This was a cute romance read. I had such a blast reading this one and loved the writing style and the humorous plot. Was perfect for reading during my reading slump!

Thank you to Melange Books & NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. I want to state up front that I did DNF this book at the 35% mark because I found that I was not enjoying this book as I’d hoped to & that I may not be the right audience for it.

‘The Other Fork in the Road’ is a dual POV romance that follows Madison, the socialite daughter of a wealthy hotelier family (think the Hiltons) & Jax, the small town man just wanting to pursue a simple life that he can build with a family. At the start of the book, Madison’s life implodes, leaving her confused & angry & lost as to what is next. With the help of a psychic who turns out to actually have magic powers, Madison winds up in a Christmas Carol-type situation where she wakes up in her same life but as a different version of herself. Madison & Jax are then thrown together thanks to a family wedding & close-proximity.

What I Liked: I always love a magical realism element, in fact it’s one of the things that first drew me to the book. I also appreciate the layered family dynamics, including foster families & a strained father-daughter relationship - this always adds depth to a story & its characters. If you’re looking for a fun, light, & easy romance story with a small town setting, cowboy elements, & an opposites-attract couple, it could be worth a peek!

But while I tried to stick through this book, I really wasn’t enjoying myself & I firmly believe that life is too short to spend time reading something that isn’t enjoyable. The largest issue that I had was the writing style - it was a bit juvenile & choppy, so I never felt like I could hit a reading flow; it felt like my brain was fumbling to take in what I was reading. I also never fully became invested in the main characters - to me, they were not relatable. There were also many instances where I felt that I was being forced to see Madison as a very unlikeable character, but I just didn’t really see her as ‘bad,’ only as a flawed human who is a lot a bit spoiled, but not a horrible person in need of an intervention. Overall, this books was just a little too chaotic & inconsistent for me & my brain that is already chaotic & inconsistent on its own; I come to Romance for escapism but this just turned out not to be the right vacation destination for me.

A fun story that was better than I thought it was going to be. Madison Clark a Hotel Heiress is embarrassed on T.V. and she stops at a physics shop and ends up telling the women all of her troubles, after receiving some tea she goes home and makes some then goes to bed. When waking up in the morning she is not in or anywhere near where she went to bed. She does not have all of the zeros in her bank account nor does she have a private plane. She now has to make do with what she has because even when she goes by the shop where the woman was it's not there either. It only gets better when she gets to Montanna and the man picking her up Jax is rude to her because he is expecting her to be very much entitled. But slowly she has to figure everything out which she does with the help of some people around her and she begins to grow along with Jax as well. A very good story with excellent characters.

I loved this so so much !! I couldn't put this book down..🩷💕 like the characters was so sweet and the main character was just like me I can't describe how much I enjoyed this book... And I'm sorry that I didn't write a review earlier but I totally forgot about it not about the book ( I read it in one sitting 🤪❤️‍🔥) but about writing a review... But anyway I love this book hope you enjoy it just like me !

If a 2000s romcom was a book, this would be it!

I had such a fun time with this - I think sometimes romcoms can sacrifice comedy for romance, but this had so many moments that made me laugh out loud.

I wish we got to know Jax better though, I don’t think I fully connected with him. I did like Madison though, and I loved her character development.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

This book gave off all the rom-com vibes. Such a fun read with many laugh our loud moments. Madison has a journey ahead of her and she ends up finding much more than she originally anticipated on her trip to Montana. The found family trope made this story such a cute, fun, and sweet one!

The Other Fork In The Road by Mary Lee Painter is a romance novel and the story of Madison and Jax.
 
Madison is a rich city girl and the heiress to the family’s hotel business. She is a socialite like every other who pretends to have the perfect life. She is way too focused on appearances and materialistic things and takes everything for granted. At some point her relationship is in shambles and her ex publicly humiliates her and she flees to Montana. This would have been the perfect opportunity for her to question her lifestyle, but she is way too pretentious and stuck in her way and can’t deal with the “poor” life in the country. I didn’t like her at all, and she is the cliche of a rich and dumb person who can’t see what’s right in front of her.
 
Jax works on the ranch in Montana, and he is keeping an eye out on Madison. He is attractive and sweet and has a lot of good qualities, but I feel like I didn’t see enough of him in the book. I liked what I saw of him, but I wish we had more from his perspective.
 
