The Yes Dare: A Pies, Books & Jesus Book Club Novel

I'm not a romance reader. But this book was wonderful. I read it while my whole family was sick with the Covid, and it was just what I needed. It was a quick read, with characters I could cheer for, and parts that made me laugh right out loud.

Ryan “The Rocket” Sutton, NFL quarterback extraordinaire, deeply regrets divorcing his ex-wife Coco. When he learns that a judge's mistake on the divorce papers means they're still legally married, he jumps on that as a second chance, an opportunity to win Coco back and make things right. Coco is, shall we say, skeptical. And she's just let her best friend talk her into reading some book called the Yes Dare – encouraging her to say yes to more things in her life. That leads to Coco saying “yes” to being in charge of the town's financially strapped annual Cow Chip Toss Festival, something she NEVER thought she'd do. All this is happening while Ryan is making a foray into professional baseball while still playing football, and a movie crew is following him and Coco around to document the whole story.

Ryan and Coco are both delightful characters. Ryan is so genuine in his love for Coco, I had a hard time believing he was ever, even for a brief moment, dallying with some other woman. And Coco is no pushover. She isn't falling hook, line, and sinker for whatever Ryan says. Oh, no. If he wants to win her back, he's going to have to work for it. Not that she's trying to play hard to get. She just doesn't see them ever getting back together. Ryan persists. Shenanigans ensue. There are some funny moments, some tense moments, and some where I just about cried.

The Suttons' twin boys, mostly grown and flown and off at college, are wonderfully written. You can tell they love their parents dearly, and they're on their dad's side in the whole getting back together thing, even though they realize his efforts are kind of making their mom nuts. I'm a boy mom, so I'll own to a soft spot for boy children.

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a romance reader now. The Yes Dare has put me over the top on that. I have to go read the rest of the series now, and I hope there are more to come after this one.

Five sweet-as-pie stars from me!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the author. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.