Romance:
new Chance
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Bobby and Aleah
When Bobby and Aleah first meet, Bobby is instantly enthralled by Aleah. The more he gets to know her, the more he likes her. Bobby is drawn to Aleah’s sweet, easy-to-talk-to personality, her quiet confidence, and her strong faith. It doesn’t take long for Bobby to start falling in love with her.
For Aleah, the feelings aren’t quite as instantaneous, but after only a few interactions with Bobby, she starts actively looking forward to seeing him again. Aleah tries to convince herself that she only likes him as a friend, but eventually she has to admit that that isn’t the case.
When Bobby finds out that Aleah has been keeping a secret from him, he starts questioning everything he thought he knew about her. Even so, he still has strong feelings for her. Aleah, still convinced that a romantic relationship won’t work out, does everything she can to push him away. But Bobby doesn’t give up, and eventually Aleah has to admit that she desperately wants him to remain in her life.
At the end of New Chance, Aleah is still maintaining boundaries, still insisting that it wouldn’t be fair to Bobby if he got romantically involved with her. What do you think about this line of reasoning? What do you think will happen with Bobby and Aleah’s relationship in the next book of the series?
For Aleah, the feelings aren’t quite as instantaneous, but after only a few interactions with Bobby, she starts actively looking forward to seeing him again. Aleah tries to convince herself that she only likes him as a friend, but eventually she has to admit that that isn’t the case.
When Bobby finds out that Aleah has been keeping a secret from him, he starts questioning everything he thought he knew about her. Even so, he still has strong feelings for her. Aleah, still convinced that a romantic relationship won’t work out, does everything she can to push him away. But Bobby doesn’t give up, and eventually Aleah has to admit that she desperately wants him to remain in her life.
At the end of New Chance, Aleah is still maintaining boundaries, still insisting that it wouldn’t be fair to Bobby if he got romantically involved with her. What do you think about this line of reasoning? What do you think will happen with Bobby and Aleah’s relationship in the next book of the series?
Lauren and Scott
Lauren starts the job at Fox Street convinced that God is going to use this opportunity to bring a special guy into her life, one who she will eventually fall in love with and marry. When she meets Scott, some of her first thoughts are along the lines of “he’s about my age, maybe he’s the one.” The more she and Scott start talking in class, the more excited Lauren becomes about the possibilities.
Lauren becomes even more excited when Scott asks her out. Her enthusiasm is slightly dampened when she learns that Scott is not a Christian, but she rationalizes that God probably has good plans in regard to that as well.
Everything goes smoothly until their disagreement about evolution, and their subsequent realization that, due to their different in beliefs and Scott’s unwillingness to hear Lauren out, they are not a compatible couple.
On the way home from Scott’s house after the breakup, Lauren becomes acutely aware of her lack of heartbreak. She contrasts her feelings with the feelings she experiences when Steve broke up with her, and realizes that perhaps she was more interested in the idea of Scott than she actually was in him. Although she’s slightly saddened that things didn’t work out, she is able to move on fairly easily.
Lauren becomes even more excited when Scott asks her out. Her enthusiasm is slightly dampened when she learns that Scott is not a Christian, but she rationalizes that God probably has good plans in regard to that as well.
Everything goes smoothly until their disagreement about evolution, and their subsequent realization that, due to their different in beliefs and Scott’s unwillingness to hear Lauren out, they are not a compatible couple.
On the way home from Scott’s house after the breakup, Lauren becomes acutely aware of her lack of heartbreak. She contrasts her feelings with the feelings she experiences when Steve broke up with her, and realizes that perhaps she was more interested in the idea of Scott than she actually was in him. Although she’s slightly saddened that things didn’t work out, she is able to move on fairly easily.
Lauren and Rick
Rick the janitor is someone who Lauren interacts with sporadically toward the beginning of the year, and increasingly frequently as the year wears on. Although she has no romantic interest in him at first, she’s excited to learn that he is a Christian, and she loves the way he interacts with Mason.
After Lauren’s breakup with Scott, her perspective of Rick slowly starts shifting to one of romantic possibility. She is always happy when she runs across him, and starts intentionally seeking him out after lunch. The day that Mason disappears, Lauren realizes that she had it all wrong—Scott was never the man for her. Rick was!
Except… he wasn’t. It turns out Rick is already engaged. Lauren is devastated at this news, and becomes more uncertain about her faith, which was already shaky from learning about Mason. It is only after the conversation with Bobby that she comes to accept the fact that maybe God didn’t lead her to Fox Street to meet the man she’ll someday marry.
Marriage is a wonderful thing, but it is not the only wonderful thing in the world. If you’re too focused on the goal of getting married, you might be missing out on other opportunities.
After Lauren’s breakup with Scott, her perspective of Rick slowly starts shifting to one of romantic possibility. She is always happy when she runs across him, and starts intentionally seeking him out after lunch. The day that Mason disappears, Lauren realizes that she had it all wrong—Scott was never the man for her. Rick was!
Except… he wasn’t. It turns out Rick is already engaged. Lauren is devastated at this news, and becomes more uncertain about her faith, which was already shaky from learning about Mason. It is only after the conversation with Bobby that she comes to accept the fact that maybe God didn’t lead her to Fox Street to meet the man she’ll someday marry.
Marriage is a wonderful thing, but it is not the only wonderful thing in the world. If you’re too focused on the goal of getting married, you might be missing out on other opportunities.
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The cover on the left is the Kindle cover, and the one on the right is the print cover. Note the differences in coloring-- the Kindle cover was the original design, but while it looked really good on the computer, those exact colors would not print well, so the coloring needed to be adjusted for the print version.
Go to the New Chance summary page
"She hadn’t wanted to look away. And then there’d been a moment when the two of them had just been looking at each other, and it had almost seemed… like there was some sort of chemistry between them, or something. "
-p. 99
