Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid Review
5 Smooches
Synopsis
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?
Review
‘Over the years I’d learned absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. The heart becomes wary, somnolent and cynical during periods of prolonged absence, burdened with cares and fears borne in solitude. However, absence does make the body grow greedy and irrationally amorous with frustrated need.’
I very rarely stay up all night reading, I have an eye issue which makes this close to impossible and yet two or three times a year I come across a book that is absolutely impossible to put down. I stayed up till 4am to read Happily Ever Ninja and despite the headache I endured it was worth every second. If you are a long time fan of the Knitting In The City series you have been desperate for feisty Fiona and her often MIA husband Greg’s story. If you are new to the series I highly recommend you at least read their FREE prequel novella, Ninja At First Sight in order to see how these two fell in love and watch everything be set in motion.
“We haven’t talked through everything yet. I’m angry with you, and I know you’re still upset with me.” He shrugged. “Then we’ll have angry intercourse.” “We’re not having intercourse.” “Then I’ll give you angry cunnilingus.”
There are so few books out there where the two main protagonists are already married, especially in the contemporary category. Look and you will mostly find books about falling in love or follow up books where they get married and the woman gets pregnant. So how completely refreshing to find a story not about live at first sight but instead about an enduring and lasting and flawed love. Maintaining a love that last fifteen years is not easy and is not without regret and sacrifice and yet Fiona and Greg have not only wadded in these murky waters they have swam laps of them and come out stronger for it.
‘Each marriage is a living thing, just as complex as the two individuals within it.’
While Fiona is clearly the badass star of this book (if you have read the previous book you know that Fiona is a former badass and current stay at home mom) but Greg is like a slow build love. I go from being frustrated with him, to being sympathetic to him to flat out loving him with the ferocity it is clear that Fiona does. He is witty and socially conscious and even though he if often away from home he strives to be a fixture and influence in his children’s lives. Fiona and Greg face so many obstacles, some large (and by large I mean BIG PICTURE large not just can we make this relationship work large) and some that might seem trivial to some but all of them matter and all of them make this story so uniquely beautiful and poignant.
“You’re ridiculous.” And I loved that he replied as expected. “It’s pronounced remarkable, darling.”
From the gentle love to the action packed crisis’s I adored every moment of Happily Ever Ninja and by the end I only wanted more from these two. They have so much to show and share with us that I can’t imagine ever getting tired of them (or anyone in the Knitting gang really.) Penny is a master at giving us a story we didn’t know we were desperate for and can’t imagine having lived without. I can not stress enough that whether you are reading this as an extension of the series or as a standalone your day, week, year will be better for it!
~miranda
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