The concept of this book sounded great, and the cover is gorgeous as well and I was so excited for this book. But unfortunately, it was a total let down and the romance was lackluster, and the characters stayed shallow, and I couldn’t feel the story at all. Madison should have changed for the better earlier and it was so unrealistic that Jax gave her chance after chance because she acted like a total fool.
 
Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, and I couldn’t connect to the characters or the plot. 2 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

Madison finds her boyfriend cheating on her and everything changes. She goes to a physic for comfort and is given tea that will make her a new person. The next morning, she wakes up with none of her wealth, in a rundown apartment, and is forced to go to her father's wedding in order to gain all her wealth back. While in Montana trying to rebuild a relationship with her father, she meets Jax who just might be the true love she has been looking for.

I really enjoyed the first few chapters of this story! I could feel Jax and Madison's chemistry and loved their banter. That changed after the first few chapters though because they didn't build an emotional connection, and their attraction was all physical. The big plot line of building a relationship with her father and trying to get her wealth back was pushed to the side to focus on the romance itself. However, I liked how the title actually played a role in the story. This is the plot line that would happen if Madison wasn't caught up with wealth in New York City and I found this really cool.

I didn't have a problem with Madison. before she lost her wealth, she was really sweet and not snobby at all. I loved that about her, that she didn't let her wealth make her money crazy and that she was still kind to others. The only reason her life changed was because she wanted to be a different person, because of her horrible taste in men.

Jax was okay and wasn't anything special. We know he was in the foster care system and that he was adopted by his previous foster mother and also about him just breaking up with his girlfriend a week prior. Other than that, we don't really see his fears and desires. I was really excited when I saw that this book was dual pov because I thought we would get to see that.

The other characters were wholesome. I liked Daisy because she just seems like a nice lady to hang out with! She also knows how to use a gun so if anyone messes with you, she has you covered. I didn't really like the child in the story because I don't know a seven-year-old that talks like him. The other characters were also flat and didn't really have anything special going on with them. They were just there for the plot.

I liked how the story was going in the beginning but after the first few chapters, I lost interest. I liked Madison and Daisy and that was about it. The other characters and the love interest were flat. I wished the story wasn't so heavily focused on Madison's romance with Jax. Overall, this was a good romance novel and I would recommend it to people who like cozy ones.

I have never read anything by this author before, but I really enjoyed reading this book. The pacing was good and the character's were developed very well.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Spoiled New York socialite Madison Clark is having a bad day. Her life gets turned upside down when her boyfriend humiliates her in front of her friends at a party she is throwing for him. As the night goes on, Madison ends up at a psychic's asking if her life is always going to be this way. The psychic tells her no, and sends her on her way with a tea to help calm her down. She gets home, drinks the tea, and passes out. The next morning, she wakes up in a dump of an apartment with clothing that looks like it came from a dumpster. Thinking that she's being punked, she goes back to the psychic who lays out the rules. She needs to fix the past to make the future work and get back her money.

Madison sets off for Montana. Her dad, who she is estranged from, is getting married in a week. She needs to make amends and reopen her heart. While there, she meets Jax, a hot cowboy that is closer to home than she realizes. Can she right all the wrongs and still get everything she wants?

I loved this book. There were so many scenes where I was literally laughing out loud as they were things I could picture happening in my own life. I look forward to more books by this author.

The Other Fork in the Road by Mary Lee Painter
Thank you, NetGalley and publisher
4 ⭐️’s

Reading this as an ARC has been a ride that I truly enjoyed! I fell in love with the cover and just knew that I had to read it. Mary Lee Painter does a great job writing characters ans making you truly enjoy the characters as individuals! While I was engrossed the whole time it was truly amazing and interesting read that left me wanting to see what else this author has written!

#NetGalley

This was a fun read! This is my first book by this author and I will definitely be reading more! The relationship between the characters was great and they had great banter. I did think some of the plot was lost and I would have liked to see more development. The last act, I could have done without. But overall I think it was fun and I would still recommend if you like romance with psychic feels!

