An impulsive decision. A twist of fate. A new life.
On September 11, 2001, Brett Cooper checks into a flight to go on an interview for a job he doesn’t want in a city where he doesn’t want to live. All to make his wife happy. He loves her, but he’s not happy in his marriage. Or in his body.
When boarding begins, Brett panics and gives his ticket away. Then the plane strikes the World Trade … World Trade Center, giving Brett a second chance. Finally, he can live the life he always wanted. Brett embraces his “death” and disappears. For eighteen years, everything is peaceful and easy. Until Jess reappears.
Jess used her husband’s life insurance to go to medical school. Unfortunately, she’s not really a widow. To complicate matters, Jess realizes that the love she held for her spouse is alive and well. The spouse who transitioned into Christa while they were apart. Together, Christa and Jess must figure out what the future holds.
Can love conquer all, or is it better sometimes to let go?
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He is going for an interview for a job, in the city but he wants nothing to do with any of it. He is about to board when he gives his ticket away. The plane so one that crashes the world trade centre. According to everyone he is dead so he becomes the woman he has always wanted to be. What will happen if he bumps into his wife? Follow him to see what is going to happen
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When I first stumbled upon this book I knew I had to read it. The concept jumped out at me and I was curious about the story. I bought it as soon as I could and started reading it shortly after. Finding Tranquility is a beautiful love story, about changes, love, making mistakes and finding yourself. It deals with some tough topics, but the tone wasn’t overly emotional, it’s more the subject matter itself that was emotional. I really enjoyed reading it and following the characters along.
After a short chapter set in 2019, Finding Tranquility starts in 2001 on the day 9/11. Brett is supposed to fly to Los Angeles for a job interview, but due to a panic attack never boards the plane. When he finds out his plane is one of the planes that crashed into the world trade center he sees this as a sign to start a new life and figure out who he is, or actually who she is as he ends up transitioning into a women. Jess thinks her husband died in the crash and is now a widow. Until years later when in 2019 the two bump into one another.
This book deals with some tough topics, but overall I thought it mostly was a story of hope and finding yourself. And while the subject matter itself can be tough to read about, the way it’s written isn’t as overly emotional as I had expected. Although there were definitely some emotional moments and some scenes that were hard to read.
The book contains 4 parts of the story, the first part is Brett/ Christa’s point of view, then part 2 is Jess’ point of view, both set in 2001. Then part 3 and 4 take place in 2019 and switches between the 2 point of views. I thought this method worked well and I liked how part 2 wasn’t too long as it was so sad to read about her mourning her husband, while as the reader you already know he isn’t dead. And while I understood why Christa made the decision to leave, I also thought it was really unfair to Jess. The dual point of view worked well, but in the later parts I sometimes had to remind myself or double check whose point of view I had at the moment.
I liked seeing these two figure out what to do now after they meet each other again. Jess has to deal with seeing her husband again and realizing he’s been alive all this time and is now a she. She has some emotions to work through as well as some fears that Christa will leave her again. I thought this was realistically written and I liked how it didn’t get dramatized. I also liked how Jess did her best to use the correct pronouns when referring to Christa even while she was still confused at times. It felt realistically and also very respectful.
The book also has some surprises and reveals along the way and directions I hadn’t expected. While the first two parts were more emotional due to the events involved, the later two parts has quite a different tone. It had a more gentle tone with the characters figuring out how to make this new reality work and ofcourse they hit some bumps along the way. It worked really well and I liked how the author told the story.
I liked reading about Jess and Christa, from what we learn of their past it’s clear they were best friends before that turned into more and I liked we got to learn about some of the scenes from their past. It gave me a better feel for their past romance and how that shaped their current romance now. I liked them together and could feel their love for one another even though they still had things to figure out. There were a few time skips and a few parts of their romance that almost seemed missing. There are scenes we have and then in later parts it’s later and it felt like I missed part of their romance progression. I would’ve liked a bit more about seeing Jess deal with how her husband was now her wife and how to deal with that and the emotions that go along with it. That part is there, but I would’ve liked to see it explored a bit more.
I thought the author handled the whole transgender topic well too. She showed part of the transition, while also showing the difficulties Christa dealt with and also how people sometimes don’t understand this and react with aggression, which was sad to read about. Seeing people who she had known when she was still Brett react to the change also was interesting and I liked how we get a range of different reactions. I would’ve liked to see a bit more of how Ethan reacted though as that seemed a bit limited, like we only saw what he thought when he had time to deal with it already.
One thing that didn’t work for me was the ending, it felt very abrupt and as there was no epilogue, we also didn’t get that satisfying ending where we see them together and get a glimpse of the life they’re building. There were some nice twists at the end and I just wanted a bit more time to have those events sink in and have a nice epilogue to wrap up their story.
To summarize: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a beautiful story about love, change, hope and finding yourself. It deals with some difficult topics and some parts made me almost cry, but the writing style wasn’t overly emotional which I liked. There also is very little drama in this book, which worked for me. There are four different parts of which the first two take place in 2001, the first part is Brett/ Christa’s point of view only, part 2 is Jess only and the later two parts are dual pov and take place in 2019. I liked the romance and seeing how these characters dealt with encountering each other again after all that time. It was well done and I liked seeing how their relationship developed, although it did feel like we missed a few pieces of their romance development. I thought the author handled the transgender topic well, showing part of the progress and also the struggles transgender people deal with. I thought the book did end rather abruptly, I would’ve liked a bit more time to have the last events sink in and I would’ve loved an epilogue to have a glimpse of what their future looks like. All in all I thought this was a great story and I am really happy I read it.
This book felt like a metaphor for the things that someone desperate to finally find their place in the world might do to get there. I thought there was so much about the story that might invite judgement and yet so much that says but by the grace there might go I if I felt that level of desperation. I am going to look for other reads by this author. This one certainly grabbed my attention and kept it as I tried to empathize mostly and suspend criticizing to understand the main characters choices and path.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A most unique premise.
I can honestly say that this was a most unusual premise. Jess is married to Brett. Who escapes his wife and life to become Christa. Years later, they meet again and have to reconcile feelings and revelations.
voluntarily reviewed
The emotions run the gamut in Finding Tranquility, and I felt every single one of them. At any given point, I was as likely to want to hug one of these characters as I was to want to shake the daylights out of them, Brett/Christa in particular. The thing is Brett didn’t always make the wisest choices before or after becoming Christa, but the author tells the story in a way that those actions are understandable to some extent. Some more than others, but even when I disagreed, I still found the character likable. I really can’t speak about the authenticity of the transgender representation here because I have no direct experience, but I am at an age where I can look back and see just how far we’ve come in terms of acceptance, and even how far we still need to go, and I will say that it feels like the author did her homework. A lot of this story is about Brett’s journey to becoming Christa, but the big story here is, as the title claims, a love story. It’s about loving the person regardless of gender and finding your happy in a world that isn’t always so accepting. Gender and sexual preference aside, Finding Tranquility is a moving story about love, loss, acceptance, and forgiveness.
A series of calamities and new beginnings
Brett and Jess had been friends since they were kids. They went to school together, went to college together and 9/11 happened.
Their worlds changed in unexpected ways.
Could they find their way back together after all that passed in the interim? At what costs?
Making things work in their new normal- not so simple after all
Intense finding themselves story.