A review by starburst3625
Made for You by Claire Cain

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This is a lovely story about two individuals with broken pasts finding love with each other. The story and romance build steadily throughout and I enjoyed the love they built with each other as well as the love and commitment they had to their family members (her great-aunt, and his younger sister). There was a little meddling and matchmaking, but not much was necessary since Bruce and Nikki liked each other pretty quickly. It just took some time for them to move past their respective hang-ups. Their relationship and its gradual progression was lovely and sweet. Some really good romantic tension. There were also plenty of great interactions with secondary characters and how could a reader not love both Gram and Kiley. There was also an engaging subplot with Kiley’s difficult father. I was very invested in all the issues Bruce and Nikki had from their difficult pasts and how those thing’s affected their choices. I loved Gram’s saying, “‘Just stick.’” One of my other favourite thoughts was, “Why wouldn’t it be just as heroic to to recognize one’s own independence and ability to survive and wholeness, but then to chose to need someone?” This is a really lovely story. I enjoyed it very much. There are some fun little math tie-ins and the ending is very sweet and cute. (Not to mention the additional epilogue available from the author is wonderful. It left me so happy.) The teaser at the end for the next book got me excited for it. This is the first book in a new series, but the setting is familiar from a couple of the author’s other series. There are plenty of carryover characters and cameos too, however it is not at all necessary to have read any of the other books to enjoy this one. This is a fade-to-black story (so there is intimacy but it’s off the page) with some milder innuendo and a very small amount of mild harsh language.