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Always Never Meant To Be: A Love Story
"This engrossing, plot-driven novel will keep readers glued to the pages... The author creates a love letter to Seattle, such that readers might find themselves planning a trip...An engaging, thought-provoking love story." – Kirkus Reviews
A love both fleeting and eternal…
Sarah and Joe were made for each other. Born at the same instant in the same place, they slept their first night on earth side-by-side in the same hospital nursery. Fast-forward a lifetime of invisible, yet interwoven moments. Both have reached middle-age living separate lives of quiet desperation.
Sarah was once an impressive model of plus-size, can-do, C-Suite fabulousness. Now she’s a hopeless housewife feeling invisible to a completely checked-out husband and in dire need of a career reboot. Meanwhile, Hollywood actor Joe, her longtime celebrity crush, is a devoted father of two teenagers – the only glue in his otherwise strained marriage – who just wants to get his indie movie made.
When their lives collide on Joe’s location scouting trip, the star-crossed soulmates feel an impossible connection they fight to ignore. But with Fate and Destiny at play, there's no escaping the inevitable truth. They’re meant to be together, at least for this one magical moment.
On a whirlwind tour of Seattle, the laughter, music, and intimacies they share bond them more deeply than either dares admit. But with family, home life, and the threat of scandal looming, Sarah joins Joe’s film shoot and they surrender to the enchanted love affair that will change their lives and heal their hearts. No matter how it’s destined to end.
There are perfect moments we carry with us all our lives.
Always Never Meant To Be is a story for everyone who’s ever known the joy of a true love that can’t last – or dreamt of a connection so deep that it lasts forever.
Part of the Magical Seattle Series, this bittersweet, yet uplifting love story is a captivating tale of right person, wrong time soulmates, Sarah and Joe. While this book is written as a standalone tale, be sure to check out the sequel, Uncrossing the Stars, to find out how Sarah and Joe's story ends.
A love both fleeting and eternal…
Sarah and Joe were made for each other. Born at the same instant in the same place, they slept their first night on earth side-by-side in the same hospital nursery. Fast-forward a lifetime of invisible, yet interwoven moments. Both have reached middle-age living separate lives of quiet desperation.
Sarah was once an impressive model of plus-size, can-do, C-Suite fabulousness. Now she’s a hopeless housewife feeling invisible to a completely checked-out husband and in dire need of a career reboot. Meanwhile, Hollywood actor Joe, her longtime celebrity crush, is a devoted father of two teenagers – the only glue in his otherwise strained marriage – who just wants to get his indie movie made.
When their lives collide on Joe’s location scouting trip, the star-crossed soulmates feel an impossible connection they fight to ignore. But with Fate and Destiny at play, there's no escaping the inevitable truth. They’re meant to be together, at least for this one magical moment.
On a whirlwind tour of Seattle, the laughter, music, and intimacies they share bond them more deeply than either dares admit. But with family, home life, and the threat of scandal looming, Sarah joins Joe’s film shoot and they surrender to the enchanted love affair that will change their lives and heal their hearts. No matter how it’s destined to end.
There are perfect moments we carry with us all our lives.
Always Never Meant To Be is a story for everyone who’s ever known the joy of a true love that can’t last – or dreamt of a connection so deep that it lasts forever.
Part of the Magical Seattle Series, this bittersweet, yet uplifting love story is a captivating tale of right person, wrong time soulmates, Sarah and Joe. While this book is written as a standalone tale, be sure to check out the sequel, Uncrossing the Stars, to find out how Sarah and Joe's story ends.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 9, 2025
About the author
AJ Whittier
3 books3 followersRaised in Ohio and marinated in Paris, London, and Los Angeles, AJ (she/her) now makes her home with her husband in Seattle. Although she studied creative writing, playwriting, and screenwriting at Earlham College and The Ohio State University, she’s since found her sweet spot penning novels. And while she doesn’t like to brag, she did win a high school journalism award. So technically, she’s an award-winning writer. (Her mother was very proud.)
