"It's hard to believe that just one short year ago, we thought fate was out to get us.
We thought we were doomed to a life of misery and disappointment.
Isn't it funny how a little book can change everything?"
Laura left Baltimore for one reason. To get away from her cheating ex-boyfriend. Her plan? To pack up her few belongings, including a care-package box of grandma panties from her aunt, into her lemon of a vehicle and travel to Nana's house in Rock Cove, Virginia before returning home to Alabama. As Laura approaches the last few miles of her trip, an unexpected flat tire halts her in front of a beach house and...a handsome gardener. She had only planned to stay a few days, but after finding a box containing a journal and other memorable tokens from her mother's past, Laura decides to let her mother lead her on a new journey about understanding first loves. Brooks, or should I say Joshua Brooks Tucker Jr., is handsome, but not a gardener. He, along with other family members, are following the legacy of his father's oil company based out of Texas. Rich, successful, loyal, and instilled with hard-working ethic, providing reason to tend his own yard work. From the outside, Brooks appears to have the perfect life. Great job in the lucrative, family business, beautiful sea-side home, loyal friends, beautiful fiance...Well, beautiful on the outside at least. Although those close to him including his sister, Ashton, and best friend, Will, know that Brooks is suffering from the deal he was forced to agree to by his father. The deal will bind Brooks to his over-privileged, conniving, childhood friend Jacqueline in matrimony long enough to seal the deal for his father to buyout Jacqueline's family's oil company. But Brooks only wanted to get down on one knee one time in his life, and it depressed him to think he would give that up to Jacqueline. He saw himself proposing to someone like Laura. Laura's natural appearance and easy-going personality immediately stole Brooks' attention. Even after the spare was on and she was on her way, Brooks couldn't get her name and face off of his mind.
Destiny Ever-Changing met many of my expectations. A love story with endearing female/male leads, comical and lovable supporting characters, and heartwarming ties to the past makes this story a sweet and easy, afternoon read. Walks along the beach, conversations in a secret cave, even the entries in Laura's mother's journal will put you at home with the characters. Personally, I wanted to give this story 4 stars, but there were a few confusing and missing elements. The romantic theme of the story would have played much better as a young-adult novel, but since the characters were written in post-college years, this was a bit confusing. Other than a minor-racy scene with supporting characters, the storyline remains PG-13. As far as a missing element, I wanted to read more in to the Laura's mother's journal. The adventures she took with her first love took Laura on a mini-adventure, but I was left wanting more. Also, the pace of the story felt as if this would be a duet series. Around the 60% point, I just knew it was going to be made into a sequel, since there were so many different stories to tell and ends to tie up. When I arrived at the epilogue, I was shocked. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't want the story to end! I love a happy ending, but I love a drawn out happy ending even better ;-) [See UPDATE below.]
Bottom line. You'll fall in love with Brooks. You'll hate Jacqueline. You'll definitely want to keep an eye out for more from Tasha Ivey.
**Sequel Update**
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