The Day Bailey Devlin's Horoscope Came True

Bailey Devlin #1

by Rebecca Forster

Oh, Boy! Oh, Bailey!What are you going to do when Fate decides to have a little fun?Bailey Devlin is convinced the stork was drunk the day he dropped her in her mother's lap. Mom is blond and beautiful; Bailey redheaded and gawky. Mom's heart longs for her missing-in-action husband; Bailey's for a man she can count on. Now mom is off looking for her one true love, while Bailey is about to realize her dream and become a lawyer. Yet, as the bar exam looms, there is mischief afoot in the heavens. According to her horoscope, the man who will change her life is coming to her door. The man who shows up isn't even close to one she has dreamed of, but Bailey is about to find out the hard way that he is the man she needs.

Genres: Romance, Amazon, Humor, Fantasy

190 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2015

About the author

Rebecca Forster began writing on a crazy dare and found her passion.

Now with over 40 books to her name, she is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling thriller author. Rebecca likes hands-on research and is a graduate of the DEA and ATF Citizens Academies. She is an avid court watcher, has taken numerous weapons courses, and even landed by tail hook on the USS Nimitz to make sure she has lived what she writes.

Rebecca is married to a Superior Court judge and is the mother of two grown sons. She resides in Southern California

Reviews

[Jan Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adored this book! Bailey Devlin is such a unique, appealing character. Her character was so well written, I felt as if I knew her. She pulled herself up by her bootstraps, and as the story opens, she's determined to make something of her life. She is studying for the most important exam in her life when a relative she's never known lands on her doorstep. Mix in a couple of handsome men, and you have a recipe for a delightful story. Funny, heartwarming, and fast-paced -- a real page turner that had me laughing. Glad this is part of a series, so there's lots more Bailey Devlin to come. Great story from Rebecca Forster, who is a top, talented writer. This is a five-star beginning to an intriguing series.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't Get Into It

I tried to like this book but the storyline never took off for me. I think the main reason was that I thought the daily horoscopes would kind of dictate her life and send her on zany adventures every day. It was just mentioned in her past and the day that Seymour showed up.

I really didn't like Bailey very much. She talked a lot about not having a family, but then she sends Seymour away, after she spends a few days treating him like a parasite that is ruining her life. She also seems to loathe herself quite a bit, and has meticulously planned out her life around a career she doesn't love just because it will get her material things.

The first person present tense writing style also put me off to the book. It made it choppy, and like the title character was just giving random statements about what she was doing at that second. I couldn't get the flow that I needed to bond with the book.

The saving grace that kept me reading was Seymour. I absolutely adored him. He was sweet and funny, but tough as nails. I would absolutely love to read a novel about some of his adventures on his travels.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun and humorous turn for a talented procedural thriller writer to take! There is very little actual story in this first of three. Most page time is taken with setting the background and personalities of the players so, those who are story driven readers might climb the walls but people who enjoy light, whimsical writing just for mere pleasure will revel in Bailey and her meanderings. All must agree, however, that by the end of the book, even the most hardened will enjoy a sweet smile and a satisfied sigh.

[Marianne Donley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always knew Rebecca Forster could write a funny novel if she really wanted to do so. It's so nice to be right.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this from Goodreads. It is a very funny book about how a horoscope can change your life.

[Veronica Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True (Book 1 of the Bailey Devlin Series)
by Rebecca Forster
Amazon Digital Services 2015 ASIN: B013XGNI06

Bailey Devlin, a lawyer in the making, wants a better life. Don’t we all! She’s sick and tired of living on the low-end as a sandwich maker, coupon-cutting to make ends meet, (they never do), and stifling her gourmet appetite. If she can just pass the upcoming bar exam she’ll have everything she always wanted. So she thinks.

Guided by the stars, Bailey follows her daily horoscope predictions. The latest one tells her that someone will knock on her door and she must let him in. Him? Has to be the love of her life to complete her dream.

Not.

It’s the 92 year-young Grandpa she never knew she had and she’s the designated next-of-kin to care for him. Bailey likens him to a hunk of kryptonite that lands in her living room sapping her strength.

Her life gets turned upside down: bar exam study partners that meet in her apartment ditch her, Ethan, her musician neighbor, and Jeffery, her lawyer friend help her with Grandpa but compete with each other for her affection.

And yes, things get worse.

Bailey shows up in the wrong court room one day to protest a ticket and is berated by the judge. Grandpa rises to her defense by stomping his walker on a guard’s foot, and challenging the judge to remove his sissy dress and “let’s take it out back.” She and Grandpa wind up in a jail cell!

Way past fed-up, unable and unwilling to care for Grandpa, and convinced it will be best for all concerned, Bailey commits Grandpa into the Rainbow Rest Retreat nursing home.

