Better Believe It
Fern Ronay
Publication date: December 3rd 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Jada Marlone’s life appears to be perfect on social media. She has a loving husband, a beautiful child, and a successful career. What she doesn’t post about is the disconnect she feels in her marriage, the difficulties of motherhood, and her strained relationship with her mother.
Resigned to never being truly happy, Jada runs into an ex-boyfriend. While trying to decide whether the coincidence is her second chance at happiness, Jada begins having dreams that feature her dead cousin Gina.
With Gina’s help, Jada starts to uncover the real reasons behind her life decisions. As Jada tries to figure out her future, uncontrollable events threaten her resolve. Will she be able to draw from all she learned from Gina, or will she risk making the same mistakes twice?
Author Bio:
Fern Ronay has lived in NYC, Chicago, and now sunny Los Angeles with her husband, but she will always consider herself a Jersey girl. She is the author of two novels, Better in the Morning and Better Believe It, and is the host of the podcast Signs from the Other Side, as well as a host at the AfterBuzzTV network. Follow Fern on Instagram @FernRonay and check out her free ebook at FernRonay.com.
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My thoughts:
When I started reading this book, I didn’t realise it is the second in the series. The first one, Better in the Morning, deals with Veronica,Jada’s best friend and how she reached her happily-ever-after. Better Believe It can definitely be read and enjoyed as a standalone.
On paper, everything in Jada Marlone’s life looks perfect: she has a lovely husband, three-year-old son, a successful career, and a wonderful house. She regularly posts her smiley updates on social media and has lots of ‘friends’. And with all this Jada is strangely and inexplicably lonely. Her marriage is stifling, the motherhood is really hard, ‘constant’ and all-consuming – very different from what had imagined it to be, and she keeps thinking about her ex. Her spiritual guides-Jada’s late grandparents know that deep in her heart Jada is very unhappy, so they ask another person from Jada’s life who has passed away too early (her cousin Gina) to help them steer her towards a diffrent kind of life – more meaningful and full of love and forgiveness.
I must admit I didn’t take to Jada straightaway. Everything she said rubbed me the wrong way. She seemed too self-absorbed and egoistical, too cold and too blunt. Gradually, I saw that there are many sides to her, including that of going through a contract to help the elderly mother of her babysitter, that she might not be gushy and cuddly, but she is a good person who just happened to find herself in the wrong kind of life. After all, everyone makes mistakes and sometimes takes wrong turns, but the real test of strength is our willingness to change ourselves and learn from our life experiences. There is a large cast of great secondary characters, although Gina has got to be my favourite.
The book has a great mix of humorous moments and serious, emotional, even tragic ones. In the nutshell, it is about life and happiness, so you can expect a bit of rough and smooth thrown in together. It is also about love, forgiveness, motherhood and family dynamics. Even if you don’t believe in signs and messages from the great beyond, there’s a lot in this book for anyone who likes reading about second chances in life.
I really enjoyed the book with its humorous writing, quirky characters and thought-provoking questions. Thank you To Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours, the publisher and the author for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Giveaway:
Tour-wide giveaway (INT)-ends Aug 19th
- $25 Amazon gift card
If you would like to know what other bloggers thought of Fern Ronay’s book, youcan find the full blog tour schedule here:
August 9th
–Currant7 Recommends >> Review
–What Is That Book About >> Excerpt
–Becky on Books >> Interview
August 10th
–Adventures in Writing >> Excerpt
–Natasha Brooks’ Favorite Books >> Interview
–Viviana MacKade >>Guest Post
–Read Your Writes Book Reviews >> Guest Post
August 11th
–Thoughts in Progress >> Excerpt
–The Tattooed Librarian >> Review
–Don’t Judge, Read >> Interview
August 12th
–Rants N Scribbles >> Excerpt
–Rajiv’s Reviews >> Review
–The Keysmash Blog >> Review
August 13th
–Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books! >> Excerpt
–Reading Tonic >> Review
readingtonic 
Sounds like main character was layered and had great development throughout the book. I like the concept of this one. Amazing review!
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Just be ready to hate her at the beginning 😁
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