This is an interesting and amusing romance, traditional in the overall arc but with some twists that make it stand out. Its an age gap romance for a start (late 20s and late 40’s), and neither of the main characters want a romance – both have absolutely solid life choices which they have no intention of breaking – really.

Bernie is an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter for her best friend Constance, who is also the unrequited love of her life. Bernie not only wallows in the fruitless adoration but lets Constance control her life – what little life she allows herself outside of providing unwanted care for her deaf mother. Stevie is a rising improv star who’s overwhelming and life controlling dream is to make it to Saturday Night Live – nothing and nobody will stand in her way.

Of course love has a way of breaking down barriers and changing the most determined mind. Erin Zak delivers the whole with great style, excellent writing, a lot of wit and some serious laughs. It’s all about letting go and allowing life to happen, both women have an emotional lesson to learn and a journey to free themselves. “Beautiful Accidents” is a great read, I thoroughly enjoyed it and its great to read a book which includes a physical impairment without ever making it an issue.

The author, Erin Zak's imagination is is second to none! Her pairing of tarot card readings and two wonderful main characters, Stevie & Bernadette is delightful from the very beginning. Their collective journies to each other is well developed, and draws the reader in from the very first page. Thanks for another great book, Erin!

Erin Zak has a way with words and I absolutely adored this book. Beautiful Accidents is just that .A Beautiful Accident that made everything wonderful and amazing all at once.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This one was hard to rate as I really liked it and I wanted to give it four stars. The only thing that made me lower my rating is even at the end when Bernadette confessed her undying love for Stevie she still apparently was in love with Connie and as soon as she sees her again all of her progress slides back to the beginning of her pining over her. I felt like Connie was thrown in to add another conflict and yet it didn't match with what Bernadette was showing in her actions and thoughts in the story. BUT.. I did really like this book, I devoured it that one issue just gave me a lot of hangups!

Bernadette is a sign language interpreter for her friend, Connie, a tarot reader who meets Stevie, a rising star in the local improv scene, when she comes into Connie's shop. After that, they seem to keep running into one another.

The book was okay however all of the obstacles that they face are laid-out upfront as well as how they will overcome them. One example of this is that Stevie wants to move to New York City and join the cast of SNL, Bernadette can't imagine leaving her deaf mother so can't move except her mother wants to move to a retirement community! This is something that is established very early in the book.

After reading a novella from this author I was very excited to read this novel - I had high expectations and was still surprised by how amazingly well written this was. The main characters had so much chemistry I felt like I was right there with them observing every interaction. The attraction was so well written from their first meeting. The writing was engaging and well paced. My only complaint is that the ending felt rushed and abrupt, and I would have liked to know why Connie felt compelled to give Stevie a reading when they first met.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally enjoy stories about age gap romance, but I feel the author really made this story work. The communication between the two main characters felt very organic and real.
I feel Erin Zak handled the large age gap with poise.
I really loved how neither character was perfect. They each had their own particular baggage.
Overall, it was a quick and easy read.
Thank you to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for allowing me to review this novel.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46733492-beautiful-accidents" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Beautiful Accidents" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562076939l/46733492._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46733492-beautiful-accidents">Beautiful Accidents</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17290455.Erin_Zak">Erin Zak</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3027475179">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The author has wrapped an age-gap romance sprinkled with angst, dealing an aging parent, sign language and fear of change into a neat read. I particularly appreciate how the main characters' emotional ups and downs are written and took my time reading this book as it hit close to home (dealing with an aging mother). Thank you Ms. Zak for handling that topic so deftly. I recommend with 4 stars.<br />NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books provided an ARC for review.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

For as much as i love this cover and was looking forward to this book, unfortunately, i couldn't get into it as much as i would like it.
i love the idea of the sign language and how two people are trying to find their match because everyone deserves someone in their life, i couldn't connect with any of them. i just couldn't feel the sparks and romance in their interaction or body language i may say.
It's a well-written book though and I'll be looking out for more stories by the author.

This is the first book I have read by Erin Zak and I was very impressed. The characters and story line were unique and believable.

Beautiful Accidents by Erin Zak is an age gap romance with good communication that also plays with the idea of fate.

