Erin Zak

Stevie Adams doesn’t believe in fate, not after losing her parents in a car crash. Now twenty-eight and a star in the Chicago improv scene, Stevie puts career first. No one’s going to get in the way of her New York City dreams. When her friends beg her to tag along to go see Constance Russo, a deaf psychic, Stevie begrudgingly agrees, as long as no one makes her get a reading. American Sign Language interpreter Bernadette Thompson has two priorities: caring for her mother and working with her best friend, Constance Russo. But when the headstrong Stevie Adams accidentally stumbles into her life, Bernadette feels an instant connection that’s so intense it frightens her. They can’t seem to stop bumping into each other, or deny their attraction. When Stevie’s goal of starring in New York becomes more than a pipe dream, will competing desires prove their love to be everlasting or a fleeting act?

Beautiful Accidents

Izza

Stevie Adams and Bernadette Thompson discover that sometimes the best things in life happen purely by accident.

Jude Silberfeld

Dinosaur Triplets, how’s that for a great name? Stevie is an improv actress in a troupe bearing this name and she’s one phone call away from making it to her goal, a spot on Saturday Night Live in New York. One evening, her best friend convinces her to accompany her and other colleagues to consult a psychic. Against her better judgment, Stevie agrees to go but not to have the cards read for her. She doesn’t want to know what the future holds, she’s had enough pain in her life and she’s extremely wary of anything unplanned, unexpected (which is kinda of ironic when you work in improv). Once her friends have all been called in, she finds herself alone in the psychic’s waiting room and ends up with a reading anyway. The psychic, Constance, is deaf and an interpreter, Bernadette, is there to translate the reading for her.

Bernadette’s relationship with Connie is so fucked up. She’s been in love with her half her life but besides the whole unrequited love thing, she also sort of depends on her financially. Connie’s both her boss and her best friend, which makes it close to impossible for Bernadette to tell her to back off when she interferes with her private life. Which is what happens when Bernadette can’t get Stevie out of her head.

This book made my heart ache from the start. When Stevie sees Bernadette for the first time, her breath catches. Mine did too. The way Erin Zak describes reactions, both physical and mental, pulled me in absolutely. It’s both wonderful and painful. It’s what I’m looking for in romances. It’s the best feeling.

On the flip side, it means that I was also right there with Bernadette when her anxiety flared up. I love how mental health issues are becoming more and more common in lesfic. They’re everywhere IRL so they should appear in books too. The only thing is, when it’s done well, it sometimes triggers my own anxiety and I’m not a fan of that happening. So I’ll take a break, breathe for a while and come back.

One last thing: the secondary characters are fantastic, whether it’s Stevie’s friends or both MCs’ families. I’m not going to list them all, they are wonderful, each and every one of them.

Apart from repeating how awesome this book is, I’ll just add this: do you remember the time, not so long ago, when dildos were unheard of in lesfic? Then characters began to talk about them, even bought them but you didn’t get to see them use them. And now they just exist, in so many books (such as this one), and it makes me sooo happy. They’re not a dirty little secret anymore.

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

Megan Cooper

3.5

I had been saving this book for one of my last reads based on how much I enjoyed Create a Life to Love by Erin Zak. Unfortunately, a project at work turned into a dumpster fire of colossal magnitude; and, by the time I started reading it, my brain was frazzled and grumpy. I’m afraid that this may have impacted my enjoyment of the book – and based on other reviews I’ve read for it, I’m the odd one out in having trouble getting fully invested in the characters and story. Don’t get me wrong – this was well written with some very real characters and situations and is a strong romance. It was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me and I’ll likely re-read it in a few months to see if a better frame of mind will push this into the category of books I loved.

Stevie is an up-and-comer in the comedy scene and is eagerly awaiting to see if she’s made the cut to join the Saturday Night Live cast. After losing her parents at a young age, she’s pushed away the idea of investing in the chance at love and instead is intensely focused on achieving her dream. Dragged by her cast mates to a psychic, Stevie receives a reading that indicates that she’ll have a difficult decision when it comes to pursuing her dream or love. Bernadette is a woman who is resigned to constantly puts others ahead of finding her own happiness – in love for her best friend, she continues to act as her interpreter and has resigned herself to staying and taking care of her mother. The connection between the two women is pretty much instant, but their relationship grows slowly with both being inexorably drawn to one another but also fighting against it as neither of their futures seem to have room for love.

Although there was an insta-attract, Zak takes her time with the characters in developing them as individuals and allowing the relationship time to develop. There’s lots of obstacles including their own insecurity and doubts, so a fair bit of push and pull. This is a bit more of a mature romance in that there is unquestionably a connection but both characters recognize that with their lives at major turning points (Stevie’s career taking off and Bernadette’s family), that HEA aren’t easy and compromising for the other person holds the danger of regret. There’s drama, but not overblown – it’s real, messy and complicated with difficult decisions that have to be made.

This is a romance that expands the story beyond just the development of the relationship between the mains. The supporting characters, especially family members on both sides, round out the story – both in their interactions with the main characters as well as giving the story an authenticity that the main characters aren’t existing in a romantic bubble for two. At times, I was a bit annoyed with Bernadette and her conviction that she had to stay and care for her mother (who seemed perfectly capable of managing on her own and is quite clear that she wants move to a retirement community) as well as the horribly unhealthy relationship with Connie Fucking Russo (Zak said it not me), the life-long friend who manipulates and controls Bernadette’s life.

Beautiful Accidents

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