Rating: Unrated | 292 pages | Dafina Books | Contemporary | 07/30/2019 |
Yvonne Cable, single mother and interior designer to Atlanta’s elite, is ready to jumpstart her career and love life with a home renovation TV show co-starring her handsome and wholesome celebrity contractor fiance, Nate. Sparks flew when the couple met on a reality show and everyone is obsessed with their public wait-until-marriage stance. There is trouble in paradise when the network that buys her show happens to be owned by Richard Barrington–her son’s estranged father whose family tore them apart. Richard is back and he’s not ready to let her go just yet so…
Yvonne is an easy character to root for as she tries to take her life to the next level. She has to balance both men as they fight for a place in her and her son’s. It’s really complicated because both men are trying to do their best and want to be in Yvonne’s life, I liked that neither of them was villainized.
Yvonne’s sister and mother also aren’t afraid to put their two cents in because this family knows about drama as Yvonne has questions about her own father–a church official whose affair with her mother ruined two marriages. Speaking of family issues there is also Nate’s messy step-sister and Richard’s scheming ex-wife. Needless to say, there is plenty to keep the pages turning but it never goes over-the-top and stays at a level that I think will seem realistic to people with blended families.
This book is not quite a romance as Yvonne’s relationship with her six-year-old son, career and work/life balance takes center stage. Redesigning Happiness is a funny, moving and sweet book with a modern southern feel and a barley simmering heat level.
