Nothing says summer to me like a good book. I feel like this is the time of year when all of my favorite authors put out their latest reads and I can’t wait to devour the stories up while lounging in the backyard. This summer I got the pleasure of discovering a new author, Janee Pennington, and her debut novel Meeting Eve.
Meet Evelyn Walker, a single, confident thirty-something running her own international meeting and event planning company. The last ten years of hard work have paid off, and with enough events scheduled to take up the next five, Eve has established herself as one of the top meeting and event planners in the West. And yet, suddenly, she can?t seem to quiet her inner voice, which is begging for a different life?a life beyond work. When approached by Miles Emerson, a long-standing client and Adonis of a man, to organize a monstrous last-minute event in Amsterdam, her inner and outer worlds begin to collide. With massive reservations, Eve accepts the challenge and embarks on a globe-trotting journey that lands her in a variety of odd places, spaces, and situations that she never could have imagined. Can she actually pull off one of the biggest events of her career? And more importantly . . . can she have a life while trying.
I was hooked on this book from the premise alone. Once upon a time (before children), I too worked in the event planning industry, so this was a book after my own heart. I really enjoyed Eve as a character; she’s funny, intelligent, and very relatable. I’m sure everyone has been in the same spot Eve was in at some point in their lives: over-worked, over-tired, and trying to figure out who they are and what they want from life. As we go with Eve across the world, she finds potential love, discovers the truth about a long-term friendship, and learns about herself and where she wants her life to go.
This is the perfect summer read. It’s fast-paced, easy to follow, and just straight up fun. The things that happen during her events and the people she deals with in her work will have you laughing out loud. I’ll admit – I hope we get a second story about Eve because I can’t get this story off of my mind. It ended in such a good way, with a few fun twists at the end, but I want to know what happens next.
Connect:
You can connect with Janee Pennington and Meeting Eve on her website, Facebook, Pinterest and/or @JaneeMeetingEve on Twitter!
