Name: 16 Steps to Forever
ISBN: 9781635557626

Georgia Beers

Can Brooke Sullivan and Macy Carr find themselves by finding each other?

16 Steps to Forever

Lucia Correa

4 Stars for Georgia Beers' latest novel.

This begins with a classic meet cute. Macy Carr is a talented home stager, staging homes and offices to attract buyers. Adorkable Macy lives with two cats (one appropriately named One Eyed Jack) and three dogs. She is also has a well-deserved reputation of being clumsy. Her teenage nephew, Tyler calls her “The Dropper” because “She has the superhuman inability to hold on to things.” Brook Sullivan is starting a new job, in a new state, in a new home, from Ohio to upstate New York. Brook is a successful high end real estate agent but she decided she needed a change. When she came out as a bisexual to her family, it didn’t go well. The last straw was when her mother asked her again “Why can’t you be normal?” The first morning at the new agency, her boss Sasha Wolfe called a meeting about a new property of condos and businesses with Brooke and other agents along with Macy who was hired to stage the project. Macy brought a box of raspberry danishes for the meeting, only she literally ran into Brook – covering Brook’s white suit with raspberry filling. “The Dropper” strikes again!

Everywhere Brook has lived, she found a place to sit and think and observe. Brook walked to a park near her house and was pleasantly surprised and she knew she found her new favorite spot – she sat on the 16th step to enjoy the view of the reservoir and watch the joggers, walkers, and a woman who was trying to control 3 dogs… I appreciated that Beers included that not only was Brooke adjusting to a new location, is that she really missed going to church. Although, Macy doesn’t go regularly, she suggests her family’s church that is “Catholic inclusive”. I can relate, after moving to a new place, finding a church is probably more difficult than finding a place to live.

I liked the pace of this romance. It was slower, but didn’t feel glacial. Macy wasn’t ready to start a new relationship so it developed from friendship to something more. 

I also enjoyed the relationship/friendship that Macy had with Tyler. She’s the type of aunt I strive to be. Her freezing at one of Tyler’s soccer games reminded me of when I went to Travis’ final soccer game of the season. It was a night game in December. In Colorado. BURR. That year they moved to Colorado and while I visited, I was able to catch his last game. Normally a starter, he played only a couple of minutes, because the coach let the seniors play and the freshmen sat it out. But I was there. Freezing my butt off on metal bleachers. But I was there.

BTW – Brook’s boss Sasha Wolfe is featured in the story, Triple Dog Dare in the anthology, All I Want for Christmas. It was my favorite story in the book.

 An advanced readers copy was given to me by Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jude Silberfeld

I think I have loved every book by Georgia Beers I have read in recent years. She had some sort of writing slump at some point but she’s clearly over it and it makes me really happy. Because when she’s good, she’s really good, in that soft, warm and, yes, sexy way I love in romance novels.

New city, new job, new life. Brooke Sullivan left Ohio, hoping from a new start away from home. That new life starts with a bang when, a few days into Brooke’s new job at Wolfe Realty, Macy Carr barrels into her, sending raspberry Danishes flying every which way and, of course, directly on Brooke’s ivory suit. As Brooke will find out, Macy’s clumsiness is legendary. What else is legendary is how talented Macy is at staging homes, a skill Sasha Wolfe, Brooke’s boss, plans to make good use of for the new high-end property she’s been hired to sell. Despite the disastrous first impression, Brooke quickly learns that Macy is well worth the effort. Sweet, complex and still grieving the death of the love of her life, Macy has filled her life with pets (three dogs, two cats), family and friends. She never thought she would, again, feel what being near Brooke makes her feel.

On the surface, Brooke and Macy are complete opposites. Brooke loves order and logic, Macy thrives in organized chaos. Then again, Brooke brings peace and serenity to Macy’s life while Macy brings the fun side of Brooke (who definitely has a fun side) out. They both make the other feel safe. Not as in playing safe, as in safe to be who they are and, honestly, that’s kind of everything in a relationship.

What I love about Beers’ writing is that she doesn’t need to overstate anything. Her characters are genuinely nice and lovely, and she’s awesome at writing the subtle shifts that move friendship into “more” territory. In romance, what matters isn’t the way the story ends – there will be a happy-ever-after or, at least, a happy-for-now –, it’s the journey, and Beers makes that journey very sweet.

It’s in the details, such as Macy’s relationship with her nephew Tyler, her friendship with Lucas, Brooke’s complicated relationship with religion, her bisexuality, her budding friendship with Sasha… Sasha, whose story Georgia Beers tells in Triple Dog Dare, one of the three novellas that make up Bold Strokes Books’ 2020 Christmas offering, All I Want for Christmas. I’ll be reviewing it very soon but I can already say that while I liked Macy and Brooke’s romance a whole lot, I loved Sasha’s. More soon.

Oh, and Macy needs to get tested for dyspraxia. Just saying.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.