It's All Relative by Rachel Magee: Book Review

 **Complimentary copy received via Netgalley. All opinions are my own. 

The Book

Shakespeare's famous comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream, gets a modern retelling in a lighthearted women's fiction novel that proves 'the course of true love' (and the merging of families, for that matter) 'never did run smooth.'

Helena's a "fly by the seat of her pants" kind of girl. Amelia's got her perfect life planned down to the minute. How will they ever get through their parents' wedding--let alone a life as stepsisters--without ripping each other apart?

Twenty-seven-year-old Helena Crosby is over her mom Nora's wedding--and it hasn't even happened yet. For months, Helena's been dreading the day she and Nora would become part of The Perfects, aka the Maddox family, led by oldest perfect daughter Amelia. Her complete opposite in every way, Amelia owns a house, runs her father's architecture firm, and is engaged to her also perfect (and dreamy) fiancé Gage, all before the age of thirty. Helena has no idea how she's going to fit into this family with their fancy traditions and strict timetables. Thankfully, her best friend Landon is joining the festivities as her emotional support plus one--and the perfect buffer between her and her new family.

Amelia Maddox has spent months planning the perfect wedding week for her dad Steve and his bride-to-be Nora. She'd planned for every consistency . . . except for her new free spirited stepsister's deadly shellfish allergy, her brother's insistence on blowing up his life, and an unexpected guest on Helena's arm. A guest she hasn't seen in years. A guest who held her heart years before her fiancé Gage ever did . . . her ex Landon Blake. But no matter--Amelia's kept the Maddox family together since her mother died a few years ago. She's not going to be thrown by Landon's deep blue eyes and sun-bronzed forearms and the way he makes her feel all warm and cozy, like she's come home to herself. Nope. She has duties to attend to: being the best daughter, sister, fiancée, boss, and wedding coordinator. And she's going to bring her Eldest Daughter Energy to it all and push down those inconvenient feelings, no matter what.

Through a whirlwind week of wedding activities and a few near disasters, both Amelia and Helena realize that sometimes the blueprints for the perfect family and relationship look better on paper than in real life--and that family isn't only made of the people you're born with. Family is also made of the people we choose over and over again.

The Author

Rachel Magee writes rom-coms and women’s fiction with relatable characters, witty dialogue, and plenty of happily-ever-afters. Her stories are usually set in fun, sunny locations where she doesn’t mind spending lots of time “researching”. When she’s not out scouting the setting of her next book, you can find her at home in The Woodlands, TX, with her amazing husband and their two adventurous kids. Connect with her online at rachelmageebooks.com; Facebook: @rachelmageeauthor; X: @rachell_magee

Book Review

It's All Relative is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which I did not realize before reading. Honestly, I don't remember anything about that original story, so I can't really speak to how it compared. What I can say is that it was a really cute story, filled with all the family drama. In this story, Helena's mom is getting married and she's struggling with the idea of joining a family that she doesn't feel she belongs to. To help her feel more comfortable, she invites her best friend Landon... only to discover that her stepsister to be Amelia is the ex that he never got over. And oh yes, did I mention that Helena has a big crush on Amelia's fiance Gage. Whew, talk about complicated!! The story alternates between all these POVs, which admittedly took me a little bit to keep up with early on in the story... but by the time the story really got going, I found myself enjoying this chaotic family event. I'm not usually one for love triangles (or love squares or whatever you might call this!), but it was done well and I enjoyed it nonetheless. I won't give too much away, but I definitely found this to be a unique story that kept me interested from start to finish. While the romance was great, more than anything this truly was the story about family and sisters too. 

You can purchase your copy here: https://amzn.to/3LkzH4B