Alex Jennings is done with life. After losing her brother in Afghanistan, everything has collapsed around her. Getting laid off from her day job and failing in her art career, she has nowhere left to turn. She once had faith to believe that all things would work together for good, but that faith died with her brother. Now she just wants the pain to end.Riley Conrad served thirteen years in the … years in the military until three bullets sent him home. After a year and a half of physical therapy and scraping together a living, all he wants is to live a simple life and perhaps even open the coffee shop he dreams about. However, the weight of failing his parents’ expectations doesn’t make it easy, and working as a bartender isn’t getting him anywhere fast.
Could a “chance” meeting between Alex and Riley set them both on the path God always intended?
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My first contemporary romance novel will be released on February 14, 2020 and is available now for pre-order! 20% of pre-orders and first week sales will go to support the Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs.
While No Chance Meeting is a slow, meandering read with a lot of daily minutiae and internal pondering, it plumbs emotional depths.
Jaye Elliott’s debut focuses on two people who are doing their best to move forward with life. While Alex is smothered by grief and darkness, meeting Riley leads her to open up with him and with the other important people in her life. Riley is a support for Alex but is by no means perfect. He’s made mistakes he regrets and has some broken relationships scattered in the landscape of his life.
Elliott tackles the difficult topic of depression with grace and gentleness, never glossing over the internal battle that Alex wages on her emotions. The faith element of the book is also authentic to the story. I’ll be watching for more from this author.
Disclosure statement: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
No Chance Meeting by Jaye Elliot is a character-driven romance with realistically flawed characters and strong spiritual themes. I’m a firm believer in the way God is always working behind the scenes, leaving nothing to chance, so the title is especially meaningful. It’s refreshing to see a Christian fiction book where God is actually the main character.
Riley and Alex are sympathetic and relatable lead characters. They’re far from perfect and both realize the need for God’s grace in their lives. The loss of her brother to a suicide bomber in Afghanistan caused Alex’s life to spiral downward. Riley, a Marine who had tried to save her brother, deals with memories, past sins before becoming a Christian, and a strained relationship with his parents. It was no accident that these two met. Personal tragedy in life can draw us closer to God or cause us to drift away, as in Alex’s case. I enjoyed the connection between these two from the first and that it was Riley’s faith that helped to open Alex’s eyes. I loved Riley’s heart and also thought it was great that he was the proud owner of a tuxedo cat that he had rescued, appropriately named Tux.
No Chance Meeting effectively deals with some darker topics, such as suicidal thoughts and depression. Although emotionally raw at times, it’s a beautiful story of hope and healing. I appreciated that the relationship between Riley and Alex was smooth and built gradually, rather than being filled with the tension of high and lows.
No Chance Meeting is not a fast-paced story, rather moving from one day’s activity to another with a lot of inward thoughts and details that kept things moving slowly. However, the storyline and characters, both main and secondary, are very appealing. For me, more emphasis on storyline with less introspection and daily life details would have made a much stronger story. I still enjoyed No Chance Meeting overall and would like to read more stories in this series.
I received a copy of this book through Prism Book Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
No chance meeting
I loved Alex’s and Riley’s story. Alex had a lot to overcome with her brothers death. When she meets Riley everything changes for her. He is her knight in shining armor.
This Is a new author to me. I really enjoyed her writing. I loved how Alex and Riley was so supportive of each other. I plan on reading more by the author.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Prism book tours. This book review is my own opinion.
I knew I had to read this the instant I heard about it … A veteran, a grieving sister, and a “chance” but not really a “chance” meeting. You know, the perfect romance, to me. I love military books, military romances, and Christian military fiction, each of which could describe No Chance Meeting, this was truly a wonderful book.
With veteran suicides being the highest it ever has been I have been glad to see authors bring attention to the fact that so many soldiers need help yet when it is show in fiction it can get so sadly chlich so I was slightly surprised at the fast that ***SPOILERS*** Riley was not the one near to commiting suicide, I did like the twist on the story there.
The elements of faith were perfect, I loved Riley’s sweet ways, for a soldier that is. And I loved Alex’s character growth.
As the book got to the halfway point I was so in love with the story but realized something was going to happen, something likely bad … Knowing that I read with baited breath as the sweet interactions between Riley and Alex, the lovely story, and all until something unexpected happened. No more spoilers, so I’ll just say yikes did I love and hate the last parts at times!
I was pleased by the story overall, I was not sure how much I would love it but I knew I would like it, since I’ve loved each and every one of the books by Jaye Elliot under her other author names, especially the books under Jaye L. Knight. Each of her works is spectacular, even if they are hard to read with the good and bad truths shown in a way that one can’t help but be pulled into the story.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.