ARC Review: "Every Chance After" by Jessica Sherry ★★★★★

ARC Review: Every Chance After by Jessica Sherry

This slowburn grumpy-meets-sunshine romance explores belonging and healing, where a pivotal event both links and changes two strangers’ lives forever.

“I’m falling hard and fast, and it’s making me dizzy. Nothing makes sense. How can I curse the day I hurt you and be grateful for it at the same time? How could you even want me after everything? You are so loving, so forgiving, and so beautifully, unequivocally, perfectly you. Marina, you’re everything I want, exactly as you are—and that scares the hell out of me. I’m sorry for that shitshow. Sorry for pulling away. Sorry that I let you think for a second that you aren’t enough for me. You are more than enough. You’re *everything* to me. Truly.”

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
36-year-old Grady Tripp, a divorced workaholic veterinarian and self-proclaimed grouch, is the man everyone turns to for help, often at the expense of his own well-being. 25-year-old Marina “Marnie” Strange, customer service manager and store designer of Sunny’s Beach Market, has never liked Valentine’s Day. It’s her birthday but the same day her mother abandoned her at 15 so she deems it unlucky. But her fiancé Ashe Sullivan (whose family owns Sunny’s) convinces her to have their wedding day on her birthday and that will remind her it is a lucky day.

Unfortunately, Grady falls asleep at the wheel, resulting in a devastating car accident with Marnie where both their lives will never be the same. Grady springs into action to save Marnie’s life but not only does it shatter her hopes for her lucky day, it destroys her future in having a family – the one thing she has struggled and wanted the most to obtain. Rather than stepping up and caring for her, Ashe breaks up with her, and his controlling manipulative mother Cora fires her for “no longer meeting expectations”, offering a $25k severance. Marnie has no job she loves and no future to look forward to.

Grady overhears how he has ruined Marnie’s life and, desperately wants to look out for her make up for it. He shows up for her to ensure she is healing up well and decides to get her to work for his uncle Wade, who needs his struggling G&G (Grab and Go) store restored to its former glory, all while secretly paying for her salary himself.

The more time they spend together, the more sparks fly as grumpy Grady falls for sunshine Marnie. But Grady feels he’s too old for her and his guilt makes him feel he cannot deserve her, and Marnie feels she may never be enough for anyone as she is. And the Sullivans are all too eager to put Marnie in her place. Both of them must confront their past and heal each other if they ever want a future.

Grady hops out with me and doesn’t let go of my hand, as if crashing into each other has affixed us permanently.
What a funny thought—but true, regardless. He and I will always share this memory and our unique before-and-afters of the crash. We may be strangers. We may never speak again. But we will always have this.

This is told from the present-tense first-person POV of Marnie and Grady.

OVERALL OPINIONS
If you love character-driven stories with a charming romance and quirky backdrop, but something authentic and profound, then prepare to be utterly charmed by “Every Chance After”. This is a must-read for this year! And I really mean it when I say I did not expect the story to start the way it did. I honestly went into this expecting a rom-com, so the tragic start was a refreshing, impactful surprise. It perfectly illustrates the idea that sometimes the most profound connections are born from the most unexpected beginnings. Indeed, the combination of humour and heart in here was the Goldilocks of just right.

ㅤ🚗❤️‍🩹character and community🏠🐶🐱
Jessica Sherry really captures the heart of a community, the different people you find and their quirks. From the snarky supercilious Sullivans to the trustworthy tender Tripps, the characterisation is immaculate and one of the best aspects of this story. Every side character appears several times, is memorable, gets an arc and serves a purpose. Even the cats and dogs that Marnie and Grady own like Blackbeard the not-so-fierce pirate dog who is a German Shepherd with three legs.

