I had high hopes for The Scarlet Letter by Kristen Purcell, especially based on the blurb, which hinted at a reverse age-gap romance—something I was genuinely excited to explore. Unfortunately, the story took a direction I found frustrating and ultimately disappointing.

The central theme of the novel revolves around infidelity, which in itself isn’t a deal-breaker for me as a reader. However, it dominated the entire narrative in a way that felt overwhelming and, frankly, exhausting. What was most frustrating was that none of this was hinted at in the book’s description. I went in expecting a unique romantic dynamic, but instead was met with a tangled love triangle that never felt authentic.

The protagonist's romantic entanglement begins with the younger man, only to shift abruptly toward his father. While the author does attempt to develop the second relationship with depth and emotional layering, I struggled to buy into it. Maybe they really were in love, and maybe others will connect with their story—but for me, it felt disingenuous. I guess I never quite moved past the fact that she was intimately involved with his son first.

This book just didn’t work for me, and had the blurb been more transparent about the plot’s direction, I likely would have passed on it. I’m sure there’s an audience out there who will appreciate the dramatic twists and emotional tension, but I wasn’t one of them.

Great story of a woman starting over after age 55. New friendships, new love interests, new lifestyle, new community. I found the characters in the story very believable and easy to read about. Good snapshot of the possibilities of life after divorce!

After Scarlet’s thirty-year-old marriage ends, she realises that she has a chance to start all over again. Taking inspiration from Nicholas Sparks' novels, Scarlet decides to head to South Carolina and begins a life on Sullivan's Island. There she meets Ben, an attractive younger man, as well as a similarly aged man, Beau, who opens her heart to the possibility of love.
Whilst this book explored Scarlet’s new life, I found that the connection between Ben and Beau was a bit awkward, with them being son and father, respectively. When Carter arrived, a man she knew from California, I was at times confused as to where the story was going, let alone why Scarlet was so confused. An easy read, but at times, more complicated than it needed to be.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was happy to see the story of a 55yr old woman, starting over after a divorce where she wasn't devastated, where she hadn't been blindsided, where starting over was fun and looked forward too, rather than something she would have to navigate 'bravely'.

I also loved the Ben of it all for her. Why the hell not? And I understand that realistically speaking Beau makes more sense, but I got whiplash at how fast she moved from fun with Ben to in love with Beau, with her moving boxes barely unpacked. Maybe time moved faster, but with no dates, or seasonal landmarks, or holidays, it felt like everything happened within a week or two which was really too fast to be believed. All those bitter divorcees at book club, were right to be bitter, Scarlet is there barely a minute and she's already called dibs on the 2 most eligible guys? Then add the fact that Beau is Ben's father and that cranks up the ick factor for me.

There was absolutely no reason for Ben and Beau to be related. Ben wasn't painted as a threat to whomever she dated next because they weren't that serious. We didn't need for it to be his father for him to walk away quietly. He already had, by going off to Florida, no strings. Ben was a lovely palate cleanser from the lukewarm last years with Shane and the disappointment that was Carter, and we could have stayed in that space a bit longer, as she found her footing in the community.

I also did not understand the point of having Carter just show up out of nowhere. When they were both in California, he fumbled and decided his family was more important. Scarlet is crushed but tells him it's completely over and not to contact her. So we're supposed to believe that months later he suddenly flies across country and somehow guesses EXACTLY which restaurant in all of South Carolina that she would be in, and goes there even when she hasn't responded to any of his texts. And that all of this happens on the very day that she brings her grown daughter to meet Beau and finds Ben sitting there as well?!? This was something out of a bad tv sitcom. I was surprised that Emily didn't mention that Shane was in the car waiting to speak to Scarlet. Then we would have had everyone she'd ever kissed in one space at the same time. Ugh.

I wanted more of Scarlet navigating her new solo life in a new state, on a new coast. I wanted her to find her people, her routines. I wanted more West coast/Southern contrasts. It's a lot of change after 55yrs and I wanted more of her dealing with that by day and fun with Ben by night. Then eventually we could have presented a Beau, preferably unrelated. And I wish being with Beau didn't prematurely age her like it did. She had so much spark and zest in the beginning of the book, and then suddenly with Beau, she's content to cozy coffee morning rituals and quiet togetherness. She's ready to move in with him without having been on her own more than a couple of months - ?!? She's put herself back into a dull married type life - I was going to say 'just with more sex' but she says frequently that she and Shane still had sex. So why is she suddenly so ready to give up her independence and all the lipservice to being her own woman, getting to live her life for herself, just to saddle herself to a cute 65yr old guy, who is definitely on the slow down of life?

This was an easy read, but after an interesting start was far too disappointing in the end.

Finding Scarlet is out of my typical genre, so I was a little nervous to read it. I am extremely happy that I chose to read it! It was so full of love, emotion, friendships and fun! Being married is hard, but getting divorced while not knowing who you are must be so much harder. I absolutely loved the aspect of the divorced women's book club! The perfect way to explore how divorce affects women over 50.

Scarlet was a perfectly written character. Smart, beautiful, brave and charismatic. Missy was definitely a highlight for me! Added the humour perfectly.

Thank you NetGalley, the Publisher and Kristen Pursell for the opportunity to read an ARC of "Finding Scarlet"!

Are you looking for your next read? Check out Finding Scarlet by Kristin Pursell. I really enjoyed this one. It's available now.

A sexually liberating account of a woman finding herself after her divorce, with a few stumbling blocks along the way.

Whilst I wasn’t able to commiserate with Scarlet in her divorce - I’m a happily married mother of 3 young kids - I’m not so naive or judgmental to know divorce isn’t always for the best. My parents met after my Dad’s first wife left him for someone else, and were happily married for 31 years before his sudden passing from cancer, so if it wasn’t for divorce, myself and my own children wouldn’t be here. So I can empathize with her on that level that sometimes the unexpected can still work out for the best.

The scenery is beautifully described, and most of the characters are amicable and warm. The ones who aren’t are people you most likely wouldn’t waste your breath or time on, in real life, anyway.

Did not love the usage of the terms “Eskimo sisters” and “Eskimo brothers.” A politer term would have been “crossing swords” for the men, even though there isn’t really a non-racist female equivalent. My husband and children are Métis Cree, and whilst it may be different in the States, and if so I can forgive the author’s accidental ignorance of that, in Canada the term is considered extremely racist, derogatory, and offensive. Unless used by the Inuit persons themselves of their own volition.

It would have been nice to also have a slightly more diverse range of characters. It felt like everyone in the book was white, which may be common for Deep South towns in the States - I’m not sure as I’ve never been there, so am willing to make allowances for that, too.

Otherwise I enjoyed the story, and whilst Scarlet wasn’t close to me in life circumstances, I do believe its important to read stories - both fictional and non-fictional - about people other than ourselves to broaden our horizons.

Trigger warning: talk about previously witnessing a suicide.