In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae is a holiday second chance romance novel about Morgan Ross, an event planner in Los Angeles, and Rachel Reed, the ex-best friend who broke her heart seven years ago.
Morgan is backed into a corner after making a huge mistake, one slip-up which ended up in the tabloids and meant bad publicity for the company she works for. To save her career, she half-heartedly agrees to help fundraise for a struggling tree farm back in her hometown.
Of course, one of the first people she runs into at Fern Falls happens to be Rachel Reed. Morgan finds out that the event is for Rachel’s struggling tree farm. Despite having second thoughts about accepting the job, Morgan puts her effort into it enthusiastically, not only to save her career back in LA but to save her small town’s very heart and soul from corporate greed.
Will Morgan and Rachel be able to move on from their past hurt and will their efforts be able to save the town?
Pros And My Favourite Parts
In the Event of Love is described as having the makings of a hallmark movie and it did. For instance, the meddling of a secondary character in the main characters’ matchmaking, and corporate zealots wanting to invest in the small town for their agenda.
I enjoyed the author’s humour and wit which was mostly reflected in the inner dialogues and playful banter. The whole cast was a delight to read, from their quirks, strengths, and weaknesses, but most importantly, their camaraderie. The characters were so likable that I even managed to like a character that was only mentioned briefly. I was touched by the sense of community that Kae was able to convey across the pages.
The romance between the main characters was sweet and their chemistry together was undeniably steamy.
Even though it mostly felt like a rom-com, I was deeply affected by the descriptions of a character’s grief or heartbreak. These scenes were written well and it made me want to give them a warm hug (and I’m not much of a hugger).
Cons And Heads Up
A heads up for those who don’t particularly like the formula where there’s a huge conflict scene near the end of the book, this one has it. I didn’t mind it as much as I thought that Courtney Kae did a decent job at resolving the issue in such a short amount of time. It did not feel like it was rushed.
Note, there is mention of a loss of a parent, alcoholism, and divorce for another character’s parent.
The Conclusion
If readers are looking for a typically light-hearted read with some chuckles that takes place in a small town, then this book is for them. It’s also a nice book to read during the winter holidays.
Excerpt from In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae
“There’s no event, then.” She stands abruptly and saunters toward the door. Not that I notice any sort of purposeful saunter. Maybe she’s just good at walking, okay?
“This isn’t my fault,” I say, giving Ben the side-eye of the century.
“All right, Ross.” Rachel turns and brushes past Ben, bending low to get up in my space. “What are you so scared of? If no one could do a better job saving the farm, what are you running from? You just arrived, and you’ve already decided you’re too good for this place?” She straightens. Runs a hand over her braid. When she speaks again, her voice is tired. “You’ve been back for a day, so it’s about time you leave without any explanation or goodbye, right? That’s your style.”
I don’t back down for a second. I rise, making my muscles stretch so my eyes at least meet her nose. “Why would you care about a goodbye, when you didn’t care about me while I was here?”
She squints. “That’s what you thought?”
Oh, we’re doing this. “You didn’t speak to me for months. Why does it matter to you that I left?”
Rachel squeezes the back of her neck and goes silent. Like I knew she would. She never cared if I was here or not.
“So . . . this is progress. This is something, yeah? Communication is good,” Ben says.
We glare at him.
“Communication is something you need to learn,” I say.
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Series
In the Event of Love
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 9781496738950
Publisher: Kensington Books
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