‘Choices’ by Michelle Lynn is quite a departure from her ‘Dawn of Rebellion’ dystopian series of books. However, her foray into the romance genre is an equally appealing experience for readers.
The main character of the story, Michaela, has hopes and dreams for herself. Yet, she finds herself constantly battling her possessive boyfriend, Ethan, and her wealthy, strict parents, who all seem to want what’s “best” for her, so long as it serves their purposes. The only friendly faces she has in her life are those of her brother, Chris, and her quasi-brother (and Ethan’s real brother), Josh. When Michaela tries to leave her life behind and start anew, her past finds a way of continuing to haunt her, pulling her back in at times when she thought she had finally broken free.
Michaela’s future has always been set, at least in the eyes of Ethan and her parents. Then, Jason comes along. A good friend of her brother Chris’, Jason is everything Ethan is not, and Michaela can’t believe she’s thinking about another guy when she’s not sure she’s even over Ethan, after all he’s done to her. She questions herself and her decisions constantly throughout the book, wondering why she falls into certain patterns and why she even bothers with her controlling parents, among other things. Jason always seems to be around to pick up the pieces, but some misunderstandings throw a wrench in their plans to reveal how much they might truly like each other.
I did enjoy this story, even though I felt as though some of the points were brought up too much, such as how Ethan’s family came from “old money” and it would be crazy, according to her parents, for her to not marry him, settle down, and live the socialite life that has always been awaiting her. Another point that seemed to be brought up quite a bit was about how Michaela’s parents were controlling; they were constantly pushing her toward Ethan. I understand that these types of issues were meant to show why the choices Michaela was making for herself were so important (hence the title of the book), but it seemed a bit redundant at times. Overall, however, I felt the characters were realistic. I’ve read many romance novels, so I expect some of the predictability I got from this one, but I mean that in a good way. Even though I expected everything to work out for the best, there were some twists and turns in the storytelling, as well as flashes of anger I felt toward Ethan and flashes of desire I felt toward Jason for being strong much of the time while Michaela found her footing.
A courageous step into a different genre, Michelle Lynn has engaged me once again with her writing style after having read the first in her dystopian series, ‘Dawn of Rebellion.’
You can find ‘Choices’ by Michelle Lynn here.