Review: Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Maxwell

Happily Ever After 
by Elizabeth Maxwell
Released Date: Published March 18th 2014 by Touchstone 
Pages: 336
View/Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Author's Website

In this witty, sexy tale, an erotic novelist meets the fictional hero of her most recent book in real life, and must decide whether she wants to get him back between the pages—or between her sheets.At forty-six, Sadie Fuller’s life isn’t exactly romantic. A divorced, overweight, somewhat sexually frustrated mother of an eleven-year-old, she lives in the suburbs, shops the big box stores, makes small talk with her small-minded neighbors, and generally leads a quiet life. But while her daughter is at school, or when Sadie is up late at night, she writes erotic fiction under the name KT Briggs. 

Then, during a routine shopping trip, Sadie runs into someone familiar…too familiar, in fact. She encounters an incredibly handsome man exactly like the one in her imagination—and her latest novel. Is Aidan Hathaway really one of her characters? And if so, what is he doing in Target? As Sadie tries to negotiate this strange new world, her eyes begin to open to romantic possibilities in places she never dreamed of looking... places where Happily Ever After might not be so far-fetched after all.
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

My Review:

Happily Ever After was such a fun and unique book to read. I found myself wanting to know more of the characters and that made it that much more intriguing as well. There are a lot of elements to the story that could have gone wrong, but the author did a good job making the story flow while still making it entertaining. 

There are two stories being told in the book; the life of Sadie Fuller, a forty-six year old mother/ erotic novelist and the story of her fictional characters. It may sound confusing to follow at first, but as the story progresses it's easier to see a distinction between the two, especially when both stories connect in later chapters. The main story that is described in the book is the one of Sadie Fuller. She has dedicated her life to writing the lives of fictional characters under the name KT Briggs. While living in the suburbs has its benefits, she often finds herself in the middle of her neighbors' gossip and school events that she has to attend. Life as a single mother to an eleven-year-old isn't easy, she hasn't had a romantic relationship since she got married, and now divorced she has a hard time finding the right person for her. But an unexpected encounter leaves her wondering if it's possible for her characters to come to life. 

Finding Aidan Hathaway was a total shock to Sadie, she can't explain how he has come to life, but a series of events will lead her to explore the power of writing, what it really means to find true love and a happily ever after. What I enjoyed about the book the most was how relatable the protagonist is, it was interesting to read a book about an author writing her own novels and how hard it is to come up with a good story. Sadie has struggled to find what works out for her in terms of writing and her life as a single mother makes things complicated for her. There are twists and turns in the story that left me speechless. Elizabeth Maxwell did a very good job making the story flow effortlessly and the character descriptions were spot on. The ending was clever, and it worked very well for me. Overall, Happily Ever After was great and I definitely recommend it to those that want to read something unique, full of humor, romance and a paranormal twist. 

*ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: