Chasing Someday by Crystal Walton #BookReview and #Giveaway

A country boy looking to win his best friend’s heart. A waitress afraid of giving hers away. And one crazy, impromptu dating plan that’s about to change everything.

Ex-model Livy Hensley has exactly three talents: making coffee, landing herself in the most awkward moments known to man, and failing miserably at relationships. But when the sweetest southern boy on the planet offers to be your dating coach, who could say no? Between struggling to open a café and trying to atone for a consequence of her past, Livy can use all the help she can get. Besides, what could possibly go wrong on a few practice dates with your best friend?

Chase Thompson’s no stranger to hard work. If that’s what it takes to prove to Livy they should be together, then he’s all in. He can handle pretending he’s not hopelessly in love with her. Sort of. Almost. Okay, nowhere close. But with a conflicting solution to his family’s greatest trial on the line, the stakes of keeping his dating coach plan from backfiring have never been higher.

Up against the countdown of choices, Chase and Livy must find the courage to risk what they fear most for the someday they’ve always hoped for.

My Thoughts:

Have you ever heard someone say that a book gave them “all the feels”? Well, Chasing Someday, the fourth and final book in Crystal Walton’s Home in You Series, is one of those “all the feels” books. I laughed (out loud, choke on my food kind of laughing), I teared up, I got mad, I swooned/melted/had to fan myself, I stressed/worried, I sighed with happiness. Just about did it all with this book.

But, y’all, I gotta be honest and say I had a little bit of a love-hate relationship with the characters in this book for a period of time. One minute I was Team Chase, the next I was Team Livy, and the one after that I was Team I Want to Strangle Them Both. They both had a few moments where I was about ready to throttle them. I would have been fully prepared to shake some sense into them had I been allowed to be a supporting character in the book. Might as well have been for all the talking I did to them as they did all the things that drove me crazy.

I don’t how many times there were “almost” moments in the book—almost kisses (those were pretty swoon worthy), almost telling each other how they felt, almost sharing their pasts. But. They. Just. Kept. Getting. Interrupted. It landed just shy of the borderline of too many things left unsaid too many times for me. Thankfully, the ending fully made up for it.

And have you ever seen the movie Meet the Fockers? Or heard of Murphy’s Law—Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong? This book had it’s fair share of those moments, too. I kept thinking over and over how I just wanted something to go right for them. Movies and books where things just continually go wrong, especially when the characters are trying so hard for things NOT to go wrong, whew! They’re rough on me. I reached a point where I flat out didn’t know how much more I could take. Until. Until I got to the end and realized that the frenzied, frantic pace of Livy’s life and mind, of everything that could go wrong, going wrong painted perfectly the picture of what it is to be spinning our wheels in an attempt to earn grace. And after the war I’d been through with the characters, the peace found at the ending was so much more real, with so much more depth to it because of what I had to go through to get there. So, I have to say, “Well played, Ms. Walton, well played!” 🙂

In the end, after it was all said and done, I realized Chase just might be my favorite Home In You hero. He’s so steadfast, sweet, and encouraging to Livy, not just accepting her for who she is, but loving her for it. And Livy, well, she might just be my favorite Home In You heroine. She’s so funny, adorable, and endearing with her hilarious quirks. If a situation has the potential to turn awkard, with Livy involved, you can be guaranteed it will! If it has the potential to for all the crazy to happen in it, with Livy involved, you can be guaranteed it will! And it all kept me laughing throughout the book. 

One thing (among many) that I appreciate about Ms. Walton’s books is that there’s always more to it than the romance. There’s going to be some serious soul searching, some serious “a-ha!” moments, and some serious character growth. With Chasing Someday, one of the things that really stuck out to me was just how often shame keeps us from divulging the secrets we so desperately need to share so they don’t hold us captive anymore, so that the chains can begin to be loosed, so the healing process can start. And just how often we look at others and think they have the perfect life or that they have it all together and then look at our own and think about all the wrong we’ve done and how terribly others would think of us if they knew. Thankfully, Ms. Walton takes us beyond that to show us the arms of grace waiting for us. 

So, I would say, get a copy of this book, pull up a comfy chair with a cup of masterfully made coffee or a cold glass of southern sweet tea, and get ready for one heck of an emotional roller coaster ride that ends with one amazingly heart melting ending. 🙂 (Word of warning—you might want to be careful when you take a drink, or it might just come spewing out on a laugh!)

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**GIVEAWAY**
I’m keeping it simple this time. For a chance to win a Kindle version of Ms. Walton’s Chasing Someday, leave a comment below and I will enter your name in the drawing! Tell me if you’ve read any of Ms. Walton’s other books. Or let me know if you’re a coffee drinker or tea drinker. How do you like your tea/coffee? Hot? Cold? Sugar? Or just say hi!