Review of Finding Home by Jamey Moody, audiobook narrated by Morgan A. Southard
When assumptions are made, people get hurt. That’s one of the two important lessons the characters of this book learn, the other one being that there’s more to feeling good in your body than weight.
Frankie knows all about that. With her best friends Stella and Desi, she’s one of the owners of Your Way, the kind of gym where even I would probably feel comfortable. Olivia is tired of complaining about the weight she’s gained and convinces her best friend Sofia to join her for a tour of Your Way. They both end up signing up.
The chemistry between Frankie and Olivia is instantaneous and for a while, it seems as if this will be a sweet light romance, with Olivia learning to love her body again as she builds muscle and discovers new strengths in herself. But when Frankie’s ex comes back in the picture, the romance that seemed meant-to-be starts crumbling.
At first, I really liked Frankie, enough to overlook what could be called biphobia when she talked about her ex, but as the story went on, her readiness to assume started to annoy me. You’re a grown woman, Frankie. If you want to know if Olivia went on a date with another woman while you were giving your ex another chance, ask her! Yes, I talked to Frankie a lot in my head. Olivia deserves better, which Frankie will learn, but not before they both get hurt (not irremediably, fortunately).
I enjoyed the first half of the story a lot then I felt the second half dragged on a bit. It didn’t help that while I really liked the narrator’s voice, I didn’t always know who was talking. However, one thing I loved was a twist in the romance that I didn’t see coming at all. I can’t say more without spoiling and the surprise of it was a big part of why I loved it so I’ll stop here. It made everything more real and less romance-novel-y.
I also liked the secondary characters a lot, which is promising, as this is the first book in a series and the following ones focus on some of those characters. Book 2, Finding Family, is Desi’s story and book 3, Finding Forever, will be Stella’s. Stella who, besides Olivia, was my favourite character in this one.