The day of the bar exam arrives and Bailey’s life is back on track… until Jeffery arrives to alert her that Grandpa has suffered a heart attack. Bailey is forced to choose between this stranger called Grandpa and her dream life.

Tender and hilarious, The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True will leave you wanting more. It might even make you hug that relative who drives you nuts.

And like Bailey, you may discover that life doesn’t always give you what you expect, but gives you exactly what you need.

Veronica Jorge

[Richard W · Rating 5 out of 5]

A GOOD FUN READ. I found this to be an interesting but not typical love story because the love was there between a man and a woman but it was also a between a person and her goals in life her love for what she wanted her love for what she anticipated and her fear of what she actually got when it came down to family and her future. Also the humor in the book was surprising and I actually chuckled out loud four or five times while reading it. I do appreciate and respect Rebecca's writing style.

[Sandra Berryman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and zany

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to start the next in this series. A light romantic comedy that happens to mention a town I have been to called Chicken, Alaska, even got a T-shirt! For a book to take you away from the world for a while this is a great one for that.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, humorous read with a great cast of characters.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay

Not for me today. Might like it better at a different time. Okay characters. Not a “grab me”plot.A bit draggy.

[Carol Kean · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's never met her father, or her grandparents, but one day a social worker drops a 92-year-old man at her door and says 'He's yours." No other living relatives to be found. Bailey Devlin is working hard to finish law school and pass the bar, but hey, bring on a grandpa who can't pee by himself! "He is a happy man, and I have no idea why," Bailey notices. "He has nothing. I have nothing, and I am not a happy girl."

Yeah, I kinda noticed that. Typical of the genre, we have a self-deprecating heroine who complains a lot. Why does this stuff sell so well, and why did I read this novel? The title and synopsis got me. Quirky. Anything quirky or funny may get me to read a genre I normally avoid.

Not one but TWO awesome men come to Bailey's assistance, entertaining Grandpa and watching him while she's indulging in an hour at the spa, or studying. (What is this, a fairy tale?) Still, Grandpa's gotta go. --Not to the bathroom; he's gotta go bye-bye.

Bailey's coupon clipping is entertaining, to an extent. Her mother's noodles. Her ability to live on the cheap. Too bad she keeps dreaming of wealth - it kinda ruins (for me) the ideal of a young, aspiring lawyer who isn't materialistic or in it just for the money.

Insightful, thoughtful and sometimes witty, this narrative kept me turning pages. If you love chick lit, this may be a 5-star novel. I've just seen too much of this genre to love a story that (to me) doesn't really stand out from the rest. We have the clutzy, honest heroine who doesn't have time or money for hair, make-up and wardrobe. I'm okay with that. That sounds like me. But this heroine inexplicably has two really hot guys competing for her affections. In so many novels, a frumpy heroine who doesn't even work out (much less bother with hair, make-up or wardrobe) will score the eternal devotion of some hot, even gorgeous, usually rich guy, without even trying. Is there a feminist subtext going on here? I'm all for saving time and money, shopping at Goodwill, and such, but to be dressed in sweat pants, caught without eyeliner, and still have Mr. Sexy think I'm sexy... what is this fairy tale? Why can't Mr. Okay-Looking, and Not Overly Rich, be Mr. Right?

I could get past that trope, if the prose is polished, and the voice authentic. That may be the case here. However, the heroine has a lot of selfish moments. She can be a real cold fish. And she really doesn't show much respect for Grandpa, nor much interest in him. Hello. He's 92? Ask him about his life, honey, instead of working so hard to dump him on someone else.

Not much is resolved at the end of Book One, but that's to be expected in a series.

Lots of lines are funny or quotable or worth noting, and here's a partial list:

-- I am flying and free and happy because I am running – not away from anything – but for the sheer joy of doing something I want to do.
-- my horoscope predicted I was in for a big raise. I sure could use it considering I was working my way through law school. Sadly, it was a raise in the rent
-- my eyes looked for the stuff you were made of while my mom's eyes looked for the stuff you dreamed of. I would have liked my eyes to dance like my mother's; I would have liked it if people stopped pointing out the difference.
-- crime and punishment in the gritty city of San Francisco. Those stories made me want to be a lawyer. I would be the Joan of Arc of the legal profession, tying myself to the tree of truth, enduring the flames of evil to fight for justice and the American way –
-- If Mom was cooking, that meant she was home. If she was home, I was loved.
-- My mother wasn't old enough to remember the Depression, of course, but her mother's mother had been.
-- I was going to get all the good stuff because I was an eye-scrunching, breath-holding, hand-clasping believer in the goodness of the universe.

There was more, I swear, but I must have highlighted without hitting Kindle Share.

