The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick
327 pp

Carla Carter is just weeks away from marrying Tom Taylor. Her matchmaking agency says they are statistically perfect for each other, at least more perfect than her first husband Aaron. If it weren’t for the pesky jinx on her family that no one could be happy in a marriage. During Carla’s bachelorette party, one of the activities involves having your fortune told by “Mystic Myrtle”. It seems that Myrtle knows that during Carla’s gap year traveling through Europe she broke her arm falling from a horse and says “you met a man of great importance during this time”. After Tom gets the opportunity to go to the US for a board game convention and present his idea for a new one there, Carla is left at loose ends. When a woman answers Tom’s phone, that is the last straw. She decides to go on a trip to some of the places she went during that gap year and see if there is anyone or anything there that could be the “man of great importance”.

Readers who enjoy romance will like this title. I have read several of Phaedra Patrick’s books through the years and always find them to be entertaining and satisfying. I give this book four out of five stars and thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance.

Another fun book by Phaedra. I love her stories how they just take you away from here and put a smile on your face. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Phaedra Patrick's books have a way of letting me fall into a story, which always feels good. The occult makes me uncomfortable, and played a large role in The Year of What If, but looking at it almost as a fairy tale helped. I liked the way I could feel all the things that Carla, the MC, felt, which to me is a big part of what makes a good book.

A story of family, friendship and finding the right love. Carla Carter owns a dating service and is set to marry Tom whom she matched up with, when a fortune teller tells her he is not the love of her life. The love of her life is one of the men she met during her trip abroad when she was 21. Needing to find out if this is true Carla finds many other family secrets as well.

The Year of What If tells the story of Carla Carter, who comes from a very superstitious family and who lost her mother when she was young. Her relatives tell her about a family legend which says that a witch put a curse on their family about 100 years ago and since then, no Carter relative has ever had long-lasting love. Carla believes this is true, especially when her first marriage leads to divorce. She decides to start her own matchmaking company called Logical Love, to help other unlucky-in-love folks to find their soul mates in a logical manner, and as the novel begins, she is planning her wedding to Tom, who she matched with through her company. After her family takes her to a clairvoyant - who tells her that during her gap year, many years ago, she met a man who is very important to her future happiness - she gets on a plane to track down her old boyfriends. There is so much going on in this story - fun, likeable characters, a mystery, family secrets - so much that I couldn't put it down. Phaedra Patrick's writing style is easy-to-read and I was sorry when it ended. I'd love to read a sequel! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

In just a month, 42-year-old Carla will be getting married for the second time. She's the creator of Logical Love, an online dating app that matched her with Tom, an inventor of games, with a high percentage of success. Carla is confident this marriage will work out much better than her disastrous one, even though almost all of the women in her family believe in a curse that won't allow them to find lasting true love. Against her wishes, they kidnap her and take her to a fortune teller, who insists that Carla's perfect match is actually someone she met during her travels in Europe during her gap year, more than 20 years ago. Carla scoffs, then decides it can't hurt to take a quick pre-wedding trip to touch base with her ex-boyfriends--if she can find them--without telling Tom the real reason for her trip.

Bad idea? You decide. That's what most of the rest of the book is about, and the results are quite unexpected. What did Carla learn about herself and what she really wants, will Tom still want to marry her when she returns, and what other surprises will rock Carla's world? In the meantime, there is drama that touches the lives of her beloved grandmother, great-aunts, and her younger sister, who was just a baby when their mother died. And what of the curse? All will be exposed.

It might sound like this story is heavy on magical realism, but that's not the case. It's more about family secrets being revealed and the results of those revelations. I have enjoyed six other Phaedra Patrick books. and I relished her latest story as well. The character of Carla is very well drawn and layered. Other family members are equally well portrayed, and there is an element of whimsy. The emotions are deep and affecting. I will continue to seek out the author's books and look forward to the next one.

My thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

I enjoyed this book. It was the second book that I've read by Phaedra Patrick. The first one was The Messy Lives of Book People. I loved this one because Carla was able to get closure on her past relationships. The ending was different than what I thought it would be. It was better. I'm grateful that netgalley and the publishers let me read this i exchange for an honest review.

The Year Of What If - Phaedra Patrick

I’ve been a big fan of Phaedra Patrick’s ‘curiously charming’ fiction ever since a read The Bookshare (AKA The Messy Lives Of Book People). That book got me binging her entire backlist and eagerly awaiting each new release.

I hadn’t read feel-good fiction before, and with her books Phaedra has been one of the biggest influences on me to read a wider variety of genres.

The Year Of What If follows Carla Carter, a month away from her second marriage. The ladies in her family are superstitious, believing in a curse on the family and insist she visit a fortune teller before the big day. Carla doesn’t believe in any of it, she’s more logical. She’s the boss of a dating agency Logical Love, through which she met her fiancé.

Something the fortune teller says leads Carla on an impromptu trip to far flung locations, trying to reconnect with men she met while travelling on her gap year. Will Carla meet someone special? What about the curse?

Like all of Phaedra’s books it’s full of likeable characters, warm humour and thoughtful moments. It didn’t tickle my heartstrings as much as some of her books, but it is warm and charming read, that will have you questioning love, logic and life choices on Carla’s journey.

Perfect for a summer holiday read, there’s summer sunshine and quite a few laughs in these pages.

Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing