High school English teacher Helena Crosby needs a plus-one for her mother’s wedding, so invites workmate and best friend Landon Blake to go with her. She needs someone to introduce to The Perfects, as she has dubbed the family her mother is marrying into.
Amelia is a successful architect who singlehandedly kept her family together after the death of their mother three years ago, and who has planned the entire wedding and all associated activities.
Helena and Amelia are polar opposites–Helena is always late, and Amelia is always early. Amelia has lists for everything, while Helena can barely read a list (which did leave me wondering how she could possibly teach high school). Anyway, the two have little to no relationship because they have so little in common. Well, except for the small problem of Helena having a giant secret crush on Gage, Amelia’s fiance.
That could have been slightly eww-ish, but McGee made it work.
They arrive on Indigo Island, off the coast of Florida, where they immediately discover Amelia is none other than Mia, Landon’s college ex, the girl he never got over.
That sets the scene for some relationship puzzles.
Some romances give the game away by having only two point of view characters. It’s All Relative had four: Helena, Amelia, Landon, and Gage, which meant it was less clear who would end up with whom.
While there is a romance subplot, the main plot was more about family relationships and the relationship between Helena and Amelia. the story started with Helena so it felt like she was the one we were supposed to want to succeed, even when she did things that seemed a little silly (mostly because they didn’t fit Amelia’s timetable or lists).
The publisher is pitching It’s All Relative as A Midsummer Night’s Dream meets 27 Dresses, but I wouldn’t have picked that if they hadn’t said so.
It’s more a meeting of opposites and the ensuing complexities.
It’s a rom-com with a little more emphasis on the com than the rom, but it’s really a story of family relationships and the expectations we place on ourselves and others. It’s a fun read. The one fault is that there were no faith elements–it was a clean read, but not a Christian romance.
Recommended for readers looking for a feel-good clean read with comedic elements.
Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
About Rachel McGee
Rachel Magee writes rom-coms and women’s fiction with relatable characters, witty dialogue, and plenty of happily-ever-afters. Her stories are usually set in fun, sunny locations where she doesn’t mind spending lots of time ‘researching’. When she’s not out scouting the setting of her next book, you can find her at home in The Woodlands, Texas with her amazing husband and their two adventurous kids.
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About It’s All Relative
Helena’s a “fly by the seat of her pants” kind of girl. Amelia’s got her perfect life planned down to the minute. How will they ever get through their parents’ wedding–let alone a life as stepsisters–without ripping each other apart?
Twenty-seven-year-old Helena Crosby is over her mom Nora’s wedding–and it hasn’t even happened yet. For months, Helena’s been dreading the day she and Nora would become part of The Perfects, aka the Maddox family, led by oldest perfect daughter Amelia. Her complete opposite in every way, Amelia owns a house, runs her father’s architecture firm, and is engaged to her also perfect (and dreamy) fiancé Gage, all before the age of thirty. Helena has no idea how she’s going to fit into this family with their fancy traditions and strict timetables. Thankfully, her best friend Landon is joining the festivities as her emotional support plus one–and the perfect buffer between her and her new family.
Amelia Maddox has spent months planning the perfect wedding week for her dad Steve and his bride-to-be Nora. She’d planned for every consistency . . . except for her new free spirited stepsister’s deadly shellfish allergy, her brother’s insistence on blowing up his life, and an unexpected guest on Helena’s arm. A guest she hasn’t seen in years. A guest who held her heart years before her fiancé Gage ever did . . . her ex Landon Blake. But no matter–Amelia’s kept the Maddox family together since her mother died a few years ago. She’s not going to be thrown by Landon’s deep blue eyes and sun-bronzed forearms and the way he makes her feel all warm and cozy, like she’s come home to herself. Nope. She has duties to attend to: being the best daughter, sister, fiancée, boss, and wedding coordinator. And she’s going to bring her Eldest Daughter Energy to it all and push down those inconvenient feelings, no matter what.
Through a whirlwind week of wedding activities and a few near disasters, both Amelia and Helena realize that sometimes the blueprints for the perfect family and relationship look better on paper than in real life–and that family isn’t only made of the people you’re born with. Family is also made of the people we choose over and over again.
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