Arc Review:
Overall Rating: 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cover Rating: 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tropes:
- Small Town Romance
- Forced Proximity
- City Girl FMC x Small Town MMC
- Opposites Attract
- Found Family
- Mystical Intervention
- Slow Burn
- Rom-Com
- Dual POV

I had a good time reading this book it was lots of fun and was able to make me laugh and I thought it was a cute story.

Thank you NetGalley for this one.

First of all I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was fun!

You can clearly see Madison (fmc) evolving, and it was so cute to read how she coped with her situation 🤭

The plot was really something 🤭 interesting actually, it kept me going through it all. Sadly it didn’t work out well for me, I just think it lacked some sense.. as we don’t actually develop in the whole physic theme. I just think the plot got lost in the first chapters and we never got to it again.

The banter was so funny tho.

I would’ve loved to see more, it all happened too fast and I wasn’t able to enjoy a lot of the relationship between the main characters.. the chemistry felt a bit forced, and the whole third act at the end was a bit unnecessary and awkward and it didn’t make any sense for it to happen in my opinion 🥲

I did loved Grant, that kid was amazing. And Daisy too (so freaking funny) 😂💖

Thank you to Netgalley and Melange Books for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟4/5 stars

An adorable romcom debut from Mary Lee Painter. After being publicly humiliated in the worst possible way, New York socialite and heiress, Madison Clark, makes the mistake of unloading all of her problems on a psychic. The next day, she wakes up without her bank account, clothes, and trust fund and is told by the psychic that she must right some wrongs before getting her life back. All of this leads Madison to Montana where she meets a hot grump and reconnects with her father.

This was a very fun read with lots of banter and comedy. I loved Madison and Jax and their chemistry. The story had a dash of magic and many hijinks. Super cute.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

this book was sooo cute. i loved it!! the only thing was that i didn’t really connect with the characters too much. but it was still such a fun and cute read!!

I originally found this because she is lynn painters sister but loved this story it was something you didnt get in romance books before. I for one was curious as to where the story was going to go.

I enjoyed the book overall. I liked the banter and it had some funny moments. I didn't understand at the beginning why the psychic said she would need to make an altruistic decision to return, since the whole reason she ended up at the psychic had nothing to do with mistakes she made. She was also not written as selfish, so I found myself confused by this aspect while reading the entire book. I do agree with another review some parts do transition too fast, and would have loved more detail. I loved the family dynamics. I'll say 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this story, this is my objective review. Madison is a rich New York socialite who helps run the PR side of her family's chain of hotels. After a messy break-up with her jerk boyfriend, she impulsively goes to a psychic wanting a new life. Be careful what you wish for! On the directions of the mysterious psychic and in order to get her old life back, she goes to Montana to reconcile with her estranged father, who's getting remarried. There she meets Jax, the handsome adopted son of her new stepmother. Predictably, sparks fly in their short time together and Madison starts to reconsider how she wants the rest of her life to look. Be warned, the suspension of disbelief is very necessary here for optimal enjoyment. It's the kind of story where the nonsensical makes sense to the main characters and the reader absolutely shouldn't ask too many questions. (If you're looking for realism, this ain't it.) This book is perfect if you're looking for a quick and light read with touches of humor. The writing style is straightforward and a bit over-the-top at times. Personally I found it a bit difficult to connect with either character, both of them seemed a bit shallow and judgmental in the beginning. The story was cute enough but throughout the book they both seemed fairly immature for adults who are supposed to be almost 30 years old, especially since Jax was qualified by the state to be a foster parent (also, in this day and age I was surprised by the unprotected sex after zero discussion both pre- and post-sex about birth control or STDs). Speaking of foster parenting, Grant was sweet and an enjoyable addition to the plot. This wasn't quite the book for me as I couldn't stop questioning some of the plot devices (and I had a little difficulty with Jax's slightly aggressive sexuality, not to mention Grant's easy acceptance of his changing foster situations) but overall it was entertaining. This is the perfect book if you're looking for an opposites-attract, insta-lust/insta-love, open door romance, low-risk love story with an HEA. Published 9-17-24.

The book combines humor with a heartfelt exploration of second chances and personal growth, offering readers a mix of witty banter, romantic tension, and a bit of magical realism. It's especially appealing for those who enjoy fish-out-of-water stories and protagonists finding their way outside of their comfort zones