A Fairbanks Affair (Odds-Are-Good #3) by Katy Regnery

 A Review by Wendy

4.5 Chance or Fate Stars
* * * * 1/2  

Spoiler Free

Life gives us all sorts of experiences...some joyful, some easy and then there are the ones which are so impactful, they color everything after them. It can be the loss of our parents and how it makes you take on the responsibilities of raising a younger sister. Or it can be a devastating betrayal from a sibling.

The Fairbanks Affair has all the fun and sexy times for an engaging romance but it also touches on so much more. It presents two people who are at a crossroads and by their meeting each other, each is able to open their minds and hearts to more than they ever thought possible.

Katy Regnery has created a series that is so good, you cannot read just one, you want to read them all, one right after the other. The connector is this magazine The Odds Are Good. It has personal ads for those who are interested in connecting with men in Alaska.

Faye Findley is stuck at the dentist's office and sees a magazine on the chair next to her. She opens it and there in her hands staring back at her is this personal ad...

Three nights. Two of us. One bed. Zero chance at love.

What! No, Really...

How ridiculous...yet Faye couldn't stop thinking about it. You see, Faye at thirty had lived a very focused life in Boston. She had been part of a wonderful family, parents who loved her and her sister...a father who worked to make his business the best it could be, her life was the best. But when she was finishing her graduate degree, her parents were taken from them, leaving Faye in charge of the business and raising her younger sister.

Choices had to be made and Faye steeled herself to be the woman her father would want her to be. She made sure her sister had the education and needs fulfilled, money no object. She may have been more distant than intended but it was necessary to devote her time to building the business. Over the past ten years, her company has grown to be the best distributor of alcohol over the world. Yet, by doing this, her relationship with her sister is not what she wished and when it comes to personal life or relationships, what are those...

So when the dentist goes on and on about a little town called the North Pole, how it is Christmas, and it would be perfect for Faye to see it...Faye decides to act on the gut desire to answer the Fairbanks ad. She has a distillery she has plans to see and acquire. It is in Fairbanks and so why not treat herself to "taking care of necessary business" once and for all with this man. She will go to the North Pole and then Fairbanks.

Trevor Starling should be riding high. He and his brothers have created a successful distillery and that was no easy task. But even with all of the positive good fortune, Trevor experienced a betrayal by one of his brothers that has him at a loss. It has turned him off any emotional connections. It may protect him but it also leaves him lonely.

Trevor came to the conclusion he needed to remedy this feeling, especially over the New Year's celebration. Why not put out there an ad exactly what he wanted...if a like mind person was agreeable, no harm no foul...

When Trevor received answers for his ad, he deleted almost all of them, as the women responding were not what he was looking for...too forward, graphic and veiled marriage hunters. The only response that caught his attention was one by a woman who was total class. She reflected an education, understanding, and acknowledgment of what was being presented. The photo was something to behold. She stood on a boat looking out, carefree...beautiful.

Correspondence confirmed both parties were legit, healthy and looking forward to their meeting.

Now as I mentioned earlier, life presents situations and it is up to us how we handle them. When Faye goes to the North Pole...it really wasn't all that fantastic. She ends up going to the one decent place to eat, a Chinese restaurant. She is at the bar and a conversation about vodka with a handsome man becomes much more than she expected.

This is how Trevor and Faye meet...but it is not how they realize they are scheduled to be partners from the Odds are Good ad. Faye used her mother's name and the photo didn't reflect how she normally looked. Her usual appearance was more conservative and buttoned up.

What we experience is the opening and sharing of feeling they have held from others. Sharing with new friends or even strangers can be revealing, it can make you see the truth of past experiences, and come to terms with your part in them. Diving into these ideas gave this book unexpected depth.
Faye's need to connect with her sister and Trevor's coming to terms with the past was handled in a way anyone could relate.

We also experience the sweet romance of instant connection, heightened by the times and circumstances. Faye and Trevor worked for me and when Trevor acted out like a guy would...I loved that Faye was able to stand up and hold her own.

These Odds are Good books are addicted and now I am impatiently waiting for the next.

 A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

About Katy Regnery

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract and Katy’s first novel was published in September 2013.
Now exclusively self-published, Katy claims authorship of the multi-titled Blueberry Lane Series, which follows the English, Winslow, Rousseau, Story, and Ambler families of Philadelphia; the six-book, bestselling ~a modern fairytale~ series; the Enchanted Places Series; and a stand-alone novella, Frosted.
Katy’s first modern fairytale romance, The Vixen and the Vet, was nominated for a RITA® in 2015 and won the 2015 Kindle Book Award for romance. Katy’s boxed set, The English Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, hit the USA Today bestseller list in 2015, and her Christmas story, Marrying Mr. English, appeared on the list a week later. In May 2016, Katy’s boxed set, The Winslow Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1-4, became a New York Times bestseller.
Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, two dogs, and one Blue Tonkinese kitten create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.