You know that feeling when something awful happens and someone makes a joke about it? That cringey, sick to your stomach feeling, but also a little gurgle of laughter? I know you know what I mean. Maybe telling the joke now was a bit too soon, but in six months it will be hilarious! That was how I felt about this book initially, but by the end I was all in! I hope you give it a try, too!

Ethan and Gabe had a great life until Ethan decides to run for political office as a Republican! He wants Gabe’s blessing, which puts Gabe, a progressive lefty, in a serious dilemma. Gabe worries about the attention, the impact this will have on their young daughter, and just the clash in values that he sees between himself, Ethan, and the current Republican Party. But he doesn’t want to be the one that prevented Ethan from achieving his dreams and so he agrees. But once the campaign starts, Gabe feels like he is drowning from the weight of the compromises he must make for Ethan’s ambitions.

Meanwhile Kate, Ethan’s sister and a political reporter with a major newspaper, is struggling to find meaning in the work she is doing. The adrenaline rush of chasing a story is not as thrilling as it once was and she feels limited by the breathless pace of her reporting, when she really wants to get deeper into what is behind the headlines. In this moment of ennui and soul searching, two things happen that disrupt her life: She finds out that her brother Ethan is going to run for office as a Republican and her old girlfriend, Nicole, the one who broke her heart, reaches out.  Needless to say, both of these things happening at the same time causes Kate’s life to go into a tailspin.

With Ethan’s campaign in full swing, Gabe’s struggles to maintain a facade of normality for their daughter while sticking to his own values and principles which causes many sleepless nights, while Kate loses sleep over her own ethical dilemmas caused by  her personal relationship to the hottest political story in town, and her relationship with Nicole who is now married with children.

Somehow Harris manages to deal with some really heavy and emotional topics in an informative but breezy way, without losing sight of their seriousness. The dilemmas that face Gabe, Ethan, Kate and Nicole are complicated and Harris treats them with the dignity they deserve. I really enjoyed this book even though some of the politics was cringey!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian, and Keith.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.