Review: Meant To Be Mine by Becky Wade



Meant To Be Mine by Becky Wade
(A Porter Family Novel #2)
April 29, 2014
Bethany House Publishers
384 pages
Genre: Christian Romance (clean)
Source: eARC from publisher for Honest review

Book Synopsis:

Ty Porter has always been irresistible to Celia Park. All through high school--irresistible. When their paths cross again after college--still irresistible. This time, though, Ty feels exactly the same way about Celia. Their whirlwind romance deposits them at a street-corner Las Vegas wedding chapel.

The next morning they wake to a marriage certificate and a dose of cold reality. Celia's ready to be Ty's wife, but Ty's not ready to be anybody's husband. As a professional bull rider, he lives on the road and can't bring himself to settle down.

Five and a half years pass. Celia's buried her dreams so that she can afford to raise her daughter. Ty's achieved all of his goals. Or thought he had, until he looks again into the face of the one woman he couldn't forget and into the face of the child he never knew he had.

How much will Ty sacrifice to make Celia's dreams come true, to win her trust, and to prove to her that their spontaneous marriage can still become the love of a lifetime?

My Review:

This one starts with a bang. In the first two chapters I was floored by the decisions these two characters made. It truly had the makings of a great read. But as time progressed, I found myself increasing frustrated with these characters. Talk about hard-headed!  By the 50% mark, I had to set the book aside and take a break for a day because I wasn't feeling like we were getting anywhere. Yes, the scenes and locations were progressing. But the main characters themselves were not progressing much at all with their personalities or humility. This wasn't a quick read, and the repetitiveness affected my enjoyment.

I know many have been swooning over Ty the bull rider, but I found that his "charms" and flirtations didn't work on me. The whole Tawny thing really bothered me after a while. I didn't get it, and I hated the way Ty would refer to her. Seriously not cool. And the way Ty and Celia would drone on and on about how they shouldn't fall for the other or they weren't right for the other or being a couple would be bad for Addie or blah blah blah. Initially, sure, I could buy these arguments, but after a while, it was just annoying and not believable. Fortunately, at some point I started enjoying the story again, and appreciated what the author was trying to do with it, and how the characters finally grew, but I just never fell in love.  

I will say that I loved the first book in this Porter Family series, Undeniably Yours. Each book can be read as a standalone. And although I didn't love Meant To Be Mine, I still plan on continuing this series. I am very intrigued by the other Porters and look forward to their stories, as well as anything else Becky Wade writes.

3 STARS

 

BOOK LINKS:

AMAZON  *  GOODREADS