3.75 This was a sweet novel by McKenzie. I found this to be much better than her debut book Where Love Leads. McKenzie seemed much more focused and the story was the better for it. I believe romance fans will enjoy this.

Besides a romance, this is a story about the foster care program. One of the mains went through the system as a child and now wants to be a foster parent herself. This book will make you tear up. There are some ridiculously cute kids that just kept stealing my heart. I went through a few tissues. Luckily it’s not a deeply sad book, just enough to tug on your heartstrings.

My one issue was I felt that the first half of the book was better than the second. Another reviewer mentioned this, (maybe Bethany?) that the pace dipped down in the second half. The first half is all about trying to be a foster parent and the kids and you get so wrapped up in that storyline that the second half just didn’t grab me. The second half is where the romance is so that was a bit disappointing. The romance is sweet and the sex scenes are decent, just the pace was off for me.

Even with the slightly slower second half, I still enjoyed this read. And even with me crying a few times, the book still made me feel good. If you are looking for a romance with a little emotion, I don’t think you can really go wrong here.

This one was a nice little drama that went well beyond a typical romance. It melds together the feelings of loneliness that people from different backgrounds can experience. It also highlights some o f the problems in the foster system. I enjoyed both the main characters, and the main kids have personalities of their own. None of them are precocious enough to be annoying, but they do give out some nice child-style pearls of wisdom.

Val and Paige meet under some interesting circumstances; Paige is a social worker starting her work with pairing foster parents with children. She's the assistant in a new foster parent class, which is attended by Val, a new foster parent hoping to help a couple of kids through the system in the way she wasn't. Val and Paige each have to work through their problems with feelings of abandonment, as they both were thrown away by the adults in their lives.

There's a huge amount of emotion in this book, so be prepared for some teary eyes while you read. The romance between Val and Paige is lovely, despite being a little bit of the insta-love variety. It doesn't feel forced, and the characters are allowed to breathe within the relationship. That was the highlight of the book - the push and pull of two people who understand each other on a fundamental level, but are both terrified of the future.

Wonderfully written. Book with deep emotional moments. Loved the kids and how slow the romance took place. Every real mother knows that kids comes before our needs. I can't say enough how this book makes you feel reading it just absolutely wonderful.

The premise of this book is very interesting. Two women working in the foster system who are drawn to each other but have to put that attraction on hold because one of them ends up fostering kids whose social worker is the other one. The potential for drama and angst is immense: between the foster parent and kids and between the protagonists themselves. But unfortunately the author wastes the opportunity. None of the relationships touch the heart. Problems are introduced but are resolved off-screen, so to speak. So you don't get a sense of relationships growing and developing. The closeness seems artificial, dialogues are forced, and emotions are told rather than shown. This leaves one only with a sense of disappointment in an otherwise promising plot.

It seems to be a trend at the moment because many of the current romance releases I’ve read in the last few weeks have had children in distress woven into the story somehow. Some stories have had children in the foster system, adult characters that were in the system, children having lost parents and child survivors of violence. “Taking Chances” is one of the better ones I’ve read.

Valerie Cruz, a librarian, comes across a poster advertising foster parenting workshops being run by her former case worker from when she was in the system. After some thought, she decides to attend the workshop. Paige Wellington is running the workshop under the mentorship of Connie, Valerie’s caseworker. Valerie thinks Paige is a little stuck-up but Paige can’t keep her eyes off the beautiful Valerie.

Both Paige and Val are likeable characters and so are the children in the story. Although there are a number of heart-breaking moments, it gives a good account of the trauma of fostering and adoption from both the parent’s and children’s perspective especially how bonds can be formed even though the placement can be temporary, especially in the case of fostering. I enjoyed the writing and the pace but there were times when I felt resolutions were a little too simplistic. The slow-burn of the romance worked well, and as much I also like insta-love stories, in this case, the length of time they took getting to know each other lent credence to the story line. Their ethics also appealed to me.

There were a couple of things that bugged me. I’m not a fan of the terms ‘forever home’ or ‘forever family’, partly because it’s used in relation to rescue animals but mostly because it makes everything seem like it’s sweetness and light and doesn’t acknowledge what the child has lost in the process. It doesn’t adequately express the child’s trauma that the person who gave birth to them couldn’t care for them or chose to indulge in, often repeatedly, something else rather than care for their own child. It’s easy to demonise negligent and abusive parents but the children still have a connection to them. I felt as if this was glossed over or ignored.

That said, I’ll get off my soapbox now. I get that this is a romance and we read them for the happy endings as well as the idea that everything will work out wonderfully so I can see the reasons not to delve into all the realities around the foster system. It was a bit of a tear-jerker but I enjoyed the read.

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

This was my first read of an Erin McKenzie read, and I thought it was wonderful! I'll be back for more! Foster care, child abuse, drug abuse, mental health, and CPS aren't feel good and fuzzy warm topics for novels,but McKenzie managed to bring to light some of the issues that the systems face without diving too deep into the horrible and dark side of things. She was able to give her characters enough insight and care for how to handle intense and ugly situations without making the book too heavy to read for those in the mood for a romance.

The two MCs, Val and Paige were completely believable as a couple, and their relationship progressed at a wonderful pace. I love how McKenzie forced them apart due to the situation for quite a while, and never allowed them to cross the line just for the sake of rushing things romantically. It actually really helped the romance and spark build more. In all honesty, I thought that the pace was best during the first half of the novel when there was a barrier of the kids involved, and it fell a bit flat during the second half when the situation changed. Not bad - just a bit more boring and predictable in the second half.

I know I'm against the norm when I say this, but I actually don't enjoy novels as much that have tons of 'cute kid' interactions in them. I don't have kids personally, and don't really relate to the cutesy things that authors sometimes try to put into novels. With that said, this one worked for me. McKenzie wrote the children as being precocious, but not over the top, and still flawed. I loved it. The kids were really the best part of this particular story!

4 stars.

**Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.**

The first half of this book was very good. It even invoked a nice tear fest.

Val works in a library. Because of her experience as a foster kid, she decides that she would like to begin fostering children. During the weeks of training, she meets and becomes interested in the instructor, Paige. However, there is a conflict of interest because Paige ends up as the person overseeing Val's case when she takes in two kids. I was intrigued by in the inner workings of the 'system.' And also became frustrated with the rules that are in place that can prevent the right thing happening for the children.

The second half dragged on and left me a bit bored. It focused more on the relationship between Val and Paige. Surprisingly, this is the part that fell flat for me. Their chemistry shined in the first half when there were children and conflicts in the way. Once they became the entire focus, it lost some authenticity and felt rushed despite a time gap that bothered me.

Overall, the story was just OK.

4 stars.

An incredibly sweet but also predictable read. So why four stars? It hits on a lot of things I like in my books - family values, cute kids, beautiful femmes inside and out. The book hits on all the right notes for me. At the same time, I must acknowledge that the author puts in a lot of wish fulfillment, even too much at the end that I had to take one star off.

You can't have everything, and for a book that approaches many serious issues, it's too sweet to the point of doing a disservice to the topics the book tries to bring attention to. Things like child abuse, the less than ideal foster system and mental health. The book comments lightly on all of these issues but never dives deeply in any of them. There is a bit of a tone dissonance in that sense. The book just doesn't come off as real - it feels more like a fairy tale.

But I still like it. The kids are cute, the main leads have chemistry, the story is satisfying as long as you don't think about it too deeply. A solid read.

Valerie Cruz is a children's librarian and former foster child who decides to become a foster parent in order to help children who are in the same kind of situation that she was in as a child. Paige Wellington is a social worker who helps to run the foster parent training sessions and is herself a foster/adoptive mother. When the two meet, there is an immediate attraction, but the situation quickly becomes complicated when Valerie receives her first foster placement and Paige is the social worker assigned to her case.

This book's plot was pretty predictable, but the author was very good at making the emotions of the characters feel real and making you care about what happened to each of them. I cried a good bit during certain parts of the story. The main characters, including Val's foster children and Paige's daughter, were both complicated and endearing. The secondary characters, including Val's former caseworker and Paige's current coworker, Connie, Val's best friend Sasha, and Paige's coworker Joe, were all well drawn and added to the story in their own way.

I liked that the author did not shy away from the difficulties in the foster care system, showed characters accessing mental health care, showcased a woman of color as a main character, and included the children's point of view, not using them as mere props in the story.

Overall, this was a predictable romance, but an enjoyable and emotional read.

Man I loved this book so much. It's hard for me to find f/f adult books that are good and not only a straight man's wet dream. This was very clearly written by a queer woman. I also loved how you could tell that she had experience with the foster care system.

Other things I really loved about this book:

-Woman of color main character!!! Val is Puerto Rican and she mentions lots of little customs to do with her culture.
-So many lesbians omg. A book where the queer characters actually have queer friends? Yes! Irl us queers stick together and for some reasons authors tend to forget that.
-The story revolves around children and the foster system.

I loved that there was children in this book. I feel like they always add so much character to adult books and it truly made me love this book.

There's only a couple things that I wish we would have gotten more information about:

-Val's brother. I wish we could have found out if she ever found him and what ever became of him.
-What caused Val's recurring nightmares. The other kind of glossed over that.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I hope all the queer girls out there looking for a cute romantic read picks it up!!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Suicide mention, Rape mention, Drug Abuse mention

This was an exceptionally beautiful book, I enjoyed every moment of it. This is my first book by the author and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Valerie Cruz had been in foster care most of her childhood. She's got a comfortable job as a librarian and good friends. So, she decides to take a foster parent class so she can give kids a good foster care home that she didn't always get. The beautiful Paige Wellington teaches her class and their attraction is instantaneous and friendship is blossoming. But then two young children come to live with Valerie and Paige is assigned to Valerie's case and their attraction can't go any further. Will the kids find their forever home. And will Paige and Valerie be able to beat the off and let each other in?