ㅤ🚗❤️‍🩹the romance🏠🐶🐱
Seeing Grady and Marnie’s love story develop is beautiful. Their honesty policy, where they say “Truth” when they want to hear it from the other person, is a lovely touching element. And we always love a man who yearns! They both have these personal obstacles that prevent them from being together: Grady feels guilty about what he has done to Marnie, deems the age gap too great and that she deserves someone better around her own age; Marnie’s situation that she now has makes her feel like a burden, that loving her is a challenge. But despite this, they are drawn to each other, and Grady keeps showing up for Marnie.

My favourite moments between them include: the moment with the paper boats where they literally throw their fears to the wind (I got quite emotional) and the thing at the restaurant. Their chemistry is gorgeous and the slowburn was done very well. I was squealing and kicking my feet at the piano scene. Respectfully, dayum!

ㅤ🚗❤️‍🩹symbolism and themes🏠🐶🐱
Speaking of which, I really love Sherry’s use of imagery in this story. For example, there is the white wedding dress with the blood on it, symbolic of Marnie’s purity and innocence being tarnished. There is also the symbolism behind the game Marnie is making called Play Together, Stay Together that is about strengthening the family tree but it is incomplete and she doesn’t know how to fix it. This is a poignant metaphor for her own incomplete family dynamic.

But the most powerful thing is the piano, an extended personification of Marnie herself. She is right there and he’s not giving her a chance. He’s been too scared to play his piano since he divorced; he’s never dated since his divorce.

“Pianos are meant to be played, Grady. Played and enjoyed and shared with people. They should spread joy, not be turned into dust collectors, mocking your pain every day. It’s right there, waiting for you, hoping you’ll take a chance and try again, and you walk on by it, selfishly ignoring a beautiful opportunity. This is why you’ll never be happy—you’re too damn busy being miserable.”

This theme of second chances is prevalent throughout this book: Marnie calls herself the Queen of Lose Causes and Second Chances as she rescues animals and thrifts old furniture and art; Grady saves Marnie, giving her a second chance in life though she loses a part of herself she will never get back; Grady messes up and wants a second chance; Marnie gets fired, giving her a second chance in finding herself; Marnie does up Wade’s G&G giving the store a second chance; Marnie giving her mother a second chance and (my favourite part) Marnie having a second chance for herself through giving her younger sister, Tilly, a normal life; Marigold and Peter have a second chance after he insulted her in high school; and Wade and Mack have a second chance after a family feud that has carried on for too long. Every one of these are covered in a different and gorgeous way.

<< Positives >>
🠚 The chapter header image of the paper boats are so sweet and perfect choice because of the significance of that scene!
🠚 The name choice of calling Marnie’s convertible Beauty, and Grady’s one is called Beast. It’s cute!
🠚 Marnie and Grady’s relationship.
🠚 The piano sceneee! Enough said.
🠚 The parallel between Marnie and the piano.
🠚 The issues of infertility were covered very well in this story.
🠚 The board games were very creative – I wanted to play them myself! (Also love how they are all playing them for family game night)
🠚 The depth of all characters, not just the main characters. Even the people who work at Wade’s store have a backstory that is explored. Really gave the sense of a community. There’s a moment where Cora opens up about how she struggled to become pregnant and it makes you feel sorry for her, despite her being the person she is, which adds a layer to her character.
🠚 I like that the Tripp family are introduced properly in Chapter 20 and in such a way that I could remember each and every one of them well. It’s not an easy thing to do.
🠚 Love the subplots within the plot. The games Marnie makes, making the games popular, the restoration of the G&G, the rift between characters that Marnie fixes (which made you want to read on to find out what happened), a little bit of tension with the reminder of the Sullivans, the arrival of the mother. The subplot of Marigold, Grady’s sister, is lovely. She has sensory overload and has social anxiety – it’s so sweet that Marnie makes friends with her and admires her artistic talent, making her the concept designer for the G&G and bringing Marigold more and more out of her shell.
🠚 Good reveal of backstories, especially Grady’s.
🠚 Marigold and Peter’s story is really cute, I love the description of him scrambling over to her carrying the desk he made for her like the Hulk, to apologise. 🠚 The humour, especially via Wade, Christine and Roy, was great. I love the bit at the end when the three of them are ready to protect Marnie from Ashe. The puns titles for the different films.
🠚 I like the lack of drama in this story. I thought the Sullivans were really going to ruin things and I expected Marnie to feel betrayed by Grady and then we’d have a third-act breakup. So glad we didn’t.

<< Negatives >>
🠚 The main thing I felt was missing was any sort of solution for Grady: he is the family’s go-to man about everything and that’s what keeps him away from them to a considerable extent. By the end of this story, he is still the person the family depend on and it would have been nice I think if the family realised they have been asking a lot of him and they work on a solution together – or Marnie herself decides to help with some of it to share the load. This would be a nice parallel to the fact Grady was always silently there helping her restore the G&G.
🠚 Grady’s tattoos were hardly brought up. I would have had Marnie tracing them/asking about them at some point after their *wink wink* chess games.
🠚 It would’ve been nice if the Play Together, Stay Together had been completed.
🠚 The incident with Roy and the lingerie felt a bit too cringe for me.

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Marnie꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ I love how Marnie, who has struggled all her life to belong since her mother abandoned her at 15, touches the hearts of every single person she meets. As Grady himself puts it, she has this beautiful and inspiring ability to create a family wherever she goes which I think is so lovely! She’s so observant, remembers the little details about people, and helps them see and hone in on the best in themselves.
Her enthusiasm and strength are very inspiring! I love her puns so much, she’s just like me in that regard “tripping over a Tripp”. I like her “Tripp Grady Tripp”, reminds me of James Bond. It’s ashame she put up with Ashe, especially when she has abandonment issues and he essentially abandons her to go on honeymoon. She deserved so much better.
I love her attitude with “problems are opportunities in disguise with the right attitude.”

I decide this is my defining moment. Not the accident. Not becoming barren. Not losing Ashe. Not getting fired. But this. This beautiful clarity and confidence she’s inspired. Me taking back control of my life rather than being someone else’s puppet or plaything or breeder. They won’t see me break. I don’t break. I bend. I have built my life from nothing. I’ll rebuild it even stronger. They have not seen the last of me.

-ˋˏ ꒰ Grady꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ A man who yearns is>>>>
I love how considerate Grady is, like when Cora brings flowers and there’s white flowers in it which cats are allergic to so he throws them out. The way he braids her hair. Taking her to the Game Café which is a coffe shop with games at each table. Him calling her Darling!!! Buying rings in advance – from an antique store too! It’s sweet the times he is going to apologise or intervene for something, but then Marnie has it under control.
I LOVE that he managed to steal her notebook back. If I hadn’t fallen in love with him already, I had then.

I wrap around her, her head tucked under my chin, and my hand laced into the soft bands of her hair, holding her close to me. She grips my shoulders like she doesn’t want me to let go. Not that I would. For her, anything goes. I know this already. Whatever I have to give is hers to take.

FAV QUOTES
• To all those who defy expectations. Be who you are, not who they tell you to be.
• She smiles, blue eyes glassy and drooping like flower petals weighed down with rain. “You always seem so sad. Don’t be sad. It’s like you have a million thoughts but no one to tell them to.”
• If I lose her, I’ll lose me, too, even if I’m still here.
• “Marina,” Grady’s voice stirs me awake again—no one ever calls me by my full first name. It’s always Marnie. But I like hearing him say it. It makes me feel important.
• “Truth?” “Truth. That’s our deal.”
• Grady’s hand is rough and calloused, but I like it. In the inconceivable string of absurd events today, this grounds me. His hand feels… real. Consequential. It’s here for *me*.
• There’s a delicate strength to her that shines through her beauty. It makes me think of my grandmother’s heavy crystal dishes that Mom pulls out for Thanksgiving. How the cut glass reflects the candlelight. Soft and strong together.
• This isn’t the Dark Ages when having babies decided a woman’s life success. Nor is it an age when suitable matches are made based on marginalized nonsense like wealth, class, ethnicity, or what someone brings to the marriage.
• I’ve tried locking her out, but lately, she breaks in anyway. Sometimes, late in the day, if I’ve been called out for a farm emergency, I hear her. “Relax, Grady.” I respect those moments like she’s become my inner voice, telling me when to slow down. Set a new pace. Take a breath. Think of what I’ve done.
• he hits me with one of the top five sexiest side smiles I’ve ever seen—devious like he knows a secret and *admiring*, especially the way his eyes trail down my long hair like he wants his fingers to follow.
• Heat rises with my quickening heartbeat—it’s been an age since I’ve been this close to a woman. It’s been even longer since I remember goosebumps over someone’s delicate touch. Or felt twinges of anticipation and hope, staring into someone’s eyes. All those things are happening with her. She is sunlight, peeking slowly through the window, waking me from my self-induced coma, and begging me back to life.
• She catches my eye as she gushes over their private joke. Her smile widens, making my heartbeat thud harder, and my feet almost move in her direction. That smile was for me.
• I don’t just enjoy her. I long for her attention. With her, I don’t need my grouchy, reclusive shields. They drop so I can be whatever she needs me to be. Protector. Helper. Fucking lapdog, if she wants. Weirder still, that’s what I want—to be Marina’s go-to guy, for her to pull me in a thousand places as long as it brings me closer to her.
• Undressing me with his eyes feels like a gross understatement. It’s more like undressing my soul, rendering me naked but safe, nested to him.
• A soft smile played on his lips as he took me in and said, “I’m here, Marina. Whatever you are. Whatever you need. Whenever you’re ready to fall apart.”
• *Everything* about her catches me off guard. I caused the impact that started us, but she’s crashed into me ever since. Barreling through my walls. Softening my rough edges. Bringing me out of the shadows.
• “Every chance after is tipped against me, tainted, over this one thing, over unfair expectations.”
• We say nothing as we set our boats adrift. Though it’s only paper that will soon be saturated and vanish into the murk, sending them off feels freeing and necessary—like these delicate, little objects hold the heavy weights we’ve all carried for far too long.
• Thinking of how he held my hands at the pier, his lone tear over what I wrote, my heart plays an erratic beat to my thoughts, and the hope that he’s finally *seeing* me. Not a victim of his mistake. Not an obligation. But as *his* Marina. Because I long for him to be *my* Grady.
• Grady keeps a coffin-like reminder of his bad memories, and I’m his human version of this. He keeps me around to make himself miserable. I’m not his piano. I refuse to become Grady’s unloved, unplayed, token of guilt and regret.
• “This isn’t me ignoring a beautiful opportunity, Marina. This is me savoring the hell out of it. Take me inside with you, and I won’t hold back. I will worship you until there’s nothing left.”
• “You and me. Together. *This* is where we belong.” He’s stern and sudden, locking on to my hesitation like he’s reading my mind. His eyes drift over my face, measuring me, and I feel our belonging like a sore muscle, finally getting relief. I *belong* with him.
• My mouth drops, bringing with it what’s left of my barriers. She saved me. All this time, I thought I was the hero—helping her, protecting her, giving her chances. But the Queen of Lost Causes and Second Chances rescued *me*.
• I’ve never felt more loved or special. Not only that, I’ve never felt so worthy of feeling loved and special, either. He makes me *want* to be seen, heard, regarded, valued, loved, and admired, revered and feared, pirate-like—all I’ve missed in my *before* life. This is *after*. My happily ever? I don’t know. But certainly, with the wreckage cleared and finding each other through the losses, he’s the closest I’ll get to one.
• We stare up into the inky night speckled with stars—they are innumerable and delicate, tiny flecks of wonder, like each could hold another love story, and ours twinkles right back at them. Lying with her, relaxing under the massive universe, fills me with gratitude for my universe—her.

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I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Jessica Sherry and Reedsy for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

“Every Chance After” is out now!