Stevie is an improv artist in Chicago on the brink of a big SNL break. Bernadette is an ASL interpreter to a popular psychic. The two meet by chance when Stevie reluctantly agrees to go see the popular Accidental Psychic with her cast mates and share an immediate and powerful connection.

This book does so much well. First off, the age gap romance is handled with grace, and while I don’t think we really learn how old Stevie is I assume the age gap is about 20 years. While the age gaps comes up it doesn’t dominate or drive the story and I really liked that. Bernadette has a lot to offer and I liked how much the writing let that shine through.

The characters both have baggage and driving forces that create tension while feeling very real. After losing her pattens in an accident at a young age Stevie is terrified of future accidents and tightly controls her life by focusing on her career as an improv artist and avioding romantic entanglements that might derail her path. Bernadette is committed to living with and caring for her deaf mother after her father’s death while also allowing a long-suffering unrequited love hold her back. They both deny themselves freedom and happiness when it comes to love. I found their motivations and struggles very relatable.

While this book uses the love/connection at first sight path it was handled well and I found it believable—not an easy thing for an author to pull off. I also like the role fate plays in this book. Stevie is skeptical of fate and tarot cards but the way the card reading and relationship plays out in the novel the idea of fate buzzes gently in the background, allowing the reader to make their own connections without trying to force a preordained narrative.

Finally, probably what I loved most (and found most refreshing) about this novel is the two main characters are very honest with each other. It’s not a book that relies on evasiveness you create tension. They communicate their feelings with each other even when it is not easy or doesn’t mold to what was agreed upon. I real a lot of lesfic and too often find myself put off by two main characters who just refuse to communicate with each other. I found their honest conversations incredibly sexy.

An age gap romance featuring an improv star on the rise and an interpreter for a deaf psychic?

Yes please.Thanks to every reviewer who recommended this read. The chemistry between Stevie and Bernadette was off the charts. You know there is a time limit on their relationship but you cheer them on just the same.

Stevie is determined to leave Chicago and make her fortune as a comedian on SNL. She’s been handling life on her own terms for years and isn’t afraid to let an older woman know she finds her attractive. Bernadette is sexy and smooth and confident on the surface, but is emotionally less mature than the younger Stevie. She has the harder journey of the pair. Her unrequited love for her lifelong friend and her need to care for her mother act as a shield blocking Bernie from experiencing true love, almost like she doesn’t think she deserves to be loved. A great study of the human psyche.

Best breakup scene I’ve read in a while and in true breakup/ makeup romance genre Zak gives us a beautiful ending.

Oh yeah and I loved the tarot card readings. Very cool.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

I received this book as an advanced reader copy from net galley and exchange for an honest review.
Well I enjoyed some aspects of this book, I didn’t relate with the main characters at all and didn’t feel any chemistry in their romance. I did really enjoy the sign language storyline

Wow was this book amazing! The chemistry between Stevie and Bernadette was off the charts from the moment they met and never dwindled. Both mains had demons to fight and each struggle was written in a very engaging way. I enjoyed this book immensely and highly recommend it!!

I enjoyed this so much more than I did the two other novels I’ve read by Zak, probably because it didn’t hit my triggers around adoption. Stevie Adams is a good improv actor with a shot at getting on to Saturday Night Live. It’s the goal she’s set for herself and nothing is going to stop her. Her cast mates talk her into going to see a deaf psychic and she goes, but very reluctantly. What she doesn’t expect is her reaction to the psychic’s interpreter, Bernadette Thompson. Bernadette feels the connection but her life revolves around her aging mother and she definitely doesn’t have time for a relationship.

Both characters are attractive and their motives are really well-expressed. Their attraction for each other is palpable and it’s easy to become invested in their relationship. I flew through the pages but it has taken a while to get to the review but I’m having no trouble recollecting the story.

The secondary characters are as interesting as the mains with loads of complexities in the relationships. I like the way Zak writes, especially how she builds up the drama and angst, and I’m looking forward to the next novel.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

I have to admit that I was kind of confused how much the psychic aspect of the summary would come into play, but it's really only the beginning. That's not a bad or a good thing, more just a clarification if other readers had the same question in their head. It's a pretty realistic book (not supernatural).

This was a very cute story, with the character Bernadette also VERY hot. She was written beautifully, even more so than Stevie, which is great because she's the one (I think!) close to 50 years old. The age gap between the two characters wasn't made into a big deal at all; almost to the point that I have no idea how old Bernadette truly is!

