Better in Time by Mel Henry

Two book reviews in one week? What have you done, Bree?

Well, honestly, I went insane and read a butt ton of books over the last week, and I felt like I had to share.

Get ready for more of these because my NetGalley shelf is about to break from all the books on it.

Today, I'm reviewing an older book to get ready for a newer one! If you remember, a year ago (sort of), I told you about Better in Time, the second book in Mel Henry's Time After Time series. Confession time: I hadn't read it at that point. I thought that it was a rehashing of the first book, but from another character's POV, and that was not my cup of tea.

And then I got off my high horse and read the book.

Still reeling from a break-up with his first love, Carly, Josh McCarthy is replanting his roots in Los Angeles in an attempt to start over. Once part of South Station Boyz (a teen super-group in the ‘90s), and a lengthy stint with a Broadway theater company, success is something that has always come easily to Josh—at least where his career is concerned. Love, on the other hand, has been a struggle.

With a new role on a hit TV show and a change of scenery, Josh is hoping to get back on track in every aspect of his life, with or without Carly. Meeting model-turned-agent, Abby Levy, should be the answer to his “without Carly” equation. So why do his thoughts keep driving back to her? Every day, to his own detriment, he finds new ways to compare his new love to his old one. He just wants to move on and not feel her absence anymore.

Now faced with another major life decision, Josh decides to take a trip back to the Big Apple—back to Carly—to either reclaim his lost love or to finally gain the closure he needs to move on. What will he decide, and can everything really get Better in Time?

Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man. I forgot how much these books give me all the feels. The first one made me cry for about two days, and then made me listen to boy bands from my high school days for about a month. This one made me rage for a few hours, cry for another few hours, and I'm on week two of non-stop *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys listening parties. Seriously, what is this lady trying to do to me?

The main reason I loved the first book was because it was every little girl's dream (well, this little girl's dream, at least): meeting your favorite boy bander that you've had a crush on for years and having him fall madly in love with you. Oh my god, right? Carly and Josh were so good together, and it made me scream a little when they broke up the first time. I wanted to dive right into the pages and slap them both. Then...things happened to Carly, and I understood. She had a tough time for awhile, but then she found true love, and I respected her for it, even if I did think she should get her butt to California and patch things up with Josh.

Josh. Oh, Josh.

Josh gets himself in so much trouble in this story. He tries so hard to move on with his life after his breakup with Carly, and even though it seems that he has everything (big role on a hit show, a beautiful house in the hills, friends that try their best to cheer him up), he knows he's missing something big. When he reconnects with Abby, a former lover of his, he thinks that he's found that missing piece.

I'm not saying this because I'm a devoted follower of Carly, but Abby was wrong for Josh. From the moment she showed up, I knew she was wrong for him. I don't care if he loves her and wants to marry her. She's wrong and no one likes her and she should just get out of everyone's lives.

I might have reverted back to my fifteen-year-old mentality while reading this, and it was totally fun.

The first part of this book was a quick rehashing of what happened in the first book, but told from Josh's POV, and I didn't mind it so much. It was nice to know what he was thinking and that I could blame him completely for things because he was just being such a guy. But then it turns into Josh's own story, and we cross paths with the first book every now and again. I adore that these people are in their thirties and still messing up (preaching to the choir, characters). They're still learning about life and haven't gotten everything figured out. Sometimes when I read "adult" literature, the characters are twenty-five and have everything neatly organized. 

And there I am, eating mac and cheese and wondering if there's a new episode of SpongeBob on. 

So, it was really nice to read about people my age (a little older, okay?) that are stumbling through life, trying to figure out where they belong. I think there should be more of these. I know that not every adult acts like a teenager, but, come on. We do it more than we think. Why do you think adults read so much YA lit? I, for one, love to read it and think to myself, ah, I remember being that young and stupid...wait. I'M STILL LISTENING TO *NSYNC.

And that is so not a bad thing.

I think that this book is a nice story to have before the last book. Because I read the last book. AND I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT IT AND I'M GOING TO TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THEM.

That's just a warning. Come back on Tuesday if you want to watch an adult slowly melt into a puddle of tears and feelings.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1508993556/ref=x_gr_w_visstd_sin_t1_control_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_visstd_sin_t1_control_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1508993556&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/better-in-time-mel-henry/1121655292?ean=9781508993551&st=AFF&2sid=Goodreads,%20Inc_2227948_NA&sourceId=AFFGoodreads,%20IncM000027

Also, here's a link to my post about Distance and Time, the first book of this series, just in case you wanted to start at the beginning.