I really like that Valerie took the time to work on herself, rather than fall into a relationship and I appreciate the author normalizing therapy. The secondary characters were all so lovely - they were warm and vibrant and brought such a feel good feeling to the book. Friends are family. Community is family. The kids too were just gorgeous - they're so strong and curious and amazing.

The writing was really strong. It had such a vibrant and cozy feel to the whole book. The dialogue and the characters were excellent. I had no complaints. I fully recommend this book.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by this author and I'm certain not the last. Taking Chances is a well written and touching book with exciting characters you'll enjoy reading about. The story will grab you from the first page. It's a bit of an emotional roller coaster and a subject that many of my LGBT students can relate to. It will go well in our book group. I recommend this read.

First time reading something from this author and for sure it won't be the last. I was impressed about how skilled as an author McKenzie is and I absolutely laughed and cried a lot while reading this book. Both main characters were very likable, three dimensional and flawed but really mature and able to communicate their feelings and their issues. The chemistry between them was great and the author took her time in order to built up their connection. Even though the ending was a little bit predictable I didn't mind as the story overall was fantastic and I finished it in a day, A MUST read.

2 stars
Not for me. I tried, it was just not my thing.
I was a social worker and this was not for me.

Very sweet very touching characters. many aspects in this story felt real. Val fear, anxiety and hesitation was perfectly written. Good job.

Highly recommend I loved the children too. Ian was my fev tho he was the shyest.
thank you for the free copy author

Oh wow! Taking Chances by Erin McKenzie is a wonderful and heartwarming romantic story that you simply must read. The story revolves around two women, Valerie Cruz and Paige Wellington. Both are familiar with the foster care system since Val was a former foster child and Paige is a foster care case worker with a young daughter she herself adopted out of the system. The two meet when Val decides to become a foster parent. The attraction between the two surfaces pretty quickly and grows as Val becomes a foster parent to two adorable children.
There is a lot of love, some sadness and even heartbreak in this story, but it is also a wonderful and uplifting romance. The chemistry between the two main characters is very strong, and I loved how they communicated their thoughts and fears and feelings to each other. The secondary characters stories, especially the children’s stories, are almost as intriguing as the main story and worth reading the book for that as well. I began this novel in the afternoon and had it finished before bedtime. I simply could not put it down. I barely stopped long enough to eat supper, and it was a good thing that it was not my night to cook. The family would probably have had a get your own supper night.
Don’t pass this one up folks. It is an absolutely lovely read.
I received this book as an ARC from Net Galley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections:
https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

This was a amazing read it had me crying and laughing the whole time.

Valerie Cruz survive the foster care system when she decide to become a foster parent herself she is surprise to found out that children who going to be in her care are the same children she see everyday at her job as a children librarian.

This is when she meets Paige Wellington who is a foster care worker at training classes where you officially become a foster parents.

Paige has a child of her own that she adopted as they work together their attraction for each other is beautiful written and chemistry is off the charts.

This was slow burn romance that had you rooting for them to get together.

I love all the secondary characters that were supported of them. I love the children Emma Lily and Ian who dealt with some pretty stuff situation.

I like that we learn how the foster care system works that it's beautiful thing to do for children who needs a good start but also heartbreaking when those children in your care have to leave. I'm just happy everything work out in the end.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Taking 'brave' chances would be a good name for this book. The brave women in this book take chances that are life-changing and yet they are incredibly challenging chances to take. Val is a young woman who had a very Traumatic up bringing being moved from foster home to foster home until she aged out of the system. However she had a case worker who believed in her and helped her through high school graduation and into college. Now working as a librarian she decides she has a lot to give back to a Child in foster care so she goes to the training to become a foster parent. Chances she has taken to get to this point is amazing considering that each step brought back horrible nightmares of her own life as a foster child. During her foster care parent training she meets a case worker Paige. While the two are attracted to one another they cannot pursue anything other than a friendship. Both women know that getting close to people isn't worth the heart ache.
This book had many twists and turns, most were very unexpected, some made me cry while others made me smile. The book is very well written and provided great insight into the foster care system and what happens to individuals in that system who had challenging times. One of my favorite lines of the book is "solitary may be safe but taking chances makes life worth living". Well done Erin McKenzie.

Absolutely adored this book. I laughed and I cried, A LOT. There were points in the book where I was literally sobbing. Both of the main characters were fantastic and had great chemistry. The secondary characters were just as good. I found myself having great empathy for Val and really sympathizing with her. At around 80% into the book I was certain that the book would not have the ending that I wanted, but the ending was perfect and there was only one part of the epilogue that I wish was a little more in depth. I would definitely read this author again.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and I am voluntarily leaving my review.

This is the first book by this author that I have read and now I want more. This was an AMAZING read. The story line runs flawlessly and the pace is just right. Both main characters have their own issues to deal with throughout. Both Val and Paige are sweethearts. I loved them both from the beginning. Great bunch of secondary characters and I even fell in love with Emma, Lily and Ian (the kids) which surprised me as I am not much for kids. The book was very emotional for me. Never have I been near in tears reading a book but I was when I was reading this, towards the halfway point onwards til the end.

I look forward to reading more from this author.