Ty Porter has always been irresistible to Celia Park. All through high school–irresistible. When their paths cross again after college–still irresistible. This time, though, Ty seems to feel exactly the same way about Celia. Their whirlwind romance deposits them at a street-corner Las Vegas wedding chapel. The next morning they wake to a marriage certificate and a dose of cold reality. Celia’s … reality. Celia’s ready to be Ty’s wife, but Ty’s not ready to be her husband. He’s a professional bull rider, he lives on the road, and he’s long planned to settle down with the hometown girl he’s known since childhood.
Five and a half years pass. Celia’s buried her dreams so that she can afford to raise her daughter. Ty’s achieved all of his goals. Or thought he had, until he looks again into the eyes of the woman he couldn’t forget and into the face of the child he never knew he had.
How much will Ty sacrifice to win back Celia’s trust and prove to her that their spontaneous marriage can still become the love of a lifetime?
Praise for Becky Wade
“Definitely one for the keeper shelf!”–USA Today on Undeniably Yours
“A sweet contemporary romance that will make for the perfect summer read.”–Novel Crossing on Undeniably Yours
“A feisty heroine, romance, and comedy make this a fabulous debut and Wade an author to follow.”–Library Journal on My Stubborn Heart
“A perfect 5 out of 5 stars…can’t wait to find more from Becky in the near future. This is a must-read for your summer love stories!”–Reviews from the Heart blog on My Stubborn Heart
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The story has several surprising turns that kept my interest. I loved Addie and Ty. After a while, I was frustrated with Celia’s continued lack of trust despite Ty proving himself as dependable and trustworthy over and over again. I felt that part dragged on a bit.
Interesting secondary characters added to the plot. Forgiveness is the underlying theme. I enjoyed the story.
I was a daddy’s girl. So I’ve always loved stories that feature tender father/daughter scenes, like . . .
Atticus Finch including precocious Jean Louise in his nightly newspaper reading.
Or shy Matthew Cuthbert picking out a dress with puffed sleeves for Anne Shirley.
Charles Ingalls playing the fiddle as Half Pint and Mary fall asleep.
Oh, and that scene from Little Women, where Father March comes home from war, and Amy wraps her arms around his leg, determined to hold on and never let him go.
For me, Meant to Be Mine evoked that feeling.
Becky Wade’s novel tells the story of estranged husband and wife, Ty Porter and Celia Park. The main action takes place five years after an impromptu wedding, which ended with Ty informing Celia the marriage was a mistake. However, their time together produced a tiny, glasses-wearing miracle named Addie—which Ty discovers when he feels an urge to see Celia again after many years apart.
The first time Ty meets his little girl Addie, this story lassoed my heart and galloped away for a wonderful ride.
Check out Ty’s response to spending time with her: “If she turned that sunray of a smile on him again and asked her to buy him a boat or a pony or a swimming pool, he’d probably buy those, too . . . Addie fascinated him. Enchanted him. Wrapped him around her pinkie . . . He expected it would take him a good while to win her heart. But it hadn’t taken her long at all to win his.”
This father/daughter magic works on Addie’s mother Celia, as well. As Celia watches Ty with Addie, her heart begins to yearn for a renewed relationship with her Heavenly Father. Yet even this involves her estranged husband as God leads Celia through the painful process of forgiving him.
I love how God restores this family by wooing the hearts of the parents to Him—-just like a doting, in-love-with-His-kids, always-there-for-you Father. And, of course, there’s plenty of romantic sweetness & sizzle along the way!
What I liked best . . .
The fun, flirty conversations between estranged-but-still crazy-about-each-other Celia & Ty
Imagining what kind of cowgirl boots I’d wear if I were visiting the Porter family (Everyone in Texas wears boots!)
Celia’s creative take on princess stories
Every time the Porter family got together
Uncle Danny’s surfer dude adventures
Meeting long-timed marrieds Jerry and Donetta
My favorite quotes . . .
She invited God in. And God, whose character is love, who spoke the world into being, who rescues His people, came. He came. And in Him, she began to feel her hard heart change.
