NEVER THOUGHT I'D END UP HERE

NEVER TOUGHT I'D END UP HERE by Ann Liang

Leah Zhang doesn't have much to show for her life. There isn't a lot of purpose or direction and that really shines at one of the worst times possible, her cousin's wedding. Attending the upper Chinese society wedding, Leah makes a serious blunder when she attempts to speak the expected Chinese greeting/blessing over her cousin and her husband. When she completely messes it up and actually speaks bad luck over them, the reaction of the guests is immediate. The consensus is that Leah is an "ignorant foreigner." She has no idea of nor connection to her Chinese roots. This is a heavy embarrassment on her family. So, her mother signs her up for a trip to China to reconnect her to the culture and the language. The only problem is that Cyrus is coming, too. Cyrus, the one whose fault it is that she lost her way in life due to an accident that occurred at school when they were younger. The accident that forever changed her life.

For the most part, this story is a lot of fluffy romance. The part that I found myself enjoying was the point in the story where Leah realizes that there is someone who has always seen her for who she really is and continues to do so even now. There is value in who she is outside of the expectations and performance that her life has become, and in today's world there are a lot of girls who will connect with that whether Chinese or not. (I will put a plug in here that the only place to find that truly is in a relationship with Christ)

Despite all of this there is content to be aware of.

HEADS UP - There is a fair amount of language. No f-bombs, but I'm pretty sure that everything else was covered. Lots of Oh my *od. There is a lot of suggestive material in this book. There is no actual sex. However, Leah lets people believe that she and Cyrus had a past. On the trip she ends up staying in his room for a night. This is due to a project that they both are working on for the trip, but people think it's for sexual reasons. When she comes over she finds a box of condoms in his room that aren't his, but she thinks he has other things in mind besides the project. There is a character that likes both men and women.