When Trixie saw the chicken run in front of her car, she didn’t stop to ask herself why the chicken was crossing the road. She just jumped out of her car to run after it And when she realized that she was making other drivers upset, a stranger stepped in and stared menacingly towards them, giving Trixie a chance to grab the chicken, put it safely in her car, and get back into traffic. She took the chicken to the vet for some much needed care, but she couldn’t completely put the handsome stranger out of her mind.
Bear grew up in a house full of sisters, and while he is good at construction and remodeling, his chosen career hasn’t made him very happy. He lives alone, and while he is often interrupted by one or more sisters dropping by, or his best friend Ryan who lives next door. But his sisters think he needs more, so they take action on his behalf, putting out an ad for a roommate without his knowledge.
When Trixie sees the ad that’s gone viral on the internet for the room in Bear’s home, she had to jump at it. She didn’t know him or his sisters, but she knew she needed a new place to live. Her landlord had put her foot down on all the stray animals that Trixie had try to sneak into her apartment. But while she could take the cats and dogs to the animal shelter where she worked, they didn’t have a place for Chick-Chick. If Trixie wanted to keep taking care of her new chicken, she had to find them a new place to live.
When Bear found out that his sisters had placed an ad renting out his spare room, he’s livid. He sends away all the strangers who have suddenly called or texted or just shown up at his place. Well, all but one. That lovely woman he saw chasing a chicken across the street had taken away his power of speech that day, and she did it again when she showed up to look at the room. He couldn’t say no to her. And he found that he couldn’t kick her out days later, when he found out that she had moved in the chicken along with herself.
Trixie finds herself feeling very comfortable in Bear’s home. They start spending time together, watching television and drinking wine, and she finds herself torn. She wants to lower the walls that she’s built up around her heart, but she built them there for a reason. The last time she let herself think she had made a genuine friend, she had been devastated. Bear doesn’t seem like he would hurt her, but she thought that last time too. Can she really open herself up to the possibility of a friendship with him, or even more?
Bear has spent most of his life fighting the voice of his birth father in his head. He’s been mocked and bullied to the point where he’s hidden his true self away. But he feels more like his true self around this strange woman who wants to save a sick chicken and keeps standing on one foot like a flamingo. Can he trust her not to mock him and his real dreams, or will she turn out to be like the others?
To Get to the Other Side is a sweet rom com about two people who were emotionally abused as children and trying to overcome the effects of that as adults. Their struggles to connect with each other despite their battered hearts is a testament to their feelings for each other. But mostly, this book is just a pool of sweetness and charm for me. I had to read this one slowly, because there was a lot going on in the rest of my life, and dipping into this book a little at a time was sweet relief from all the stress and chaos.
I saw the cover of this book, where Trixie is running around after a chicken, and I was immediately interested. I wanted to know more about this chicken, and about the woman. And the more I read, the more I loved it. There are so many surprising moments and so many sweet details. There are some steamy scenes, but mostly, this one is sentimental. It’s adorable, it’s funny, and it’s romantic, but you also have to be prepared for a chicken to steal almost every scene she’s in.
Egalleys for To Get to the Other Side were provided by Alcove Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.
