How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly

Source: NetGalley, Thank you to the publisher!
TL;DR: Slow but satisfying romance of two women helping each other (but not fixing each other), and falling in love.

Plot: A gentle but very involved one of two women learning how to take control of their lives and come together
Characters: Anita’s characters are so good, I’m always a sucker for her cast.
Setting: Tennessee gets a bad rep (often deserved), but I loved the setting here. It made me very nostalgic
Romance: I really bought this one, the romance is slow but genuine and I was very invested in these two

Thoughts:

How You Get the Girl is the third and final (?) book in the series by Anita Kelly that began with Love and Other Disasters. This one follows Julie, London’s twin sister, as she meets and then begins to work with her teen idol. Elle is a former pro basketball player who has distanced herself from the sport but finds herself caught up helping Julie with a high school team.

This was a very slow read, Anita’s books always are for me, but the slow burn and payoff of the end is well worth it. Julie and Elle both have struggles they work through in this one in what felt like genuine ways. Julie doesn’t know who she is in a way, she has never had a relationship and is looking to find herself. Elle has reoccurring deep bouts of depression and migraines and is still learning to deal with that and the trauma that came with her time as a pro on the court.

Both women’s developments were believable and in the end it was a deeply satisfying story. Even more so for me, as someone who lives in Tennessee and wishes I saw good queer rep (any good rep really) of natives. I truly enjoyed this one, and if you enjoy Anita’s books I definitely recommend this one (though I think perhaps Something Wild and Wonderful, which comes before this one, is still my favorite).

4 out of 5 Nutritional Grains