I hated Connie. She was a real piece of work. I don't have anything else to say about her, just wanted to share my frustration with that terrible best friend.

One of my favorite bits was that both characters had body insecurities that they admitted to, even when everyone else thought they were beautiful. It was real and refreshing. Equally beautiful was how the other person made them feel secure in themselves and beautiful. It showed just how great of a couple they are.

Great read that I would recommend to everyone.

There seemed to be quite a bit going on in this novel.

At its core it's the story of Stevie and Bernadette. They meet when Stevie gets pulled into a psychic reading by her improv castmates.

Bernadette is Constance's (the psychic) best friend as well as working for her as an interpreter of ASL. Bernadette is hearing, but, both Constance as well as Bernadette's Mom are deaf.

After the reading, Bernadette and Stevie keep bumping into each other and even though Constance has a rule against relationships with clients that she believes that Bernadette should abide by too. Still, Bernadette and Stevie find themselves falling in love, which brings up a ton of issues for both of them, especially since Bernadette thinks she has to stay in Chicago, and Stevie wants to continue her career by maybe joining SNL.

I liked the two main characters, but, for the most part I couldn't stand most of the secondary characters (except for Bernadette's Mom and Stevie's Grandmother. Bernadette's Mom especially was awesome, she was so awesome that I'm not sure I have the words for just how awesome she was and so I'm using awesome too much).

Most of the other characters just rubbed me the wrong way, especially Constance. But, other than those characters, I quite enjoyed the book.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.

Another good book from Erin Zak. The theme of the book was very original and done well. The connections between the MC’s was believable and they were interesting. The supporting characters were fun, and I loved their banter. Stevie is an improv actor, and when she reluctantly joins her friends in the cast for a psychic reading from a deaf psychic, she finds herself seriously connecting with the psychic's ASL interpreter, MC Bernadette. The two both feel a physical spark immediately, but Stevie has dreams of moving to New York to join the Saturday Night Live cast, and a relationship doesn't fit into that picture anywhere. On top of that, Bernadette's relationship with her psychic friend is very complicated, and she's not quite ready to give up her unrequited love for her friend either.

What a delightful story of two youngsters falling in love with a little help from the paranormal side. Stevie and Bernadette had loads of great chemistry that I’m actually sad that this author chose fade to black intimate scenes. She sure knows how to write fiery chemistry. I loved the story as piece by piece and page by page, Stevie and Bernadette are tipped toward each other by some really unique storytelling.

I sometimes have trouble with Zak's books, mostly because they are so full of angst that I do have to be in the right mood for them. Sometimes the stories work for me and sometimes they don't. I want to say that this one fell down the middle, mostly due to the prolonged vacillation from Bernadette. Especially when it comes to hanging on to her first love, Connie, and moving to a much healthier relationship with Stevie. Sometimes this type of plot line works really, really well like in Breaking Character, by Lee Winter, where Elizabeth knows she has a crush on her mentor, but doesn't realize how toxic the relationship is until she's essentially slapped over the head with it. With Bernadette and Connie, there's this undercurrent of awareness that gets under my skin.

Bernadette's relationship with her mother is way more understandable. Her mom represents safety and steadfastness, and the need for someone like Bernadette to have that type of relationship is understandable. I felt like that need to stay with her mom - the safety - was a much better conflict than between Connie and her. I think that the focus on the themes surrounding that relationship would have made for a much better read.

I would say that this is a nice read with one huge, exacerbating plot line, and some smaller issues. Over all, though, if you want big dramatic feelings, Zak is the way to go.

This is a difficult review for me because I think its a really well written story but I didn't like it. The characters were developed, the dialog was real and the pace was ok. But I didn't like many of the characters. They are mainly interested in themselves and too bad if that hurts someone else. With the exception of the lead character that puts everyone ahead of her own interest, goals and love life. And thats aggravating in the opposite way.
Starting the story with a improvisational troupe going to a deaf psychic with and interpreter was an interesting beginning. And I had high hopes for an unusual story but I felt it was basically a repetitive, one note story that dragged a bit.
Also I would have liked an epilogue because, besides Stevie and Berns attraction for each other, I didnt think they had a lot in common. Where does their life go next?