Anyone who loves a Happily Ever After love story will love "Tripped Up Love." It starts out sounding depressing as hell (premise: young widow of 39 raising three kids by herself while still grieving), but the book is so much more than that, and isn't sad or morose at all. Julie does an amazing job pulling you in very quickly to the wonderful surprise relationship that blooms when Heather (literally) stumbles upon a chance meeting with hunky author and Adam Levine look alike, Peter. It's a fun and quirky roller coaster ride from there as Heather--not looking for love at all--quickly finds her heart entangled with Peter's, while overcoming her own guilt, grief, and Facebook naysayers, all while navigating the tricky waters of introducing a new man into a family of grieving children. Julie does an amazing job getting the reader invested in the outcome of Heather and Peter's love affair. We hold our breath while they splash into unchartered romantic territory for them both, sigh a big awwwww while Peter does crazy, romantic things to woo Heather and her kids, and jump up and down applauding when Heather gets her very unique, unexpected, and humor filled HEA. Although Julie could've really turned the screwdriver and punched readers in the gut with lots of sadness, the story is actually quite uplifting, funny, tender, and realistic from Heather's perspective as a single mom dealing with every day mama drama. Heather may be falling in love unexpectedly, but she still has to deal with small town gossip, carpool schedules, a jaded assistant, and three kids who aren't ready for a mom who's dating. The storyline is simple (no crazy, outlandish reveals that cause the reader to question WTF?!), but the characters are rich, lovable, and inviting, and had me flying through the book in less than two days (and yes, I have kids, so it's not an easy task). I'm just so grateful I read this after book #2 "The New Ever After" was already published so that I don't have to wait to find out what happens next in Heather & Peter's love story! Julie Farley is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Tripped Up LoveI really enjoyed Tripped Up Love, because it had so many elements to it, yet never felt bogged down with too much plot. There is a lot of emotion when it comes to Heather losing her husband, but it was it was great to watch her journey and how she tackles single parenthood and the sheer loss of losing her partner at such a young age. As we transition into watching Heather move forward, it’s impossible not to cheer from her. I’ve seen others describe her as awkward, and I think that’s a great word for it! Her flaws made her seem much more real, which I can appreciate. But she meets Peter and that’s when we get the romance, which I always enjoy reading about. I think the editing could have been tightened a bit, but it didn’t totally distract me from what I thought was cute read.
What do You think about Tripped Up Love (2013)?
Sweet, sad, funny, sexy. Pick this up on your way to the beach this summer. Great job, Julie!
—bobbypina
Mediocre chick lit. Redeemed partly by its Richmond setting.
—ghazal
3 1/2 - Cute book looking forward to the next one.
—Charms