The grandpa, the jazz musician, the lawyer boyfriend, the transvestite in the apartment down the hall (is there ever a chick flick without a gay guy in it?) - these are good people, and it's a fun place to spend a few hours of your life. I'm just more into cerebral stuff, and this is Lite Reading. It's Diet Soda, and I'm in a mood for scotch. No ice. And a cigar, and for all my complaints about exploding helicopters in guy flicks, maybe I could use something like that after all.

Maybe.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since getting my first ereader my reading diet has changed, weighted heavily to indie authors. In the past, I would grab John Grisham's latest in hardback as soon as it was released. Now he has three (or is it four) books out that I haven't even bought, let alone read. My must-read author list is now longer and much different. One of the few authors I'd read prior to getting that first ereader who made it onto my current must-read list is Rebecca Forster. Part of the reason is I (maybe obviously) like thrillers (especially the legal thriller subgenre) and suspense, which is her forte. Another is that her recent books stretch their genre in ways I've enjoyed. But I wasn't sure what to expect from her latest book, a romantic comedy.

In a word (or three), I loved it.

This first installment in the Bailey Devlin trilogy introduces us to the character of Bailey. She barely knew her father, who disappeared while she was young, but her hippie-ish mom is convinced he'll be back some day. Growing up in a home where survival was a struggle, Bailey figured out that if her life was going to be different, it was up to her to make it so. She's fun. She's different. And she's determined. This focus on success is working, as Bailey is just weeks away from taking the bar exam. For the first time she'll be able to make a living wage. Maybe she'll even feel like slacking off enough to allow a little time for romance in her life. (Assuming anyone is even interested.) That's when the unexpected happens, with two potential romantic interests and some additional responsibility she didn't expect, nor want, upset her best-laid plans.

This was a fun (and funny) read. I'm eager to read the next in the series to find out where Bailey goes from here.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Sandy Wolters · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

Book: The Day Bailey Devlin’s Horoscope Came True
Series: Bailey Devlin – Book 1
Author: Rebecca Forster
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Length: 191 Pages

Bailey Devlin has led a difficult life. She’s grown up in a single-parent home with a mother who dreams of her long-gone husband. When Bailey’s old enough to be on her own, her mother takes off to look for the man that had walked out all those years ago.

Bailey works hard to fulfill her dream of becoming a lawyer. Through it all, she’s alone with her dreams of some day having it all. She faithfully reads her horoscope each day hoping for some good news. One day, it talks of opening her door to a man that will change her life. When the knock on the door finally comes, it’s not quite what she’s expecting.

THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN’S HOROSCOPE CAME TRUE by REBECCA FORSTER is written in first person. It’s really well done and allows the reader to get a good insight into the main character. I have to say, my heart went out to her. She’s worked so very hard her entire life to make something of herself and when she gets a surprise visitor, her world is turned upside down.

Much of this book was funny. Parts were so funny that I had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard I cried. Always in the background, though, was the reality of heartache.

I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve read by Ms. Forster and this book was no exception. This is a fast, fun read and I highly recommend it.

[Tonya Plank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I received it in a gift basket I'd won at conference and I couldn't wait to read it since I love Rebecca Forster. Forster is known for legal thrillers and this is more chick-lit or light women's fiction / romance - the kind of stories I like best!

Bailey has just graduated law school and is studying for the bar exam when an elderly grandfather she didn't even know existed shows up on her doorstep. He needs taken care of and she's so rattled already with her future so up in the air and depending on this mega test. There are also two vying romantic interests - one a successful, dependable lawyer who wants to help her pass the bar, the other a fun, sexy musician who wants her to take it easy and be happy. They pretty much represent different ways of life, or different approaches to living, and through them Bailey makes tough decisions on what to do about her grandfather, and on the kind of life she wants to live and family she wants to have.

It's a short, sweet story about a young woman trying to figure it all out, in other words. There are two more in the series, and I'm reading them now!

[Elizabeth Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me way to long to finish...This isn't a long or difficult book. It's just non-interesting at some points. When I would reach those points, I had a very tough time paying attention or caring about what I was reading. I was excited at first because the writing style reminded me of the Stephanie Plum series (which I adore). It didn't stay that way though. And it seemed like the characters were all bi-polar: one second goofy & happy the next second crying & emotional. Not my cup of tea.

[Mary Sue Newson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating

This book was well written, amusing and fun to read. I look forward to more books about Bailey's unusual life.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful read. Could not put down until entire story read. Giggled throughout. Very funny, uplifting story and skillfully written. A real spirit lifter.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

the story that is one about how a young woman has been working her whole life to be able to get thru college and law school

[Kristen]

DNF. COULD NOT finish. Every step of the way was frustrating for me to imagine and get through. Not a good mix of plot elements for my taste, even though I had hoped for an enjoyable story.