The more she basked in the Presence of the Kind of Love that would exchange Jesus’ Perfect Life for the disarray she’d made of her own, the more the hole within her began to fill.
This is one 9f my favorite books by Becky Wade!
I couldn’t put this book down when I was reading it, even during the parts when I sort of hated Ty. The day after I finished it, I re-read the ending, then immediately added it to my “Read Again” list.
I loved this book! Loved the characters, their interactions, the very real pain, doubt and hope that came with every decision they made. Ty made me laugh, but also had a depth to him that I didn’t expect, and quite liked. And their daughter was just adorable with her stories and princess addiction. A sweet romance with a bit more depth to it than the average ‘boy meets girl’. Looking forward to reading more by this author.
Readers will fall in love with irresistible bull rider Ty Porter in the second book in Becky Wade’s Porter Family series. Becky Wade has written an incredible contemporary romance novel filled with humor. Ty Porter is a handsome confident character who redeems himself in the story for the way he treated Celia years earlier in Vegas and makes amends for his mistakes. After his mistakes in Vegas, his character development and personality throughout the rest of the book made him one of my favorite book boyfriends! Forgiveness and redemption are important themes throughout the book. This is one of my favorite books by Becky Wade. I love the way she develops the characters and the humorous dialogue between Ty and Celia during their love/hate relationship. I would definitely recommend this book. A wonderful clean read!
This was my first Becky Wade romance, but not my last! Meant to be Mine started out with a wedding, not at the right place but with the right guy OR at least the heroine thought so at the time. In the morning light, everything unravels.Surprise babies are a staple of romance fiction but that doesn’t mean that they ever lose their appeal. After all, a baby changes EVERYTHING–as anyone who has become a parent knows.And this unexpected baby becomes a little girl Addie about to enter kindergarten–before the daddy ever finds out that she’s been born.Sometimes I think that the heroes in stories that are so angry that no one told them about the baby don’t ring true. There are so many dead-beat dads in this world. But Ty Porter is not one. He was totally believable as a man who wanted to know his child. Well done, Becky.I love the other characters especially Celia’s surfer uncle and his mishaps trying to find his Ms. Right.The highest compliment I can pay a book is that I’ve already read it again. And Meant to be Mine is one of those!
This is one of my favorite series and authors. I was invested in the characters and the story.
Becky Wade’s novel, Meant to Be Mine, is an engaging read where country boy meets city girl.
In Becky’s previous book, Undeniably Yours, we are introduced to Ty Porter (brother to the hero in that book) and now find him as the male protagonist in this one. Of all the Porter brothers, Ty is the most popular. According to the people in the small Texas town where he has lived all his life, Ty is handsome, charming, smooth-talking, witty, a dare-devil, and three-time champion, bull rider! There’s nothing this home boy, hero can’t do! He’s perfect – or is he?
Five and a half years ago while in Las Vegas, Ty Porter ran into a female pal from high school. Flirting and having fun with this friend, Celia, leads him into an impromptu marriage at a cheesy, Las Vegas wedding chapel.
Celia Park, has had a crush on Ty Porter since high school and is surprised, but thrilled and flattered to marry him. All good times have to come to an end. In this case a screeching halt! The two part ways when reality hits. Unbeknownst to Ty, Celia has taken something precious home with her from that memorable night. A beautiful, baby girl shows up several months later. Addie, this now five-year old, is Celia’s life. Ty has been getting wealthier and more popular in his bull riding career. Neither of them has filed for divorce!
I loved the idea for this novel. Any story of a previously, married couple who meet again after sharing such an intimate history always makes an exciting plot. Meant to Be Mine is full of chemistry, banter, and romance from beginning to end.
The heroine, Celia, is pretty and petite . She has an extreme diet of healthy eating, but baking baked goods of all sorts is her weakness. I loved reading about Celia’s baking sprees and the different desserts she would turn out from her kitchen. I enjoy baking myself, so could really identify with Celia in this occupation. Celia is also a worrier to the point of overprotectiveness for her daughter. I understood some of it, but much of what the author called worry seemed more like possessiveness to me. It’s not often I read about a heroine who is struggling financially, trying to make ends meet. That situation is so true to life and made for a refreshing plot point in this novel.
