My Bookshelf: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

Grief brought Finley to Ireland. Love will lead her home.

        Finley Sinclair is not your typical eighteen-year-old. She’s witty, tough, and driven. With an upcoming interview at the Manhattan music conservatory, Finley needs to compose her audition piece. But her creativity disappeared with the death of her older brother, Will.

        She decides to study abroad in Ireland so she can follow Will’s travel journal. It’s the place he felt closest to God, and she’s hopeful being there will help her make peace over losing him. So she agrees to an exchange program and boards the plane.

        Beckett Rush, teen heartthrob and Hollywood bad boy, is flying to Ireland to finish filming his latest vampire movie. On the flight, he meets Finley. She’s the one girl who seems immune to his charm. Undeterred, Beckett convinces her to be his assistant in exchange for his help as a tour guide.

        Once in Ireland, Finley starts to break down. The loss of her brother and the pressure of school, her audition, and whatever it is that is happening between her and Beckett, leads her to a new and dangerous vice. When is God going to show up for her in this emerald paradise?

        Then she experiences something that radically changes her perspective on life. Could it be God convincing her that everything she’s been looking for has been with her all along?

        Finley Sinclair’s life turned upside down when her older brother, Will, died, and she has yet to find a way to cope. With her approaching interview at the Manhattan music conservatory, she knows she must compose her audition piece, but nothing has sounded right since Will died. Desperate, she decides to study abroad in the one place Will always felt closest to God, Ireland. But even as she starts to settle into her new routine, her life continues to spin out of control. Will God help her fix this mess she’s made, or will she never find the peace she so desperately seeks?

        There You’ll Find Me is one of my favorite books by Jenny B. Jones—I’ve read all but three of her novels—coming in second place to the story that goes before it, Save the Date, which is about Will’s twin brother Alex. Both are hilarious, heart-wrenching tales, but I’ll write more about Save the Date another day. Anyway, I have read There You’ll Find Me multiple times, obviously I can since it’s in my personal collection, and it gets better every time. Although now I know how it ends, every time I read it, I find another dimension to the story I hadn’t noticed before, especially if I read Save the Date first. Finley is present in that novel as well, and getting to see her—and Will’s tragic death—from someone else’s eyes really adds to the tale.

        One of the things I love about this book is how real Finley and Beckett are, even though Finley’s parents are pretty well off and Beckett is a movie star. Beckett is just about as down to earth as a person could be—and he’s super sweet—and the way Finley copes, or doesn’t, with her pain makes her all the more relatable. That’s another thing about this story. Jenny does such an amazing job weaving all the parts together, they pull you in until you’re hooked and always leave you anticipating what comes next with little hints that keep you guessing. And the way it all ends, oh my goodness, it’s perfection. This book will have you crying a lot, especially in the parts leading up to the conclusion, and then, bam, you’re hugging the book to your chest and sighing because of how wonderfully it all works out. But then, Jenny’s novels tend to end that way.

        Anyway, this novel is an outstanding work of fiction that well deserves all five bookshelves. I know that I will be reading it many more times, possibly even soon, along with some of her other novels. I’ve already read Save the Date at least three times, and I’ve read her Charmed Life series more than once. She just knows how to create funny, heart-gripping novels that always leave you longing for more, and on top of that, some—the Charmed Life for instance—are mysteries. You simply cannot go without reading at least one of her books in your lifetime, and I promise you, once you read one, you’ll read them all.

        Happy reading!

You can pick up both There You'll Find Me and Save the Date here.

All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Jenny B. Jones and her publishers.