The details…
- Title: The Forever Factor
- Author: Melissa Brayden
- Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
- Publication date: November 15, 2022
- Available formats: ebook, paperback
- File size: 1296 KB
- Print Length: 291
- Genre: romance
- Themes: coming out, friendship, high school drama, second chances, family, women loving women
- Tropes: second chance romance
The blurb from the publisher…
Is it truly better to have loved and lost? Bethany Cahill says nope. Eleven years ago, her fellow cheerleader Reid Thatcher held her heart in her hand…and crushed it like a bug. Since then, Bethany avoids risk, reward, and anything romantic on TV. Just, no. But when grown-up Reid’s shopping cart bumps into hers, Bethany is catapulted into the past and staring into Reid’s eyes, which are still annoyingly stunning. Forgiveness doesn’t come easy, and Bethany isn’t about to let Reid in. Not after all she took.
Reid never fully understood why Bethany withheld forgiveness all those years ago, but no kiss since has ever been as satisfying as Bethany’s lips on hers. The happenstance run-in was a stroke of luck and ignites Reid’s plan to get to the bottom of Bethany’s silence, a mystery she can’t let drop. But she hadn’t planned on the reckoning in store when she learns the truth.
When Bethany and Reid confront their past, they give new meaning to letting go, forgiveness, and a future worth fighting for.
My thoughts…
The Forever Factor is Melissa Brayden’s 22nd full-length Sapphic novel, and its arrival makes one wonder how Brayden keeps rolling out one engaging romance after another. Dedication and firm mastery of the craft most certainly play a huge part, but the real answer lies in her understanding of how romance works in this genre. She intuitively knows how to connect readers to her characters and their romance.
I’ve read every one of Brayden’s romances and she always gives readers the much-talked-about “feels” in her romantic storytelling. The Forever Factor is no different. Brayden slowly builds up the emotional connection between Bethany and Reid; readers are easily hooked. The tension plays out well in Bethany and Reid’s high school relationship as well as their present-day romance. Brayden uses it to drive the storytelling forward and tie the two timelines together nicely. What’s unique about the storytelling is that readers are equally invested in both time periods. Often in these second chance romances readers connect with one version of the couple more than the other. Not so here. The Forever Factor gives readers strong, likable and sympathetic characters that one can really appreciate, even on both sides of the then and now romance. High school Bethany and Reid are just as heartbreakingly tender and hopeful as their adult version. The two forms play together well and build a heart-squeezing love story that is very compelling.
Brayden gets a lot of things right in the crafting of this story. First and foremost, she nails it with the mood and tone. First loves and first heartbreaks are emotion-filled roller coasters that one doesn’t forget, and Brayden plays up the high school emotions perfectly. She capitalizes on the big moments, which makes it hard for readers not to remember their own high school experiences and relate to young Bethany and Reid. She tugs the heartstrings, making this story not only absorbing but realistic. Brayden builds the tension in such a way that it carries the relationship forward and into the present without losing any momentum. The end result is a chemistry-filled romance worth the read.
Brayden has demonstrated solid writing skills from day one; perhaps that’s why she garnered attention so quickly in her career. She’s earned several awards for her storytelling and one of the things that sets her apart is her use of secondary characters. She knows how to use them to the story’s advantage. She doesn’t just toss them into bulk up the narrative or dialogue. They’re used creatively and purposefully. In The Forever Factor, Bethany’s best friends are instrumental in helping her understand her feelings as well as her intentions towards Reid. The same can be said about Reid’s mother. She helps Reid realize that forgiveness is a big key to the forever factor of any relationship. These same secondary characters, along with Bethany’s dad, are also used as a way for Brayden to lighten heavy moments and give the storytelling some colorful weave and woof.
Final remarks…
Brayden once again proves that she knows what she’s doing when she sits down to type a heartfelt romance. The Forever Factor hits it out of the park with the essential emotion and drama that’s needed for a well-scripted love story. This latest novel demonstrates once again that she understands the complex and intimate lattice work of women-loving-women relationships; her storytelling grounds itself in the dynamics, motivations and textures of it. Readers see this clearly in Bethany and Reid’s love story. It’s why The Forever Factor is not only read-worthy but re-read-worthy.
Strengths…
- Thoughtfully-crafted
- Relatable, compelling romance
- Sympathetic, likable characters
- Strong and gradual romantic tension
- Good character chemistry
- Satisfying happily-ever-after
A peek inside…
She pushed her extra-large cart into the store and surveyed the multitude of food varieties that lined the shelves. Glorious. Speaking of eating, she’d call her dad later and make sure he was taking his cholesterol medicine. His girlfriend who lived with him was an amazing cook, but that didn’t bode well for his lab numbers. Oh, strawberry Pop-Tarts. “Don’t mind if I do,” she murmured. “Are you a nurse?” a little boy asked, spotting her scrubs. His big brown eyes blinked up at her. “I’m a doctor,” she told him, hoping gender stereotypes eventually worked their way out of the medical field altogether. One child at a time. “His aunt is a nurse,” his mother was quick to explain. “Not a problem at all. We love nurses. They don’t get enough credit.” “Do you like those?” the boy asked. She eyed the strawberry frosted Pop-Tarts box in her hand. “My favorite. I sometimes eat two. Do you?” He nodded, eyes wide. “Have a good day,” she told them both and watched as the mom reluctantly grabbed a box. That kid owed her one. “Bye,” he shouted, smiling gleefully like he’d won a prize at the fair. She sent him a mental high five. Enjoying her time, she wheeled her cart around the corner to the next aisle, fairly certain that’s where she would find that granola cereal she liked, when she nearly careened into a cart coming the other way. “Whoa. My fault. Sorry about that.” “No. Mine. I was on the wrong…” The words died the second the cart-pusher’s gaze landed on Bethany’s face. Bethany froze, face-to-face with features she hadn’t seen in years. Like a literal record scratch, her casual, lighthearted afternoon came to a halt. It wasn’t Reid. It couldn’t be. The fluorescent lights over their heads, which had been silent moments before, now buzzed like the chorus of a thousand angry bees. Oppressively loud, which was appropriate, too, because standing cart-to-cart with her was Reid Thatcher. Same light brown curly hair. Same forest-green eyes that could take one look at Bethany and see everything about her. Her heart thumped hard and fast, but there had been a time many years back when it beat solely for Reid, intertwined with hers for what was supposed to be forever. Their forever. Another time in her life entirely. “Bethany.” A pause. “Wow.” Reid, this more sophisticated version of her, opened her mouth and closed it. “I don’t even know what to say.” “Hi.” It was the only word that surfaced on her end. Reid had won the contest. She’d managed more. As ineffective as it sounded, Bethany was trying to both breathe and maneuver her way through this very unexpected conversation. Who turns the corner expecting to find Lucky Charms and Cap’n Crunch and instead collides with their first love from high school? Correction, only love. As in, the girl who shattered her happiness, yet never truly left her thoughts even when Bethany had banished her countless times over. In this moment, her everything stood at attention, on guard and in protect mode. Her senses were overstimulated, too. Sound echoed, her hands felt every inch of the metal from the cart. Her mouth had gone dry. She tried to compensate. No-go. Where was the eject button? Finally, “What brings you to BeLeaf Foods?” Reid stared at her cart, still not caught up. They were both vamping. “Groceries for a wildly lacking fridge?” “Fair enough.” Bethany smiled. She was doing a good job now of resembling a human running into another human. Not a big deal. Except she still couldn’t persuade her chest to feel normal and shifted against its tightness. Her skin stretched, strict and prohibitive. Her right hand shook. She covered it with her left. “Me, too.” She pointed behind Reid. “En route to cereal. Super exciting stuff.” “Right. Let me get out of your way.” Reid swiveled her cart to Bethany’s left so Bethany could go right. She looked so much the same, yet in woman form. The girl was gone. All grown up. She must still use the same plum shampoo because Bethany was right back in Reid’s bedroom, staring into her eyes, inhaling that scent that always transported her to wonderful places. It hit her hard now like a door to the face. “So, are you in town visiting?” Bethany asked as their carts lined up. “No.” A hint of hesitation. “Actually, I moved back to LA last month, but the real estate prices…” “Are insane so you’re out here and driving into the city each day?” This was surreal. Where was the hidden camera? Seriously. “Exactly that. Yeah.” “Welcome to the club.” The implications of this new development charged toward Bethany like a herd of hungry buffalo. Reid would be back in the LA-adjacent circles. Swarming. Living. Being Reid with her perfect face and addictive smile. Wow. There was potential for future run-ins at grocery stores, restaurants, or social gatherings. Bethany’s head swam. Did they have any shared friends anymore? She was pretty positive she’d left them all with Reid eleven years ago. They’d never been hers to begin with, had they. The world felt swirly. The room did. “It’s really good to see you, Bethany.” Reid stared at her cart, giving her head a shake. “I honestly wasn’t sure if I ever would again.” “Yeah, me neither. Good to see you, too.” But was it? She swallowed, remembering with startling accuracy what it felt like to kiss those lips, now glossy with a more mature shade. They’d tasted sweet like cherries years ago. Did they still? She shook herself away from the thought. Ripped away the image of Reid passing her in full uniform on the cheer mat where they’d worked alongside each other, pushing their bodies toward a shared goal. The secret looks they’d exchanged, what they’d meant to each other, what they’d done the night before. “I should probably get going. Welcome back.” “Wait.” Reid turned around, leaving her cart, tracking her. She hadn’t been finished. But Bethany sure had to be. It was all too much, and she hadn’t quickly figured out how to organize the barrage of old feelings peppering her for attention. She had about 3.8 seconds before her composure evaporated, and she preferred to be far away from Reid when that happened. “This might be entirely inappropriate. But it seems so strange to be standing here in front of each other and not say more. Doesn’t it?” Bethany squeezed the red plastic handle of her cart. “It does. I just am so overrun with work at the moment that I was only dashing in here for a quick Pop-Tarts grab before heading back in. I really needed them. Pop-Tarts emergencies are no joke.” A ridiculous thing to say. She checked her watch like a human cliché. “And I’m already late.” Reid deflated. “I understand. It’s okay.” And then, “Wait!” She riffled through her bag, which Bethany knew would have way too many stray objects floating around. Reid was always chaos and improvisation, a sharp contrast to her own regimented organization. “Take this. In case you ever want to catch up.” Her business card. “Um, take care, okay?” It was something people said, but Reid’s eyes proved she meant it. She’d always been a nurturing person. “You, too,” she said without looking back. She wasn’t proud of that part, the racing away from the scene, incapable of more in the moment...
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A bit about the author…
Melissa Brayden is a multi-award winning romance author with twenty-one novels published with Bold Strokes Books. She is currently hard at work on her next book and embracing the full-time writer’s life in San Antonio, Texas.
Melissa is married and working really hard at keeping two short humans alive. For personal enjoyment, she spends time with her Jack Russell Terriers and checks out the NYC theater scene whenever possible. She considers herself a reluctant patron of spin class, but would much rather be sipping wine and staring off into space. Kissing scenes remain her favorite.
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