Sometimes, love is as easy as A to Z…

Synopsis

Experience has told Jenna Oakhurst that Happy Ever After may happen in all the best stories, but Happy For Now is the best one ought to expect in real life. Yet lately even that isn’t quite enough, so when a strange set of circumstances leads her to discover a mysterious letter in an abandoned storage unit, she takes the chance to embark on a journey into the unknown…just like the heroines from the storybooks.

Reaching out to the letter’s author, Henry Somners, changes Jenna’s world irrevocably and she starts to realise that the magic she believed in as a child might not be such a fanciful notion after all…

My review

Growing up, Jenna Oakhurst has learned that Happy Ever Afters are only for in stories, but in real life there are only Happy For Nows. And proof is her current relationship.
Matt is more focused on his way to make money without too many efforts, and that is the same way he sees his relationship: not putting too much effort in it.
Being a helping hand again with clearing out an abandoned storage unit, Jenna finds a mysterious letter and she is determined to find whoever wrote it to return it to sender.
And with her success, as she finds the author, Henry Somners, will she also find her Happy Ever After, or is meeting Henry again a case of being too good to be true? 

When we were young, didn’t we all believe that Happy Ever After was a real thing? That one day we would meet our Prince Charming and it would be all sunshine and rainbows from there on?
And with growing up, we learned that Love isn’t like that and is always a work in progress, where two people who love each other have to put in the same efforts to keep things working. 

In this story, Jenna doesn’t believe in love, not even in the sense of the keep on working on it version. She only believes that love can give you happiness for a limited moment.
And seeing Jenna like that saddened me, because, despite me not having found my Prince Charming myself, I keep on believing that he is out there somewhere. And that sometimes we have to encounter many frogs before our Prince emerges. 

Jenna isn’t happy in her relationship, and I couldn’t blame her. It’s one thing if both parties are equally putting an effort in it, but it’s obvious that Matt is more concerned with his friend and dubious affairs, than investing his time and love in Jenna.

However, Jenna is obvious also a romantic type. And this side clearly emerges when she finds the mysterious letter.
She wants to find the writer of it, and even after meeting Henry, she does whatever she can to help him out, even if that means using a scheme to get his camera back from Matt. 

I also admired her strength in a way. Because when she finally had enough, she makes a clear break from Matt, choosing herself for once.

And in my opinion, that is when the real story starts…
Yes, it’s important to know her background, and how she meets Henry, but when she finally moves out of her place and stays with her sister and her partner, the real Jenna appears. 

The more I read about Jenna, the more I liked her. She is a kind person, offering helping hands wherever she can. She is also funny, as she shows with her colleagues. But she is also righteous. Even if there is one colleague that pushes her buttons, she still handles his expenses according the rules of the firm and when the truth comes out, even then she shows her kind heart, no matter how easy it would have been to get some ‘revenge’. 

To be truly honest, the bit that truly stole my heart, was the guinea pig rescue. I never heard of such a rescue before, but seeing the efforts and love was put in helping those poor animals and the efforts to keep the rescue, warmed my heart. And even if I am not a fan of the candy – type, Snickers stole my heart! 

And seeing how she and Henry are growing closer, was just wonderful to read about. Add that Jenna also has a physical disadvantage yet Henry sees the Power Woman she truly is, made me even believe more in finding Prince Charming! 

Yes, Henry made me furious at one specific point in the story, but seeing how he cares about Jenna and seeing how his heart gets stolen by the guinea pigs, made me still believe in the good in him. 

This was a wonderful story to read, about how hardships in our lives have twisted our vision of love, and can even make someone fear to love.
There are so many topics handled in this book, but all handled in a subtle, nice way without ever getting too judgy or teachy.
While reading, I understood perfectly what this author tried to tell us, and while the messages were important, it never made the smile disappear of my face.