REVIEW: Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid

 
Happily Ever Ninja is the fifth story in Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City series. If you haven’t read any of the stories before, they are a standalone series of romantic comedies (some lighter in tone, some more serious, but all with the quirky characters that define stories by this author) centered around a group of women who meet together to knit, and gossip and have panty dance parties – you know, the usual. This story is that of Greg and Fiona. We’ve seen Fiona in earlier stories in the series as the serious, married one. Yes, she’s married. To Greg, the hero of the story in Happily Ever Ninja. So this isn’t a story of two people meeting and falling in love – it’s the story of two people already in love and how they’ve sustained their relationship. Does that sound boring? Aha, then you don’t know Penny Reid!!

It’s important to know that there is a prequel story to this one, called Ninja at First Sight. It’s free at all retailers (as of this review) and is a novella length story. THIS is the meeting and falling in love story for Greg and Fiona. It details how they met in college, and is a funny and irreverent and delightfully sweet story of a young war veteran smartass who falls head over heels for cancer survivor Fiona. I can’t really say that it ends on a cliffhanger since we already know that they get married, but it is the lead in story to this one. You don’t have to read it to enjoy Happily Ever Ninja, but you’ll appreciate their romance more I think if you know how it all started.

So, at the beginning of Happily Ever Ninja, we’ve got a married Greg and Fiona. They’ve been married for fourteen years, but they haven’t been together all that time. Not that they haven’t been married, but since they finished college they’ve lived most of their time apart due to Greg’s job as an engineer. He takes assignments in foreign countries that last for months at a time, then comes home for a few days or weeks and then is off again. It’s not the best situation, but Fiona knows how important Greg’s job is to him and she supports him fully. Still, raising two children at home as essentially a single mother is taking its toll. She’s not happy, though she doesn’t really want to admit that, and she misses Greg terribly. When he does show up, it’s great, but then it isn’t as her routines get all out of whack and Greg doesn’t understand the seriousness of this for her. They are stuck in a rut, and it’s not a good one.

But, one should be prepared in a Penny Reid book to expect the unexpected, and whoa, does this book go (as the saying goes) ‘madly off in all directions’! Just when you think it’ll be a floundering marriage story, it turns into a suspenseful nail biter! I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but let’s just say that Greg ends up in a heap of trouble across the world, and Fiona comes to his rescue revealing some very surprising secrets. The story then becomes one of secrets and lies – because Greg has kept things from Fiona and Fiona has kept things from Greg and now the truths come spilling out while danger is at every corner. Forget their domestic problems – this is serious stuff!

And along with this surprisingly action packed story, we have a sweet and sexy romance. We see flashbacks of a younger Greg and Fiona, and they finally get to spend some time together in the present, in which it’s made very clear that they have a strong and abiding love for each other no matter the circumstances. And it’s refreshing to see that a couple can be angry with each other and still love each other – because the truth is, that in any relationship there are going to be times of disappointment and frustration and annoyance and all those negative emotions, that don’t take away from the fact that two people care about each other. We get some scenes with their children, Grace and Jack, domestic scenes that look like any other family out there, which married with children readers will identify with. But I don’t think you have to be in that kind of relationship yourself as a reader to appreciate this story. It’s got a bit of everything, and some wonderful appearances from characters in the first few books of the series, and in trademark Penny Reid style leaves you shaking your head in amusement at what she’s pulled together into a fun, and exciting read. 4 stars.

Book Info:

| Self Published | Knitting in the City #5

There are three things you need to know about Fiona Archer… I would tell you what they are, but then I’d have to kill you.

But I can tell you that Fiona’s husband—the always irrepressible and often cantankerous Greg Archer—is desperately in love with his wife. He aches for her when they are apart, and is insatiable when they are together. Yet as the years pass, Greg has begun to suspect that Fiona is a ninja. A ninja mom. A ninja wife. A ninja friend. After fourteen years of marriage, Greg is trying not to panic. Because Fiona’s talent for blending in is starting to resemble fading away.

However, when unexpected events mean Fiona must take center stage to keep her family safe, her response stuns everyone—Greg most of all. It seems like Greg’s wish has come true.

Except… not.

When all is said and done, can Greg handle this new version of his wife? Will his irrepressible cantankerousness push her away? Or can the couple find a way forward without either being forced to step back into the shadows?

This is a full length, 100k word novel, and is the 5th book in the Knitting in the City Series. All books in the series can be read as a standalone except book #1.5