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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wes and Addie Had Their Chance is a second chance love story by Bethany Turner. Wes and Addie were childhood sweethearts who were engaged and planned to marry after high school. They broke up unexpectedly the night before their wedding, and went their separate ways. They find themselves back in their hometown and single again decades later.
The author describes the younger Wes as kind and reserved, but not ambitious or intelligent. It is hard for the reader to believe that later in life he is a very popular politician and presidential candidate. Also, in the past, he cut all ties with his hometown and childhood friends. He is loathed by the community where he grew up, including his childhood love, Addie. Decades later, he seeks forgiveness from everyone, even the woman he broke up with the night before their wedding.
A predictable story continues after the reader meets Wes and Addie as they reconnect after many years. Addie finds herself back in their hometown, widowed and somewhat isolated. Wes appears to have been pining for her for years, despite never contacting or seeing her since they broke up. I had a hard time accepting the extreme changes from the child/teen versions of the main characters to the present day versions. These changes were not logical given everything that had happened in the past.
The author concludes the book on a happy note. She ties up all the loose ends of the story in a positive way, but the story overall was just too farfetched for me. The main tropes of this book are childhood friends to lovers and second chance romance set in a small town. If you enjoy those, you will probably like this book.
Thank you to Bethany Turner, Thomas Nelson Publishing, and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love Adelaide Springs. I'm sad to leave it.
I love where everyone ended up. I'll probably revisit them later to savor them a little more.
Addie is back in town after losing her husband. She's home for the first time since a traumatic left-at-the-altar scenario with her high school sweetheart. Addie is finding her footing when the sweetheart, and presidential candidate, Wes, shows back up. Not to see her, but they're forced into each other's proximity and forced to confront their past.
Bethany Turner created a cast of five, best friends, high school classmates, and let them drift apart before we meet them again.
Through three books, we see them all humbled in some ways and finding their footing.
In Addie and Wes, we see two people hiding their emotions, forced to confront their pasts.
Turner masterfully captures the hesitation, self-isolation, and emotions that are wrapped up in all of it. Neither pulls punches or tries to sugar coat their lives with and without each other.
I'ts a poignant novel of honoring your past and moving forward and all the pain involved.
I love where everyone ended up. I'll probably revisit them later to savor them a little more.
Addie is back in town after losing her husband. She's home for the first time since a traumatic left-at-the-altar scenario with her high school sweetheart. Addie is finding her footing when the sweetheart, and presidential candidate, Wes, shows back up. Not to see her, but they're forced into each other's proximity and forced to confront their past.
Bethany Turner created a cast of five, best friends, high school classmates, and let them drift apart before we meet them again.
Through three books, we see them all humbled in some ways and finding their footing.
In Addie and Wes, we see two people hiding their emotions, forced to confront their pasts.
Turner masterfully captures the hesitation, self-isolation, and emotions that are wrapped up in all of it. Neither pulls punches or tries to sugar coat their lives with and without each other.
I'ts a poignant novel of honoring your past and moving forward and all the pain involved.
A thread of years connects these two, stretching back to school days and quiet moments shared in passing. Now in their 40s, their bond carries the weight of all that time—raw, unpolished, and free from any forced drama.
Politics lingered on the edges but didn’t pull me in. What grabbed me was the way they quietly held space for one another, without loud declarations or gestures, offering support in subtle, meaningful ways.
That kind of connection kept me engaged. It wasn’t just about romance, but about gripping onto something real when life feels unstable and unpredictable.
My attention wavered here and there—perhaps my mood didn’t align with the pace or tone. Despite that, the honesty beneath everything demanded respect. I understand why this resonates with many people; for me, it didn’t sink as deeply this time.
This is a meditation on what follows the initial spark—the slow weaving of lives together through challenges, the unspoken bonds that grow stronger in silence. That part resonated most with me.
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was the third book of this series that I’ve ARC read! I loved the first two and was excited to return to this town and these characters. Addie is newly widowed and has recently quit her job with the CIA to move back to her hometown. Wes is the front runner for the next presidential candidate, but he’s got a secret he has to get ahead of. His plan is to return to his hometown to talk to one of the most influential journalists. What he doesn’t anticipate is that when he returns home he’ll run into Addie: his ex fiancé that he left at the altar before he became a politician.
This was definitely my least favorite of the series. Second chance romance can just go wrong so easily for me and this one just didn’t hit the mark. I felt like both of these characters really moved on from their dead spouses super fast?? Like just being real, if my husband started falling for someone less than a year after he put me in the ground he’s getting haunted. Like hello??? There was a lot of different traumas that the main characters endured and I just kept feeling like their relationship was a product of that and not true love. Once again, this wasn’t BAD, I just didn’t love it. 3⭐️
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Bethany Turner, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio and NetGalley for giving me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, this was cute… and hella cringy. Oh my God.
I don’t know how I keep picking books where someone’s been jilted at the altar or just lost a parent, but here we are again. Wes and Addie Had Their Chance brings two old flames face to face in a small town packed with memories, tension, and unresolved feelings. There’s grief, awkwardness, a whole lot of small-town nosiness. And a second-chance romance that tries very hard to charm you into submission.
Addie and Wes were once everything to each other. But when the past comes knocking, they’re forced to confront what really happened, and whether love might still be waiting for them. If they’re brave enough to try again.
The narrators carried this one beautifully. And while the dialogue had some eye-roll-worthy moments, there’s something comforting and sincere in the story’s messiness. If you enjoy clean, nostalgic, small-town romance with just a pinch of chaos, give this one a go.