Review: So Glad They Made it!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 16, 2013
Here's how it all starts:  Coffee. While fetching coffee for her lecherous boss, Em takes a tumble spilling the brew all over herself and another customer--her childhood neighbor and school-girl crush, Cole Marlowe. He's moved back to Chicago much the same as Em has. Cole isn't looking for anything serious--he's busy working up the partnership ladder at his law firm, but he can't deny his attraction to Em's unassuming nature and luscious figure.And Em? For her, Cole has been this untouchable dream for sooo long--it's as if she's afraid to burst that precious soap bubble memory of her pining days. Plus, she's just getting her career off the ground and doesn't need complications like a relationship. Cole, he'd be a major complication, mostly because their mothers have pretty much planned on Cole marrying Em's beautiful older sister, Layla, who always outshined Em...and Layla has her sights on Cole, as well.But that's the thing about love--it doesn't listen to the bickering of parents. It cares not for the secondary alliances. It drive you to take risks, move obstacles, to Make. It. Work. Once decided, Cole is relentless. He's fierce and vulnerable and overwhelming, and borderline stalker-y (Think 'please-lets-tell-everyone' NOT 'restraining order' sense) in his pursuit to woo Em. She holds out, however, afraid that this bombshell relationship will destroy the tenuous friendship she's built with Layla. See, Layla wasn't the nicest older sister growing up. She hounded Em and flaunted her popularity and openly taunted Em about her Cole-worship, yet that was THEN, and now they're pretty tight.And, while the secret Cole hides isn't his latent affection for Layla, it's driving Em away nonetheless.If you like realistic romances, NOW AND THEN is crammed to bursting with sibling rivalry, passion, family expectations, and responsibility. There are no billionaires. There is no S & M, no flashy cars, no contracts.However, that's super cool. Makes me feel like I may run into Em or Cole whilst touring my fair Chicago. They breathe my air. They have fussy mothers and scheming sisters. They have skeletons that don't involve molestation or neglect, only family business of a personal--not shameful or criminal--nature.