She adores the Pacific Northwest and dreams of moving to the Oregon coast someday when she’s finally had enough of city life. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her missing her dearly departed dog, dreaming of getting a Bernese Mountain Dog someday, and obsessing over favorite books, movies, and a lifelong Broadway addiction.
She will gladly discuss any of these things with you at length if you ask.
She adores the Pacific Northwest and dreams of moving to the Oregon coast someday when she’s finally had enough of city life. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her missing her dearly departed dog, dreaming of getting a Bernese Mountain Dog someday, and obsessing over favorite books, movies, and a lifelong Broadway addiction.
She will gladly discuss any of these things with you at length if you ask.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 30, 2026
If I’d read this cold without context (which technically I did) I would probably give this a solid three star rating, but after spending the last hour and 1/2 with the author (and by that I mean sitting next to the author at a small intimate book club held by the delightful ice cream shop Always Summer) I am persuaded to up my rating to a four. Context matters, and I have a better appreciation for what she intended to write, what her inspiration was, the areas she struggled with, and what she felt necessary to include.
The she I am referring to is the author AJ Whittier, who graciously attended the book club sponsored and hosted by Always Summer, a bright cheerful and lovely ice cream…and so much more shop in Lake Forest Park that I highly recommend. This is AJ Whittier’s first novel and the first in what she says will be a five stand alone book series she is calling the “Magical Seattle Series”. As you might imagine, based on the lovely cover art, Always Never Meant To Be is set in my hometown of Seattle and as a native Seattleite I can say it is a beautiful postcard to Seattle. In fact that may be my favorite part about it. Cleverly woven into the story is a scouting trip for a Hollywood movie set in and filmed in Seattle. They visit all the places you would imagine…and some you might not, the Fremont Troll, Pike Place Market, Whidbey Island, Kerry Park, The EMP, the Science Center, Seattle Public Library, Space Needle, the Blue Note, etc. Whittier, who is a 20 year inhabitant of Seattle really wanted readers to see the beauty she sees in Seattle…and ultimately maybe think of taking a trip to see our beloved city. I applaud the sentiment and really think she wrote Seattle in the pages of her book in a lovely light, bringing it alive almost as a character all it’s own.
AJ Whittier wanted to write a story about a relationship that may not be right, but was right on time…and what would that be? Her story was inspired by a vision she had while listening to the Brandi Carlisle song “Right on Time”. The story, she is very clear to point out, is not a romance…and once you get to the end you fully understand what she means by that. She was worried she would get hardcore romantics who were looking for their HEA (happily ever after) and would end up horribly disappointed…but I feel she does an excellent job setting the readers expectations at the very beginning under the “content notes”.
Without giving anything away…two people (Sarah and Joe) both married to others, meet unexpectedly and find themselves pulled to each other. After spending a day or two together, they discover they have had several coincidental meetings or near misses, as though Fate, God, and Destiny have had a hand in bringing them together and especially their meeting at this time for a specific purpose.
The story walks this fine razor’s edge where the others, Ben and Melanie, aren’t vilified…because of the ending, which we are supposed to be ok with as readers.
What I loved…the Seattle setting, the incite by Ben when he explains that he was working hard so she didn’t have to worry (I think men are so often misunderstood…especially by women), Sarah mentally reviewing her lover’s scars…it was a very intimate scene and I don’t mean that in the sexual way but in the sense of intimacy where you know the details of each other’s stories, and I loved the idea of two strangers being held in trance by the same painting in a museum. I found the character of Pastor Ted unintentionally funny…and I enjoyed him being a foil for Sarah’s best friend Gabi, both of whom are guiding their person into what would ultimately make them happy.
What I didn’t love…I had trouble with the infidelity, I know that is just a me thing and I was appropriately forewarned. My only other complaint is the sex scenes, I realize it wasn’t the focus of the story (I understand that even more now having heard AJ Whittier discuss the topic)…but in particular I found the first scene to be almost awkward and I don’t think it was intended to be.
