette Grey has once again won me with her gorgeous, emotion-fueled writing.

When It's Right is the story of two friends, Nate and Cassie, who've never tried to be more. Cassie has always seen Nate as more, even had a crush on him. But she is resigned to the knowledge that he will never feel that way about her. Nate has stumbled from relationship to relationship, but after the last disastrous end, he finally recognizes that something is missing.

A last-minute road trip to Time's Square for New Year's Eve sets Cassie and Nate in motion. But the trip isn't smooth sailing, it is filled with one bad turn after another. The close proximity and the heightened emotions lead Cassie and Nate to the realization that what they've both always wanted is right there in their hand. Will they have the courage to grab the opportunity for love?

When It's Right was by turns funny and sad. It was also reflective. It was sensual and romantic. This was a fulfilling novella, and Jeanette Grey is an extremely gifted writer. If you're looking for a gorgeous holiday novella, please give When It's Right a try.



Favorite Quotes:

  This was right. He held Cassie closer. Because that wasn't all it was like. It was like every other moment he'd had with her over the past five years--all those moments of friendship and companionship and happiness so profound he hadn't even realized their source. All the smiles and laughter. The casual touches and the embrace of one friend wrapping around another. And it was more. So much more.   ~eARC, 43%


  His mouth opened, and there was nothing but this kiss. His kiss. The press of tongue and a glance of teeth. It was wet and sloppy, careless and yet firm. It tasted like letting go and giving in. Like something so wrong and so right.   ~eARC 50%

 

Purchase When It's Right

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Samhain

 

 

 

About the author:

Jeanette Grey started out with degrees in physics and painting, which she dutifully applied to stunted careers in teaching, technical support, and advertising. When none of that panned out, she started writing. In her spare time, Jeanette enjoys making pottery, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and her pet frog. She lives, loves, and writes in upstate New York.

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