Ty, rich and handsome, applies his usual charm and southern politeness to this new, awkward situation in which he finds himself. I think that would be so difficult and heartbreaking for a man to meet up with his former wife only to find out he has a five-year old child of whom he never knew! I love the way Ty handled the situation by jumping in whole heartedly. He immediately wanted to love that girl and provide for her. Father and daughter have a very sweet relationship eventually. I thought Celia was crazy for not wanting to accept money from him for their child. Here he was willing to pay child support and she keeps snubbing him. That didn’t make sense to me at all.
Since this is a romance novel I had high expectations in that department. In Meant to Be Mine we get lots, and I do mean LOTS, of physical interaction between these two. The chemistry is flying! It’s not only physical though. Becky Wade has done an excellent job in writing flirty, witty dialog for Celia and Ty. I loved all their bantering back and forth.
The biggest problem I have with this book is understanding what these characters think the sanctity of marriage is. On one hand, Ty state that he believes that marriage is for life. Remember this couple is not divorced. On the other hand, he says he’s waiting for an ex-girlfriend to break up with a guy so he can possibly marry her instead of sticking with his wife! Even while he says this to Celia’s face, he keeps kissing and flirting with Celia. Meanwhile, Celia thinks that if Ty still loves this previous girlfriend then maybe God intended for those two to be together. It may be true that the hero married in haste and should have stuck with his old girlfriend, but he made his choice and has to stick with it for better or worse. Even if Ty and Celia haven’t been together for five years they are still married. It doesn’t give either of them, as professing Christians, permission to look elsewhere or to keep a backup waiting in the wings.
Becky Wade included some good spiritual lessons for her characters to learn and I was happy that they eventually sought some sort of relationship with God. Forgiveness is the main spiritual theme running through this novel.
Some books go overboard on a supporting cast. Becky Wade did a good job creating interesting and sometimes quirky family members and friends. I wish they would have had more page time. I loved the description of Holley, Texas and would love to see a series by this author set in the middle of this town. I understand, though, that the nature of this series has farm and ranch settings.
Even though I don’t always agree with the characters’ life choices in Becky Wade’s novels (I’m a little more conservative), I do still enjoy reading them. Becky writes fast-paced, romantic, contemporary novels that one can always count on for good entertainment. Meant to Be Mine is no exception.
Loved this book.
Just as with the first book in this series, I experienced some serious frustration at the beginning with the main characters and some of their decisions and actions. And then just when I wanted to smack some sense into the characters, they finally have the revelation I’ve been begging them to have as I read. You wonder if they’re ever going to get it right; if there’s any hope of anything being truly fixed, of the pain really being redeemed and then God speaks and finally the characters begin to see what God wants for them. I wasn’t all that crazy about Ty at the start, but by the end I loved him and Celia and was looking forward to seeing them make an appearance or two in the next book.
This is the 2nd in the series, and it was more “preachy” than the others. I also dont consider it as “clean” for a Christian romance.
Celia has had a crush on Ty since high school. They run into eachother in Vegas and after an amazing FOUR days, they get married. When he wakes up the next morning after their wedding night, he realizes he has made a big mistake. With her heart broken, they go their different ways… but stay married.
Over five years pass, and he decides to track her down, apologize, and file for a divorce. Instead, he discovers a secret she had been keeping from him; their daughter.
He realizes he still has romantic feelings for her and wants to help her. She doesn’t think she can ever forgive him.
There is a lot of funny banter in this one, but sometimes the back and forth just got old.
**Lots of kissing, you know there was sex but its not described, lustful thoughts, drinking, overuse of drugs, Lord’s name on vain, and he does ask her to spend the night.
This book is easily one of my top 10 all-time favorite reads. The characters and their conflicts were unforgettable. Celia is one of the most unique and interesting female characters I’ve ever read. The situation she landed in just pulled at my heartstrings. And Ty is just as complex and definitely swoon-worthy. The chemistry between Ty and Celia is also one for the records. Be prepared to ignore the rest of the world around you, because this novel is an amazing pager-turner.