I found an old diary the other day. One of the entries was 20-something me describing my ideal mate. He’d be tall and handsome, super smart, an engineer. He’d be foreign and he’d take me on amazing European vacations.
All of those statements ended up being true. But I didn’t marry the guy I was daydreaming about all those years ago. Instead, I married his friend.
That old diary entry was a good reminder for me that the road to love isn’t straight. It doesn’t matter how many plans you make, or how well you think you know what your ideal partner looks like. Life often ends up taking you on a left turn instead of a right. You move forward with one guy, double back with another, before you know it, you’re on a date with your best guy friend instead of the hot guy from your math class.
When I sink into a hot bath with a sexy romance novel, sometimes I want a story that comes closer to reflecting real life. I want to find an author who works hard to weave the winding road to love into their story line, instead of the overdone trope of the hot next door neighbour.
This weekend I picked up a copy of Faodail: Lucky Find in the North of Scotland. Faodail tells the story of Sophie Moore, who falls head over heels for her best friends’ roommate Aiden, but finds her carefully planned romance thrown into disarray after a one night stand leaves her pregnant. Sophie knows that Aiden is the man for her, but she was hoping for a long romance rather than a rush into parenthood.
On the surface, I don’t have anything in common with the main character. I did things in the “right” order – dating, moving in, getting married, planning for baby. But the book was so well written that I immediately felt a kinship with Sophie. I read all 374 pages in a single day, ignoring pleas for snacks and taking extra long bathroom breaks. A mom has to do what a mom has to do!
Faodail is forthright and heartwrenching. It is beautiful and stunning, much like the scenery of North Scotland it describes. The characters are new and at once familiar. The left and right turns on their road to love kept me turning page after page.
If you appreciate a dash of realism with your romance, you should definitely grab a copy of Faodail. Curl up with a warm blanket, a glass of wine and let the rugged Scottish coastline romance you. You’ll cheer for Sophie, shake your head at Aiden, and by the end of the book, be praying that the author, Inga Batur, is already working on her next story.
Get your copy now on Amazon:
