Little Blue Truck's Beep-Along Book

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There are a few authors I should know better than to pick up late at night, thinking I'll only read a few chapters before going to bed. It really is a deliciously innocent lgbtqia contemporary, more suitable for the younger end of the YA demographic.

In any case, our heroine Georgie (not short for anything), the daughter of amiably chaotic parents, has always had a reputation in Whereveritisville for being flaky, unreliable, and unmotivated. Maybe not surprise-ghost-pepper-in-your-pad-thai hot, or even last-wing-on- Hot-Ones hot, but a solid level of spice. Quirky and sweet, she is a good friend, a loving daughter and someone who is always willing to lend a helping hand. Gallo also shares the importance of experimenting with different communication tactics when dealing with any of the archetypes. I think, to me, one of the strengths of the genre is that it does create safe space in which vulnerability can (and should?

The only person who gives Levi a chance is Paul, Georgie's peacemaker father, who invites him to stay in their vacant house until his house’s construction gets finished. I loved how Georgie's personality made her a good friend and an amazing asset at her (current and former) jobs, and how the book never, not once, lost sight of that. It's not a book without hardship—there’s genuine suffering in Levi’s background and Georgie’s sense of herself as blank and ambitionless can be hard to read at times—but it’s mostly a profoundly warm, hopeful, and accepting book.

I must say, I had my skepticism firmly in place for the "going back" element of this story from the very start. Both the story and the romance did pick up for me eventually, but by then I think I was 75% in and I had already been too annoyed by most things. Leave behind your anxious thoughts and embrace a steady confidence that you are never beyond the reach of God’s loving hand, from the bestselling author of Kisses from Katie. But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. In her book, Gallo shares practical strategies to help readers navigate stressful work situations with these archetypes.As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side — if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back. Ultimately her men are always so much more than their tropes and, by the time she has peeled back the layers of them for us, we realise it is no longer the trope we are finding attractive but the person, with all his complexities and frailties and rough human edges. Rich in biblical explorations of lament and praise, forgiveness and hope, service and surrender, Safe All Along asks, What practical choices can we make to experience the peace Jesus promised amid disappointment and uncertainty? As a missionary, wife, and mom of fifteen, Katie Davis Majors knows how hard it can be to receive God’s peace instead of giving in to fear and worry.

Touching upon themes of loneliness, isolation, family, friendship, love and kindness, this is a story that will strike a chord in your heart.All in all, this read like a shallow “dramedy” rather than the romantic comedy I expected but this novel failed to realise its potential. Yes, I get it, it’s certainly possible to deeply and thoroughly internalise parental abuse but Levi is in therapy and yet never addressed his daddy issues?