Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really struggled with this one. I liked the premise, but I just couldn’t adapt to the writing style. It just felt cumbersome and not necessarily overwritten, but clunky. The words didn’t flow and I often had to reread sentences just to make sense of it. I also felt that there was far more repetition than developing the plot as it moved from the past to the future.

"Wes and Addie Had Their Chance" was basically an extended deep dive into their inner thoughts, and if introspection were a sport, these two would be Olympic-level champions. Not a whole lot happened, but if you love watching characters wrestle with their emotions, this one’s for you. No spice, but we did get some sweet kissing moments that were enough to keep things moving. It’s the kind of book you curl up with when you’re in the mood for something low-key and comforting.

Now, plot twist, I thought this was a standalone, but turns out it casually name-drops characters from other books like they’re old friends at brunch. You don’t need to read those books to follow along, but if you have, you’ll catch those little references. Overall, it was fine, but I won’t be shouting about it from the rooftops. A solid three-star read with some cozy charm!

I wanted to love this one, but it was just okay—it felt pretty disconnected from reality in a way the current political moment makes difficult to believe, especially when one of the main characters is running for president. I enjoyed returning to the mountains, but I didn’t feel like the character development was there (unlike the other books in this series). I enjoyed reading it, but struggled with the characters and plot.

Such a good continuation of the Adelaide Springs crew. Love the second chance small town romance vibe. Slow paced but in the best way as we truly get to learn who Wes and Addie are as people, what broke them a part, and how they can be together. Romantic and enjoyable

Wes and Addie Had Their Chance by Bethany Turner is a second-chance romance between Addie Atwater-Elwyn, a former CIA analyst, and Wes Hobbes, senator and possible presidential candidate.

Sad to say, I just couldn't get into this book. I'm all for a second-chance romance, but this one left me feeling a little "meh". And honestly, I found the story depressing for more than one reason. Yes, there was an HEA, but at the reader's expense.

Addie has suffered three major heartbreaks in her life: the death of her mother, the death of her husband, and being left at the altar at age 18. It has been two years since she was widowed, and everyone walks around her on eggshells, looking at her with what she interprets as pity.

Enter, Wes, the former runaway groom, again running away, but this time from a political career he is not sure he wants to continue. He returns to his hometown to immediately run into his ex-fiancée and finds that he isn't welcome there anymore after everyone sided with Addie when he left.

What ensues is three days of them reconnecting and coming to terms with what has happened in their lives and what is still happening. I don't want to spoil some of the revelations in these interactions, but with two people who have lost both a loved parent and a significant partner, well, the conversations are heartfelt yet very sad.

I found Addie's character likeable as well as some of the side characters. I also enjoyed the fact that this was about a couple in their 40s (gasp, not old people!), but that was about all. Wes' character felt too over the top, with a presidential bid and his marriage of convenience as part of his background, I just couldn't like him. Their reunion felt rushed, especially after so many years of resentment that had built up between them and also between Wes and the town itself.

In the end, this wasn’t quite the emotional payoff I’d hoped for. If you're looking for a bittersweet story of love, loss, and second chances, you might still find something to connect with here, but be prepared for more sadness than swoon.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. Many thanks to the publisher Thomas Nelson Fiction, the author, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

I love a great small-town romance, and this one fit the bill. The author included a lot of twists and interest that really leveled up the story.

Second chance romance between high school sweethearts and a change of mind at the last second. Two times heartbreak, interesting jobs, and a swirl of mystery as to the secrets they are both holding.

This is the first time read of this author’s stories, and I love the atmosphere of the community and the friendships she built within.

There’s a little bit of oddness in the writing and the setup of the story. We do bounce back and forth between time and between characters. There are sections labeled GH, which I think is the father, but a little clarity would’ve been helpful.

The two main characters do work well together for the most part. I feel she’s a little too forgiving, but considering he’s good at convincing her she was the one and only, I can understand. I would probably do the same thing if he were my first love.

This is a clean romance that has some good energy and pretty low angst for the most part. I love the character’s connection towards the last half as she had a lot of healing to do! Plus, the ending is awesome.

Wes and Addie Had Their Chance 🍁 (arc) - @bethanyturner

5⭐️

Wholly and irretrievably perfect.

“Addie Atwater became the great love of his life, that was it.”

My very first Bethany Turner novel and most certainly not my last. This book was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions start to finish and it had me gasping, giggling, clutching my pearls and swooning all at the same time.

This story is the ultimate novel of human connection, sacrifice and second chances.

This book was not what I expected and I mean that in the best way possible. I thought it was going to be a light hearted romance, but really, this story was so much more than that. It was so complex on an emotional level and each chapter was revealing another layer to the plot and characters which added so much depth to everything - a truly wonderful reading experience.

The tension throughout the first third of the book between Wes and Addie was palpable. They were both so raw and real with each other with the confrontation and the hurt. I like that they didn’t ignore the elephant in the room and that their past was addressed early on in the book between them. Addie never cowered from the situation, addressing Wes on his bullshit immediately. She was such a fierce character. Both coming from difficult and stressful careers, they found solace in each other being the only ones who understood what it was like. The secrets, the formalities, the facade of everything. They were each others safe space - even a whole lifetime apart. (Also I pictured Wes as Nate Archibald the entire book and you cannot change my mind.)

Something about this story was so uniquely … precious and fragile. I think it was the vulnerability between the characters so early in the book (which I ADORED) or if it was the cozy, winter small town vibes. Either way, i fell in love with Wes, Addie and Adelaide Springs.

Reading this book, I didn’t want for it to end. I could have read a thousand more pages on Wes and Addie and never gotten tired of it. So painful, raw, hilarious and comforting all at once. Highly recommend!

Thankyou to @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!!

For some reason this was hard to read. I found myself being both bored and engaged at the same time. I couldn't get into the characters there was so much going on it was kind of confusing. The writing style didn't appeal to me found it kind of hard to read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was about a second-chance romace between 2 people who grew up together (Addie and Wes). The story follows the life of Addie Atwater-Elwyn, who returned to her small town home after the death of her husband and struggles in her life that cost her career to end. While returning to her hometown she must face her past, including the man who left her at the alter when she was 18. Wes, the man who left her is now a senator and is running to become president of the U.S. The story is about forgivness, rediscovery and navigating through unresolved feelings. I thought this was a great story about love and second chances. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Netgally and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the advanced copy. It was a great read.

I loved this book! Wes and Addie were just the complicated, funny duo that I wanted to root for. I really appreciated that Addie was able to build a real, solid and beautiful life for herself after Wes jilted her at the altar. (That's in the summary so not spoiling anything!) It felt both good for the character and also true to life. The book also packed enough surprises and turns to keep me guessing. Sometimes, low-spice/sweet romances lack a bite, but this one truly feels relatable and genuine and even raw at times. Bethany's characters always feel like real, flawed people, in the best way. And Adelaide Springs continues to be a fictional town that I want to return to with each of Bethany's books.

This book is a bit harder for me to review than the first two in this series which I really, really liked so had high hopes for this book as well, even knowing a bit of the backstory of these two from the previous books. I really liked the premise of people in their 40's falling in love - this is definitely a much needed trope in the romance genre. I liked the setting of the story, small town and great group of friends surrounding the main couple. I didn't mind at all that Addie was a widow that deeply loved her husband even after being left at the alter at 18 by Sebastian the main male character. I really liked that Addie had her second chance at love and her struggles after her husband died were interesting and relatable. I wish after her illustrious career with the CIA ended, she had more than what she was doing when she came back to her hometown but I can see how that added to her story.

Sebastian's marriage was a bit of an issue with me. His marriage of convenience to someone who wasn't true to herself was so that he could live out political dreams was very difficult to swallow. I wish his love had been as deep as Addie's was because to me - marriage is something incredible between two people who are in it to be together for life, have a family and be truly in love with one another.

Since this is from a publisher that generally publishes clean fiction and Christian fiction, I do have a few things to share with my review that might be triggers for readers:
- Alcoholism
- Lesbian character
- Emotionally abusive parent situation
- Loss of spouse and parents
- Cancer

I would say this book is for ages 18+, There are some very adult themes though the book sticks to kissing between the couple. Just some very tough topics are covered. It has its lighter moments but this one is definitely heavier than the other two in the series.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I lasted two pages into this book. I had already tried the audiobook for "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other," which I didn't enjoy and didn't even attempt "Cole and Laila Are Just Friends," so I didn't have high hopes that Wes and Addie's story would be any better. A forty year-old female MC is nice, considering most contemporary rom-com characters are 20-somethings. Apparently I didn't really read the initial premise well, since "eft at the altar" isn't a plot device I like.

The Adelaide Springs, Colorado series by Bethany Turner is one of my absolute favorite series that I have read and the latest, Wes and Addie Had Their Chance, could not have been been a better addition. Turner is a master of adding humor and pop culture into her books and are my favorite aspects of her writing. This is a huge 5 star read for me!

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

Addie Elwyn (nee Atwater) is back in her namesake, Colorado, one-horse town of Adelaide Springs. It’s a been a rough go of it for the last year: she left her job at the CIA under strange circumstances, and her loving husband died under even stranger circumstances. She’s laying low, driving a cab and doing odd jobs. But then she picks up a mystery passenger: Wes Hobbes, the presidential candidate that jilted her twenty years earlier. Apparently, he’s seeking some journalist that can help him with some serious personal issue, and thus he crosses paths with the woman he wronged.

Of all the cabs in all the towns in all the world…

The cozy setting here is lovely. It’s the Rockies in full-on winter, and Turner does a good job in her descriptions. I felt my shoes go damp in the snow! The village set-up was also well done: every restaurant and coffee shop and grocery store feels homey and familiar, just like you’d expect. Everyone knows everyone, and it isn’t long before all the neighbors’ quirks come out.

That makes the prologue and intro a nice little draw. I liked watching Addie reassimilate into a community she’d left behind in person, but kept deep in her heart. She’s got lots of affection for lots of people, and she comes off as a real stand-up citizen.

The plot is a clear take on the second-chance romance trope. The length of time between MC encounters makes this interesting for people in their 40s and 50s, so kudos to that. There are also lots of big issues swirling in and out of the story: grief, alcoholism, guilt, politics, secrets. Allow me to simply say these made keeping track of things and sustaining belief a bit of a challenge, but it’s a tip of the cap for giving it a try.

Some might say reading the prior novels in this series is a must, but I’m not so sure that would’ve made the difference. Either way, it was a quick read with a nice premise.

When I read the other Adelaide Springs books I wondered when or if Wes and Addie's story would get told and how it would work out. This one was very well done! It had all of the gratifying parts of a second chance romance but it felt realistic. Wes and Addie both had things they struggled with and needed to work through and the author maintained an excellent balance between fiction and relatability.

Wes and Addie had their chance by Bethany Turner

I got this audiobook via @netgalley as ARC and heres my thoughts about it, which are all mine. Thank you also @tnzfiction this book!

Okay, I was waiting to read this book so much so that I went back to the previous books before reading this one. And it worked. At least I got more out of this book because I know other characters and knew their stories.
Both main characters had suffered a lot in the past and both had their reasons to come back to their small home town, but either one didn’t expect to find each other there.
This book has lots of deep themes (traumas from the past) and its not light in any way but still, I enjoyed to read it and it was well written!

But must say, the wedding in the end - it was totally unexpected but still so there to see! Why it didn’t happened before??
I love small town charm as it was greatly present in this book too!
4/5

3 Stars! Cute second chance romance book but it was a bit slow and tended to drag on at times which had me bored & disinterested so I started skimming through. A lot of inner monologue, not enough actual dialogue. The main characters are Wes & Addie & I liked her but couldn’t get over Wes’s past actions. Although this isn’t technically in a series, the two couples that are secondary characters in this book had their stories told in previous books by this author. Basically, I didn’t hate this book but I didn’t love it either.
*I received this book at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for this earc.

Ugh. It’s very hard for me to explain how I feel about this book but I’ll try
Let’s start that I really loved the other two books in the books so I was excited for this one.
And I was definitely not what I expected.
First I’ll tell you what I did enjoy.
- Another romance book with main characters in their 40th
- Some very adult decisions and conversations (especially from Addie.)
- Found family.
Now the things that I’m super conflicted about.
- I wanted Wes to actually go and become president and come back in 4 years. I felt like when Addie said that she did have a great marriage and she didn’t love him after all this time and they did need time to get to know other again, I wanted them to do that while Wes being a president. I mean the guys worked his whole life for (including leaving in the first place). Just feel like with him backing out, it was all for nothing.
- The kissing scene. I felt like was it completely out of place. They saw each for two days after two decades, finally sat down to talk and it was great. And then Addie just jumped him? Just felt very off.
- Also, all the dead people. I understand that both of them had a life but having both their spouses die and both in very difficult circumstances was a bit too much.
So yeah. I felt like with the speed the plot was moving, the ending was very rushed. Especially the second proposal.

After reading the first two books in the Adelaide Springs series, it was wonderful to finally know the story behind Wes and Addie. It seemed that their absence in the earlier books always hinted at something grand, and in a way, getting to meet them both in this last book was both fitting and satisfying. I was grateful that both mysterious characters made their long-awaited appearance, so that readers could understand the motivations for their behaviour and disappearances. Even better than that was seeing how they were able to take responsibility for their past actions against each other. With Wes and Addie being in their 40s, it was refreshing to see how they worked to clear up any miscommunication between them instead of descending into assumptions. Of course, it wouldn't be a Bethany Turner book without the pop culture nods along the way to evoke that shared nostalgia as well.

This book is marketed as clean fiction, so there are few faith references, with the exception of one scene that briefly alludes to it. Otherwise, it's a continuation of a charming small-town series with plenty of appearances by and references to the previous couples we've met in Adelaide Springs. One of the things I've liked most about this series has been the intergenerational nature of it, with a focus on the older characters that have guided and mentored the younger ones. This book does address heavier and potentially controversial topics, so readers might want to explore some trigger warnings beforehand. Those who have followed along on this journey in the series will be interested in discovering the answers to what happened between Wes and Addie all those years ago, with a dose of the inner workings of an American political campaign.

This is contemporary romance against the political backdrop.

Wes is running for the top position in the country and is wanting and out from the election. Does a reunion with his childhood sweetheart, Addie help with the exit? Not so easy when Addie is an ex-CIA with her own secrets to tell.

My reservations on picking up this book start with the cover hinting at twins falling for same girl. I could only link the association to election posters after reading the first few chapters. Next, I love second chances but when they come after long marriages that Wes and Addie had with their respective partners, I wasn't so sure I wanted to finish it.

Now, was I wrong about the author's calibre to hit the right strokes to build the romance, the possibility of a HEA once again while dealing with loss of their life partners. The best part about the story is between 50-70% mark where the mystery unfurls and the jigsaw starts to take shape. I loved the characters, expecially Laila and Jo for the unwavering support and small town vibe they bring to this story.

This is a must read for those who read Laila and Brynn's books. It can also be a standalone that will tempt you to scour for the other 2 books to get the full story. You can also pick it up for the behind the scenes on what it takes to be in CIA or running a presidential election with a romance plot running in the foreground.