I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was fun & engaging. I liked most of the characters. Each one was well developed and realistic. Especially McKenna.I liked how she felt like a real person and someone I'd want to be friends with. Henry & McKenna's related was fun to watch. It was a perfect balance of friendship & romance. I loved the chemistry between them. The story of family history and the documentaries were cool. I definitely would have watched them. I liked how we see McKenna develop and grow throughout this story. My only complaint is that it just ended rather abruptly. It also left a side story without a conclusion. I hope its simply because my copy was an arc.
Bethany Turner writes another fun story that is a perfect escape from the world we live in.
I recommend this book to my family and friends.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

McKenna Keaton knows what she wants in life, and when she is called in for a meeting with the partners of the law firm she works at, she knows that it must be for her fairly reaching her goal of attaining senior partnership. Instead she is accused of embezzling funds and is told that she will need take a leave of absence while an investigation takes place. She decides to return home to North Carolina to visit her family that she hasn’t seen in over 2 years. While in North Carolina, McKenna reconnects with family and old friends, including Henry Blumenthal, once her rival in High School.

This was a heartwarming tale of not just two former rivals getting a second chance at romance, but McKenna also being able to reconnect with her family and grow closer to them after being away so long. While I did enjoy reading this book and seeing McKenna’s transformation, as she realizes that her life in New York may not be what she wanted after all. However, I did feel that the first half of the book moved a bit slow. Henry and McKenna had only met once in the first 50% and, there wasn’t any movement on McKenna’s issue of being accused of embezzlement. Since McKenna and Henry knew each other in high school and were close, I didn’t find an issue with how quickly McKenna and Henry’s romance progressed - although I really wanted more moments of them together.

If you are looking for a hallmark style story where the heroine moves from the big city back to her small town to discover herself, I would encourage you to check this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson- Fiction for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Trigger Warnings
Miscarriage (it isn’t part of the main plot but it is mentioned).

Not gonna lie, I found the beginning to be a little slow for me, however, I was still hooked onto it because I wanted to know how things would turn out for the MCs. I really loved the writing style, and loved how raw, authentic and vulnerable characters were. They were quite likeable, I really enjoyed every second being immersed in their world. So, it’s a 4 star read for me.

I think I have to admit that I’ve permanently outgrown stories like this. The writing is not bad. The story just did not interest me even though the female character was nearly forty.

This was a bit slow to start for me but once I got about 30% In, I was hooked. I love the big family dynamic and all of the ins and outs of the lives of Henry and McKenna. New York is a bucket list place for me so they scenes set there make me happy. The epilogue made the book for me. Thanks NetGalley for an advanced review copy.

This was a super sweet and fun read! McKenna returns home to run into a former high school classmate, a nerd turned famous documentarian. Watching the two of them rekindle their friendship and then quickly transition to romance was adorable. And the accompanying cast of characters was a delight as well!

This is a great book. The two main characters are McKenna and Henry. They have know each other since middle school. McKenna is a lawyer and Henry is a filmmaker. Henry had a crush on McKenna in high school. They meet again over twenty years later at a film watch party. McKenna has been released from her job because someone has been embezzling money. Henry ask her to help with information on his new project. A film biography about women who were courageous to immigrate to to America. They both have some issues but together they work through their problems. They find true love.

A cute romcom featuring a strong lead, a successful, independent, self-sufficient woman who grows and learns how to be vulnerable and trust herself, her family, and those around her who love her and only want what’s best for her. The male lead is a strong male, unafraid to be vulnerable, who has had a crush on her since high-school. I truly loved this story; it was romantic and sweet with some of the most beautiful scenes between this pair. I loved that the characters were older than usual, successful each in their own right, but supportive of pursuing their goals and dreams individually, even if those dreams evolve and change over time. This book is not spicy, but it is romantic and a beautiful love story between two strong characters, three sisters, and one family; it’s also super funny and made me laugh out loud more than once.

Plot: I enjoy a strong, independent woman who knows what she wants, or what she doesn’t want, and pursues her goals and dreams. We got this in spades in this book and I loved that the characters were older as well. This was a fresh take on a romcom with fun characters and scenes that made me laugh and also cry.
Dialogue: I loved the dialogue and thought it was clever and witty in some places, maybe super cheesy in others, but it’s a romcom so I need a little bit of that at the very least. The dialogue didn’t feel forced but very natural between characters and I never questioned if that was something someone would actually say out loud.
Writing: The writing was easy to read and a fun style. I never felt forced out of the story because of the writing.
Character Development: I loved the evolution the main characters make throughout and how we get to experience her development in the novel; moving from scared to being vulnerable to sharing and caring with not only her family but her love interest.
Scenes: I literally laughed during some scenes and cried at others (especially the ending). I loved the emotion that some scenes emoted and some just really resonated with me.
Other Notes: I did get confused in some scenes: specifically when the main character lies to her younger sister, Tiffany, about her relationship status with her boss, Jeremiah, at her law firm. I was confused because it just wasn’t made terribly clear (or at least I didn’t fully understand) that our heroine was telling a blatant lie.

A very enjoyable read. The romance took a backseat to McKenna's growth as a character and I would have loved to see Henry more on the page. He was wonderful. The end was definitely satisfying and I had to go back and read it a second time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Do-Over by Bethany Turner

This was also such a cute, light-hearted, easy rom com read! I finished this in one afternoon. I loved Henry, and adored several of the supporting characters. There were times I found McKenna to be somewhat juvenile and cold, but she grew on me as the book progressed.

I did like how McKenna was a powerful attorney and how the embezzlement plot line played.

Thank you @netgalley and @thomasnelson for the #gifted e-ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Bethany Turner knocked it out of the park once again! I have been on facebook live video calls with her and I immediately found her so easy to relate to, and this comes through in her characters in her books as well.

I particularly enjoyed the characters of Taylor, Erica, McKenna and of course the steamy Henry. This book has steamy romance, fun characters and lots of references to tv characters. Definitely a fun read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

(actual rating: 2.75 ⭐)

This book, despite the lovely cover, was sort of a hate and love one for me. The things I loved were the rivalry between the characters as teens and Henry's character, because he brought excitement to the story.
What I didn't enjoy as much was the lack of development for McKenna, she was a little boring and flat.
However, it was quite cute, a sweet romcom. Definitely recommend, since the English is also quite easy to understand!

I liked that the protagonist was middle aged- that was really refreshing. That being said, it took me an eternity to actually get into the story.

Very heartwarming, interesting story with a good plot! Great for romance and contemporary romance readers.

McKenna has had a singular focus all of her life: be the best. However, when a serious legal accusation arises at her lawfirm, McKenna is forced to go back home feeling, for the first time in her life, less than perfect. Not great timing when she runs into her former friend and academic rival, Henry Blumenthal looking sexier than ever and just so happens to be one of the world's top movie/documentary producers. As McKenna and Henry reignite their old friendship, McKenna begins to question whether she needs to follow through with an old dream, or if a dream can change in take-shape as a ruggedly handsome filmmaker.
**
I ate this book up like a baby trying cake for the first time.

I loved McKenna. As a fellow perfectionist, I found her to be very relatable in her struggle of realizing she is human, and how pride can get in the way of allowing people to get close enough to support you. I literally found my self laughing out loud at what a dork she was when she first started communicating with Henry.

I also appreciated that The Do-Over was equal parts romance and family affair. Nothing warms my cold heart more than siblings starting their own friendship after years of indifference.

This book was SO close to perfect.

The difference between my 4 star-rating and a 5 star would be that I would have liked McKenna to have old feelings for Henry. Their relationship was more a do-over for him than for her. I know liking boys was out of McKenna's "plan" but having Henry be the one thing from her past that threatened her plan, only to reappear and do the same would have put the story over the top.

Super cute novel and fun read by Bethany Turner. McKenna Keaton and Henry Blumenthal knew each other well in high school — and had a rivalry that knew no bounds — but lost touch when Henry moved away. Years later McKenna is stunned to find out that nerdy Henry is actually Hank Blume, a famous documentary producer. McKenna is working through some issues at work in her job as a high-powered attorney, and returns home while she waits for a verdict. She and Hank get a chance to get to know each other again. It’s a very enjoyable read.

An enjoyable romance with a refreshingly almost-middle-aged heroine.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Do-Over is a light hearted romcom that follows the female protagonist, McKenna, and her untimely meeting with an old friend, Henry. Much to her dismay, Henry appears to have barely remembered McKenna and much less, care about her, which doesn't make it any easier when her entire family fall in love with the man!

If you are looking for a light-hearted, easy to read romance then I think this would be a great read. It's very fluffy, not too steamy and isn't too long of a book either!

The Do-Over by Bethany Turner was exactly what I needed to read...a light, happy novel about a woman who loses her job when she's accused of a white collar crime and goes home to her parents house where she never thought she'd live again, for her sister's wedding, where she meets the nerdy kid she couldn't be bothered with in high school but who is now a gorgeous, famous documentary director...wait, what? In spite of how heavy it sounds, it really is a delightful novel about how things change and how maybe a do-over with a nerdy guy made good could be exactly what your life needs!

Thanks to the author, Thomas Nelson--FICTION and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐

When i startet it i was afraid i wasn't going to like it because of the prologue that gave me a lot of info at once and i wasn't sure i was going to like McKenna. But after i got to a certain point at the beginning of the book i realized i was wrong and was enjoying a lot! I liked the family dynamics, McKenna's development and the romance was really cute with one of my favorite tropes.

What i didn't like was the start of the romance. I think it was happening a little too fast even though i cant really call it a instalove because it was just an attraction/crush and they did know each other from before, she was still already embarrassing herself after the first day (and getting second hand embarrassment from books is kind of a torture for me but thats personal). Other thing that bothered me it was that the book dragged a little bit at the end.

Overall the book is a light and fun read and this is exactly what i wanted.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this book. My opinions are completely my own.