REVIEW: Can't Always Get What You Want by Chelsey Krause

Title: Can’t Always Get What You Want
Author: Chelsey Krause
Publisher: Loveswept
Publication Date: January, 2015
Genre: Chick-Lit

Description: Fans of Ruthie Knox, Rachel Gibson, and Molly O’Keefe will love this deeply romantic and uplifting debut novel about losing everything you thought you wanted—and getting exactly what you need.

Sophie Richards has been looking forward to a much-needed girls’ night out: a Rolling Stones tribute-band concert, a few drinks, a distraction from her grueling nursing shifts in acute care. But when her best friend bails, Sophie gets stuck with a blind date.

Although Brett Nicholson may be the hottest carpenter alive, and Sophie may technically be single, she isn’t exactly on the market. Six years ago she found The One. He was everything Sophie dreamed a man could be—and then she lost him. In an instant, her whole life changed, and she forgot all about happily ever after.

But as she gets to know Brett, Sophie starts to wonder about the future for the first time. With a broken heart still clouding her mind, jumping into a new relationship feels impossible. When she’s in his arms, walking away feels even harder. Now Sophie faces an impossible choice: living in the past or choosing love in the here and now.

My Thoughts: Can’t Always Get What You Want is the debut title from up and coming author, Chelsey Krause. We meet Sophie Richards who is a nurse, but struggles in her career choice. She’s not a bad nurse, but you get a sense that her heart really isn’t in it. After her best friend bails on going to see a Rolling Stones tribute band, Sophie finds herself on a blind date. Sophie immediately feels a connection with Brett, but she is still heartbroken from losing the love of her life six years ago. Sophie finds herself facing the very difficult choice of whether she wants to try for happily ever after with Brett or keep her heart locked away.

I always know a book is going to be outstanding when I get pulled into the story from the very first page. This book made me laugh out loud immediately, but what really makes it truly extraordinary is the way Ms. Krause creates characters the reader feels a strong connection with. As a reader, it is so important to me to really care about the characters, what they have gone through, what they are currently doing and where they are headed. Ms. Krause does an excellent job of taking the reader into Sophie’s life. Instead of putting us into information overload with all of the events that brought Sophie to where she is when we meet her, Ms. Krause takes us gradually through the process. I really enjoyed this because I got to see it through Sophie’s eyes as if I was there with her. It gave me a better understanding of what she went through and how it shaped her into the person she becomes and the person that Brett meets.

Along with the many laugh out loud moments, there were many moments of tears that made me want to read more and find out what happened in Sophie’s past and how it was affecting her future. There were also moments of anger at Aaron’s mother and Dr. St. Luke. They were both very difficult and unlikable characters and I enjoyed how Sophie responded differently to both.

This was such a well-written story. The author draws on her own personal nursing experience to make Sophie’s actions relevant and believable. The story moved at a very good pace, giving me time to process what was going on instead of getting lost in the details. As a fan of the Rolling Stones, I loved that each chapter is a song title and how their music plays such an important role in Sophie’s choices.

I wanted to be angry at Brett for making Sophie choose. Initially, I felt he was being unfair and selfish, but this story really focuses on forgiveness so I forgave him. Sophie has to find a way to forgive herself before she could move on in her life and live the life she is meant to. Sometimes, we have to be nudged, and not in a subtle way, before our eyes are opened.

My Final Verdict: If you are looking for a story that will pull on all of your emotions, filled with characters you feel a strong connection to, run, do not walk to your nearest book retailer and get this book. Not many people have the chance to find true love more than once in their lives and this story gives us a first row seat to see it happen. Kudos to Chelsey Krause for the many hours of laughter and tears. I will never look at Oreo cookies the same way again and I will be looking for more from this talented author.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Can’t Always Get What You Want from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.