I’ve been anticipating another story from Baxter Brown. Her debut novel, Cameron’s Rules was the first romance novel I read for the blog that had me excited. Her writing has these golden nuggets of imagery that really leave me reeling. I also enjoy first person narration which is hard to find in the genre.
Here’s the plot –
Fifteen years ago, Kate and Lauren met in their college library where a budding friendship slowly turned into something deeper. Ending in heartbreak, Kate left town to pursue law school and the two women went on with their lives, never forgetting the other. Now Kate has moved back to Renfrew with her ten year old daughter to start a career that gives her more time at home. Kate wasn’t expecting to find Lauren still in town but after running into Lauren’s own little girl, she quickly realizes that Lauren will be hard to avoid. Forced together by their daughters’ friendship, Kate and Lauren must resolve past heartache in order to rekindle the love that still beats between them.
Something that I thought worked really well was the use of flashbacks in regards to this being a “second chance” story. We switch from past to present in alternating chapters to obtain the full picture of what happened. I liked experiencing the relationship as it happened and then coming back to the present to deal with the aftermath. For most of the book there’s a strong sense of mystery. We don’t know why things didn’t work out until the end. As other factors unfolded, they gave way for reasoning to current behavior. I felt like I could understand and feel Kate’s pain relating to the breakup and that her behavior was justified in the present. I would have been pretty angry and bitter too if I was in her shoes. Even so, Kate bordered on the line between rightful anger and self-destruction, sometimes dipping more into the latter, which only made her more relatable to me.
I may be one of the few readers out there who enjoys a bit of infidelity in their fiction. I know we all like to create these morally sound worlds where everyone obeys the “rules,” but I commend any novel that breaks the mold, especially this one. Lauren is married when she meets Kate. Her husband, Drew, is mostly clueless and there is some sneaking around involved. We don’t hate Drew, and he’s not a villain by any means, but it’s clear he’s checked out and doesn’t appreciate Lauren. Does that give justification to her actions? Well, who are we to judge? It’s clear that Kate and Lauren are happiest together. Life is short. Mistakes are made. Love finds a way to win regardless.
If you’re looking for a slow burn that isn’t afraid to mirror the real pain of heartache, and if you like your stories to include the creative discussions one can only entertain with children, then Following Chance might be for you.
Follow Baxter Brown here: @_baxter.brown_ and @baxter_brown