Julia Monroe Begins Again Book Review
About the Book
Julia Monroe has just turned forty and hopes this next decade goes much better than the last, in which she became a young widow raising two children on her own. With both her boys off to college, it’s time for new beginnings, and she can finally focus on expanding her New Orleans-based cleaning business–but God has other plans. Samuel Reed, the ruggedly handsome Green Beret who broke her heart over twenty years ago, has returned to town and is the kind of distraction she never saw coming.
After their first interaction in years leaves her mind spinning and her emotions out of control, Julia knows she needs to keep her distance from him if she wants any chance of keeping history from repeating itself, but her meddling best friend has other plans to throw them together. It seems inevitable that Julia will have to face her past with Samuel, but only if she can work up the courage to embrace the kind of new beginning she never thought she’d see again.
Rebekah Millet will make you laugh, swoon, and cry in this delightful debut novel of first loves and second chances wrapped in the magic of New Orleans.
My Thoughts
Oh my goodness – where do I begin?!
This book had me laughing from page one clean through to the end! I probably could have highlighted half of the book with all its witty phrases and cleaning colloquialisms. Minus the occupation and widow status, I saw a lot of myself in Julia – how she can easily relate her current circumstances to pop culture/tv/movies, going through a miscarriage (though not as a teenager), and regrets for mistakes in my past in the dating sense.
What I took away most from this story was the overwhelming knowledge that ultimate forgiveness can only be found in God. He does not shy away from us as we try to take control in our lives, making mistakes, then realizing that His plans are always best. And once we have the realization of how beautiful His forgiveness is, we have no choice but to extend the same to others who have hurt us.
All I want now is a beignet and the next book in this series! Bravo to Rebekah Millet for an amazing 5-star debut that I won’t soon forget!
