About the Book:
Better Late Than Never – A Second Chance Seasoned (over 30) Romance set on the Beaches and Boardwalks of the New Jersey Shore.
Checklist for Best Romance Novel Ever
✓ BFF does not get left behind!
✓ A dress with working pockets!
✓ Toast to Girls Night Out!
✓ Toast to Damn the Patriarchy!
Checklist for Best Couple Ever
✓ He’s kind, compassionate and patient.
✓ He’s sexy, ripped and funny.
✓ She’s loud, bold and strong.
✓ She’s devoted to her BFF and her Art.
✓ They’re working together to raise their teenager.
Checklist for Best Hero Ever
✓ He makes a gift for her BFF!
✓ He’s sweet at that Time of the Month!
✓ He buys her a Romance Novel!
✓ He’s a Devoted Dad!
✓ He takes as long as she needs!
Carrie’s a passionate artist and a Jersey Girl with seawater in her veins. She makes her art from the treasures she collects each day, walking the beaches of the New Jersey Shore.
Manny’s an architect and college professor. An Apache Native from New Mexico, he’s more at home in the mountains, but he moves to the Jersey Shore to be a better Dad to their teenage daughter.
Carrie doesn’t do calm. Manny’s quiet and takes his time to react. They were college sweethearts. Now, they’re strangers, each remembering the past differently.
Manny discovers his new boss wants to tear down Carrie’s house. Carrie will blow the roof off herself if she finds out. Manny must keep it from her, but there’s another secret that she’s been keeping from him. What will it take for them to learn to trust each other?
Together they will redefine the meaning of love, family and home.
Guest Reviewer Frannie’s Thoughts:
The book is a wonderful romance novel. It is a book you snuggle up with on a cold, rainy day. It is about a multicultural couple that meet in college and fall in love. Carrie and Manny are young and impetuous, they have their fling and move along. Not so fast! Their passion results in a baby unbeknownst to our hero, Manny, and then the story starts. Manny is a Chiricahua Mescalero Apache native from New Mexico and Carrie is a Jersey girl from the shores of New Jersey. With nothing in common except passion they leave college and go their separate ways.
Fast forward 15 years and Carrie decides to tell Manny about his little girl. At this point Manny is an architect and a college professor. Carrie is a community activist and an artist. Manny works diligently to connect with his daughter and decides to relocate his life and career to be close to Carrie and Emily, his now 15-year-old daughter.
They are still drawn to one another. The chemistry and the descriptions of the love scenes are riveting. The author does a fantastic job of describing the heat and desire between the two of them. Manny who is kind, compassionate and patient is infatuated by Carrie who is loud, bold, and strong. There is a woman from their past who stalks Manny and introduces a haunting cast over their relationship, especially when Manny ends up working for her father as the architect that is to destroy Carrie’s home.
Both have secrets that they are keeping from one another. As the story unfolds, the reader tries to figure out what their secrets are – to no avail. Author Austen keeps bringing in switches and twists that keep you on edge.
Working together as a struggling couple trying to revive their relationship and independently being parents of a teenager is not an easy task for any of the characters. Together Carrie and Manny redefine the meaning of love, family, and home.
It was an easy, enjoyable read. I recommend it to all readers who love romance novels.
¸.•*´(¸.•*´(¸.•*´¸.•*´★`*•.¸`*•.¸)`*•.¸)`*•.¸
About the Author: Ada Austen is from the New Jersey shore. “Better Late than Never” is her second novel. She loves to walk along the beach and draws much of her creativity from the ocean.
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