My favorite quote:
“You don’t always get to choose where or how love comes into your life.”-Gabi
And as a local I loved the painful truth of Joe’s inner turmoil around filming in Seattle vs Vancouver (aka fake Seattle or the Seattle lookalike that never fools a local)…which is so often done because it is cheaper. AJ Whittier, I could have hugged you for that brief scene alone. Thank you for including it.
The she I am referring to is the author AJ Whittier, who graciously attended the book club sponsored and hosted by Always Summer, a bright cheerful and lovely ice cream…and so much more shop in Lake Forest Park that I highly recommend. This is AJ Whittier’s first novel and the first in what she says will be a five stand alone book series she is calling the “Magical Seattle Series”. As you might imagine, based on the lovely cover art, Always Never Meant To Be is set in my hometown of Seattle and as a native Seattleite I can say it is a beautiful postcard to Seattle. In fact that may be my favorite part about it. Cleverly woven into the story is a scouting trip for a Hollywood movie set in and filmed in Seattle. They visit all the places you would imagine…and some you might not, the Fremont Troll, Pike Place Market, Whidbey Island, Kerry Park, The EMP, the Science Center, Seattle Public Library, Space Needle, the Blue Note, etc. Whittier, who is a 20 year inhabitant of Seattle really wanted readers to see the beauty she sees in Seattle…and ultimately maybe think of taking a trip to see our beloved city. I applaud the sentiment and really think she wrote Seattle in the pages of her book in a lovely light, bringing it alive almost as a character all it’s own.
AJ Whittier wanted to write a story about a relationship that may not be right, but was right on time…and what would that be? Her story was inspired by a vision she had while listening to the Brandi Carlisle song “Right on Time”. The story, she is very clear to point out, is not a romance…and once you get to the end you fully understand what she means by that. She was worried she would get hardcore romantics who were looking for their HEA (happily ever after) and would end up horribly disappointed…but I feel she does an excellent job setting the readers expectations at the very beginning under the “content notes”.
Without giving anything away…two people (Sarah and Joe) both married to others, meet unexpectedly and find themselves pulled to each other. After spending a day or two together, they discover they have had several coincidental meetings or near misses, as though Fate, God, and Destiny have had a hand in bringing them together and especially their meeting at this time for a specific purpose.
The story walks this fine razor’s edge where the others, Ben and Melanie, aren’t vilified…because of the ending, which we are supposed to be ok with as readers.
What I loved…the Seattle setting, the incite by Ben when he explains that he was working hard so she didn’t have to worry (I think men are so often misunderstood…especially by women), Sarah mentally reviewing her lover’s scars…it was a very intimate scene and I don’t mean that in the sexual way but in the sense of intimacy where you know the details of each other’s stories, and I loved the idea of two strangers being held in trance by the same painting in a museum. I found the character of Pastor Ted unintentionally funny…and I enjoyed him being a foil for Sarah’s best friend Gabi, both of whom are guiding their person into what would ultimately make them happy.
What I didn’t love…I had trouble with the infidelity, I know that is just a me thing and I was appropriately forewarned. My only other complaint is the sex scenes, I realize it wasn’t the focus of the story (I understand that even more now having heard AJ Whittier discuss the topic)…but in particular I found the first scene to be almost awkward and I don’t think it was intended to be.
My favorite quote:
“You don’t always get to choose where or how love comes into your life.”-Gabi
And as a local I loved the painful truth of Joe’s inner turmoil around filming in Seattle vs Vancouver (aka fake Seattle or the Seattle lookalike that never fools a local)…which is so often done because it is cheaper. AJ Whittier, I could have hugged you for that brief scene alone. Thank you for including it.
July 16, 2025
This is not a romance. It is a love story. And it can be hard at times to read as it is so sweetly bittersweet. But the writing is so good. I loved Sarah and Joe. I loved the music referenced in the book- it really felt like it added a whole other dimension to it. This should be a movie! I felt like I could see it in my head once the “sound” was added. Just adored it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews