Path Forward

Celebrities #4

by Nicole Pyland

Jessica Morrison had made some mistakes in her life. Of all of them, one had caused her to lose the woman she had once thought she would spend the rest of her life with, along with the friends Jessica had thought of as family.

Venice Russo had somehow found herself in the company of a lot of beautiful, famous women. Dani Wilder, Peyton Gloss, Lennox Owen, Kenzie Smyth, and Maddox Delaney were now all her friends. That didn’t stop Venice, who preferred to be called Val, from feeling a little out of place.

They nearly met at one fateful New Year’s Eve party but happened to miss each other. A coincidence, or maybe fate, brings them together again. Jessica is carrying her baggage. Val doesn’t feel like she has anything to look forward to in her life. When they find each other, they might also be able to find a path forward together.

Genres: Lesbian Romance, Celebrity, Lesbian, Romance, LGBT, Lesbian Fiction, Fiction

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 2021

About the author

Nicole Pyland is a bestselling author of lesbian romance novels, including No After You, All the Love Songs, and the series like Chicago, San Francisco, Tahoe, Sports, Boston, and more. Since 2017, she’s published over 30 novels (not including her What Happened After shorts), and more books are on their way!

Nicole grew up in Indiana, studying English & Film and then getting a MS in Behavior Analysis and moving to California, working by day as a Head of Training at a start-up. She lives with her wife and their opinionated cat, who spends his evenings helping her write stories by occupying half the chair.

Website: nicolepyland.com

Newsletter: nicolepyland.com/newsletter

Twitter: @nicole_pyland

Facebook: @nicolepylandauthor

Reviews

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst I enjoyed the third instalment of the celebrities series - Midnight Tradition - I felt this was back to the best of the series we experienced with the first two books. The last two books of this series were published after the sports series and they are quite different. I found this to be more lighthearted than the sports series, but I did appreciate what felt like a little more depth in this one than Midnight Tradition.

Jessica is a model turned actress who is experiencing the first time a movie is going big for her. She made mistakes in her previously relationship that caused her to lose both her girlfriend and her friends. This books serves as Jessica’s attempt at redemption.

Venice Valentine - Val to her friends - isn’t famous like the rest of the group she has somehow found herself amongst. She works at a pack and ship store and strives to own her own business one day.

A chance meeting at Val’s work brings them both together. I loved how the relationship built organically but didn’t feel like a traditional slow burn either. There’s a lot of depth in how Jessica attempts to make amends with their friends, and her honesty in why her relationship didn’t work. At the same time Val exploring her feelings as to why she feels it wouldn’t work with Jessica and what she wants to do with her life is also done really well.

We previously met both Jessica and Val briefly in Midnight Tradition but you don’t technically need to have read it to read Path Forward. I’d suggest reading the whole series as the characters flow through the instalments, but it does still work as a standalone.

It was nice to have lots of involvement from all of the characters in the previous books. I especially liked that we got to see more growth from Maddox and more of her relationship with Avery. With Midnight Tradition only being set over a few days it was hard to have that growth so the follow up here made me very happy, especially in how it related to Jessica. The scenes with all of the friends made me smile and it was nice to think of them all in family situations.

If you’re a Pyland fan you’ll enjoy this - and if you’ve not read Pyland but are a fan of wlw romances you’ll definitely find this an enjoyable read.

I received an e-ARC directly from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Hsinju Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

tl;dr: EVERYDAY SOFT BUTCH + REDEEMABLE EX-CHEATER CELEBRITY; a bit insta-lovey for me but a very believable romance!

Content warnings: cheating, mention of family deaths, mention of cancer, mention of car accident, one HP reference

Whenever I picked up a Pyland book, I knew I would finish reading it feeling happy, warm, and fuzzy. And sure enough, Path Forward was no exception.

Supermodel-turned-actress Jessica Morrison (35) had cheated on Maddox (see Midnight Tradition for her story; my review here) back when they were girlfriends. Now, single at thirty-five and in want of a family, she embarks on a journey of redemption, hoping that her ex-friends will one day forgive her. When she meets pack and ship store manager Venice “Val” Russo (35, Italian), she is intend on getting to know her romantically. But Val insists that her humble self will never fit into Jessica’s glamorous celebrity life and suggests to be friends instead.

That was how bad breakups worked: the one that made the mistake loses the shared friends.

I love both main characters individually. When I learned that book four of the series is going to be about Jessica, possibly known as the cheater among Peyton’s friends, I was excited to see how Pyland would make us root for her happiness, too. And I am so glad that she turns out to be such a lovely person. Not to say that this story justified her past cheating, but it gave us a glimpse of the circumstances back then and made Jessica’s behaviors somewhat forgivable. It is also very clear that she feels deep remorse for mistreating Maddox and proves to be a trustworthy person now.

It is clear that Val, the sweet soft butch, feels that she can never measure up to her famous friends because of her “ordinary” life. I love that throughout the story, she gradually becomes more comfortable in her own skin and lets go of others’ expectations of her to follow her own dream with the encouragement from Jessica. The two of them are wonderful together, and even though the start of their “friendship” was more on the insta-lovey side, I love that they still took the time to chat with each other.

The best thing about this book being part of a series is that we get to see all of the main couples featured in previous books, too. I also love that Avery’s brother Tony is in a wonderful polyamorous relationship with his boyfriends Dario and Magnus. There is going to be a finale What Happened After... for the Celebrities series, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for all of their futures.

Pyland never fails to deliver sweet, lovable romance stories, and while celebrity romance isn’t really my thing, I enjoyed every moment of Path Forward. The author has stated in her newsletter that she attempted to challenge herself differently in each of the Celebrities books, and I think she definitely achieved all her goals with flying colors.

I received an e-ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[pipsqueakreviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jessica! But sadly, I think it’s the wrong pairing. 

I was excited to read the 4th book of the Celebrities because of Jessica. Jess was referenced as Maddox’s long-distance supermodel girlfriend in All the Love Songs and emerged briefly in Midnight Tradition labeled as Maddox’s cheating ex-girlfriend. From the moment her heated argument with Maddox started at the legendary New Year’s Eve party, I was instantly drawn to her despite her cheater status. 

I love how Jess has her own book now where her side of the story is heard, I’m happy she’s able to have the happy ending she deserves, and I’m thrilled she got to make amends with her friends, which was a significant part of the novel. The more I read about Jess, the more I love her because she’s so much more than the cheater we were told she was. Jess is a thoroughly nice person who needs a lot of love and she’s sexy as hell. 

I know I'm in the minority after seeing so many good reviews, but I’m not convinced by the Jess and Venice pairing and I think they lack a certain chemistry. Venice debuted in Midnight Tradition as Dani’s friend and will forever be remembered as the mild butch who tried to hit on Avery. I don’t recall her being daft then, but she was certainly daft here and her conversations with Jess were so awkward and repetitive, it was tiresome. I know a lot of it had to do with esteem issues, but still. Somehow, I feel that Venice was what Jess needed rather than what she wanted. Frankly speaking, I felt the same way about Maddox and Avery regarding that lack of chemistry but that was worse because of how insta their story was. 

Jess and Maddox got closure here. Ironically their closure talk was more interesting than all the conversations that Jess / Venice and Maddox / Avery had, and I was entirely convinced at that moment that the ones with the real sparks together were sadly, Jess and Maddox.

I’m not entirely thrilled about the Jess and Venice pairing here and I think they fared only slightly better than Maddox and Avery, so I’m inclined to rate it three stars. I still love Jess a lot though.

[Kexx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good tie in with the other three - though if she apolgised once more I'd expect an apology for myself! Love NP's writing - moving on to number 5.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 When I first started this book, I thought I would have a difficult time with it as one as the main characters was not seen in exactly the best light in the book before. She had been in a relationship and cheated not once, but twice while with Maddox. In all honesty, I wasn’t a big fan of Maddox, but a cheater is almost an automatic no. I’m very glad I read this because it really does prove that there are two sides to every story. I don’t condone Jessica cheating while in a relationship with someone. But I appreciate that fact that Jessica realized how her actions were wrong and caused her to deeply hurt someone she cared about and that she should have just been an adult and talked to her. In all honesty my heart broke for Jessica very early on in this book and unexpectedly crying. 2021 has most definitely started out unexpectedly. I thoroughly enjoyed this book better than its predecessor which very much surprised me given who Jessica was. I was glad Val/Venice was the other main in this story. I felt bad for her in the previous story because she seemed like such a likable person talking with Avery and I’m sorry but Maddox behaved like a petulant child.
It was adorable that she didn’t see in herself what others did. Heartbreaking though that she thought she had nothing to offer others, that she felt she wasn’t worthy of someone like Jessica. Money can buy you things, a good and true heart is priceless. The thing is, I think they both had self-esteem issues, but in different ways. The good thing was, that they actually took the time to talk to each other. COMMUNICATION. The down side was it felt like an abrupt ending. I wanted to know more!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know... there’s 2 side of a coin, 2 side of a story. So now we get to hear Jessica’s side of her story. I liked Jessica’s character and was rooting for her. Yes, she cheated on Maddox and lost all her mutual friends because of her infidelity. But she realised her mistake and she didn’t shift the blame; she owned it. Maybe Maddox was partly to blame but let’s not go there... And Venice (Val), well I would have liked it more if she was just a bit more confident of herself and not doubt herself too much. Jessica and Val together? Hmmm... I’m not too sure about the pairing, but that’s just my 2-cents worth 😊

Ratings: High 3s...

[Lorraine Rusnack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect story to being the series to an end. I liked seeing Jessica come to terms with what happened between her and Maddox. I loved the character of Val from the last book. These two women really do fit together. Love and forgiveness are important parts of life and this story does an amazing job of getting that point across. I look forward to the What Happened After book. As with all of Nicole's series I will miss these characters because she makes then feel like friends.

I received an ARC copy of this book for my honest review.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's the 4th book and I have to wonder if Nicole Pyland just set up a template and changed the characters' names and jobs and filled it in like Mad Libs because Path Forward is same-same with the stuff that's come before. I don't have much to say that I didn't say in my reviews of All the Love Songs and Midnight Traditions (books 2 and 3, respectively). Different characters. Slightly different scenarios. Same questions about finding and keeping The One. Same addicting schlock. I wasn't a huge fan of Val/Venice and didn't need her character to come back after her brief appearances in book 3, but Pyland thought she needed her own book! Meh.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was okay. Overall it felt rushed. I would say that Pyland use to be one of my favorite authors to read. The last few romances I read from her have been rushed. The attention to detail seems to be lacking and the romances fall a little short. They don't seem to be a full length romance but not a novella either. Either way, I think Pyland publishes too many books to give the detail necessary to make her books as enjoyable as they use to be.

[Alexa Steli]

I'm deeply hurted by the fact that I'm DNF this at 30%.

I just can't do it anymore.I dislike Jessica's character and the same goes to Val.

The fact that Val really tried to blame something else in the fact that Jessica cheated?!?!and wasn't even that bothered about it?!?!?

Who in their right mind or a decent human would send flowers to the ex of your friend who cheated and treated your friend badly?!?!


Just no,their scenes together bores me.

[Rey Hawke · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Forgiveness and new beginnings.

[Juno · Rating 4 out of 5]

turns out Jessica can be a good mc, same goes for Venice. it just felt too short. there's nothing wrong with this book, it's pretty great honestly. Great arcs, great message, lovely romance and more of the previous couples. it's just short, which is a bummer. it feels like more stuff go from 0-100, and especially in this series it feels like everyone feel for each instantly, which does feel kind of repetitive. it's good though

[Statum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working Through It

This book hit home for me. I really liked it because it was so much closer to reality than a lot of other books you read. It was important they both got in a good place before really diving into their relationship. It’s nice to see a lesbian couple take a little time with things. 🙂

[Lesbian Romance Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Celebrities series. The characters are strong and not "only" celebrities. They are written with depth and real emotions.

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pyland has added a fourth book in her Celebrity Series giving previous characters their own story, and although it could stand on its own, read the first three and you will have a better understanding of the characters who are all friends or...maybe less than friends. Who knows?

It’s a story of forgiveness and acceptance. Not just from others, but oneself. Learning from mistakes and moving forward. That’s a tough one for most people, but when one is in the public eye it adds another element to it. Throw a new romantic relationship in the mix and you’ve got an opportunity to either ruin everything or make it all work out.

There’s a lot of familiarity in here from the previous books, but also a new twist as you get to know Jessica and Val better. No spoilers. I’d like to give it more stars because I did enjoy the story—it just didn’t knock my socks off. Just sayin’.

I'd say more 3.5 stars here.

[Michelle Schuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Store manager finds Model turned Actress

Nicole Pyland has this innate ability to merge women that just belong together. Even with completely different backgrounds or jobs, the chemistry she builds is phenomenal. To have her characters blend together takes amazing talent.
Venice (Val) is normal, suffers from self esteem issues and doesn't believe she is worthy. Just true to follow what would be natural instead of finding her passion.
Jessica is a retired model turned actress. She carries a lot of guilt on how she ended her last long term relationship. Now she wants to make amends to her ex and the friends she had lost with the relationship.
As each woman travels on her self discovery, they are each others rock. The chemistry is astounding. Can't wait for the What happens next.

[Diana Nolen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book delving into the character of Jessica who was previously Maddie’s girlfriend in the celebrity series. In the 3rd book (Midnight Tradition) we learned that Maddie and Jessica had broken up due to Jessica’s having cheated, first by having an affair with a designer, then after getting back together had kissed another woman and admitted her infidelities to Maddox both times.

In this book we learn that Jessica and Maddox probably should have never been together in the first place as they both had different needs emotionally. Now, she’s lost all their friends (who you meet in the previous books) but also can’t move forward until she figures out, not only what she did and why, owns it, and tries to redeem herself by seeking out all those she hurt by her bad behavior during and after the times that she cheated.

My only complaint (and it’s not a big one because I really loved the book) was the thing with her love interest in the book’s name: Venice/Val. I was listening to the audiobook and it annoyed me that I had to keep hearing her referred to as Val, then Jessica would call her Venice and always thought of her as Venice. I understood it, I did, but it was hard for me to keep up with for some stupid reason. (Probably my own!)

A really good read, or audiobook. Actually, I listened to the whole series and would definitely recommend it. I love reading wlw romance and even though I suppose all the books can be read as stand-alones I love the continuity of a series and this author does it very well in this series.

[Sarah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The depressing part is that it ended at all.

The author used the celebrity series to challenge her skills with different settings. With this last full length novel in the series her challenge was to make the readers (such as I, a faithful and devoted fan) like a disliked character from previous books in the series.

Well, my fine friends, she succeeded. Learning about Jessica’s transgressions through the other novels, I didn’t like her. So I put off reading for a few days to pump myself to go into the book and read something I may hate.

I didn’t.

Finally coming to my senses I set out to quickly read through and I found myself with smiles and a few chuckles I couldn’t contain.

And the most depressing part of the whole book was... That it ended. I was totally unprepared for the ending when the epilogue came into view. I was that into it.

Now I can’t say it will be my favorite book I’ve ever read, but I will say... It is worth reading. Take a shot. I cannot wait for the what happened after stories to come out in Feb 2021.

[Jennifer McWhorter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

This is an amazing conclusion to the Celebrity Series (which is my favorite). It takes Jessica the woman who broke Maddox’s heart by cheating on her and shows her growth and redemption. It is an amazing journey for a person who has made horrible decisions but who finally owns those mistakes. After owning those mistakes she finds a way to move forward with her life and also finds a way back to the friends she lost along the way. She finds love with Val a woman who is living on the periphery of life. She’s not passionate about her job or much of anything in her life and even feels like she “kind of friends” with her friends. When Jessica and Val find each other they discover the thing that has always been missing from their lives. It’s a great way to end the best of Nicole Pyland’s Celebrity Series. I can’t recommend this book, series, and author enough. I love every word of hers that I have ever read and my only complaint has ever been that I always want more. Luckily she writes a What Happened After for her series...that helps with the separation anxiety.

[Cindy Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessica has been persona non grata with the celebrity couples since she cheated on Maddox several years ago and broke her heart. She regrets what she did and is coming to terms with it when she meets Val (Venice), a friend of the celebrities but not famous herself. While the connection is there, Val wants to take things slowly, worried that Jessica's fame (she's just starred in her first film after a successful career as a super-model) puts her in a different category than Val, who manages a office supply and package store. Yet, the two want the same things out of a relationship, unlike how it was for Jess and Maddox.

This is the culminating book in the 4-book Celebrity series and it's a good one. Both MCs are well-drawn and likeable. The author does a good job of showing us what they have in common despite their outward differences. It's also a butch-femme pairing with Jessica especially as an assertive and clever femme. I was engaged.

It's not 5 star level but definitely good enough and joins books 1 and 2 in the series as good reads.

[Robert M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sorta read this out of order, I haven’t read Midnight Tradition (book 3) so I didn’t know the backstory regarding Jessica or Val. Jessica has been unfaithful before and has paid dearly for it. Val has low self esteem and is kind of going through the motions. That would normally send up a flag that she is going to be blocking things and creating dark moments.
Instead we have two characters with great story arcs. Can they work through them together? Yes.
I really liked both characters and their conflicts seemed real and their support for each other was nice. I’ve already read it multiple times (including the what happened after). I would love to read more about these two - my favorites of this series. I still don’t buy Lennox and Kenzie’s story as I hated book 2 of this series, but it didn’t detract from this one.
Not sure if I want to read book 3, since Jessica may be the villain in that one and here she is pretty cool.

[DR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jessica's a hot mess wanting to be better in life and willing to do the hard work. She misses her friends most. Who'd have thought that a package mis-delivery would land her in front of a friend of Dani's? I enjoyed how the author brought all the characters together with each book. Val, who'd flirted with Avery New Years Eve, is now friends with her and Maddox; and, she meets Jessica over a a package. The author effectively word paints Jessica's and Venice's story in both of their need to be touched and loved; to be present. Of the stories, this one about forgiveness, was the most touching. Peyton considered Lennox, Kenzi, Maddox, Avery, Venice & Jessica her family; were important to her. To read them becoming friends again was happiness. I enjoy reading and binged read all the books in this series.

[Rein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Redemption

I’m not a fan of cheaters and knowing Jessica cheated on Maddox, I wasn’t interested in reading about her. Val had only a minor appearance so she wasn’t a draw either. However since I can’t just skip the book I read there story.

It was a nice redemption and self reflection read. Jessica isn’t a horrible person and she recognized that while her needs where not being met cheating isn’t the way (something she should’ve already know but if Maddox can forgive her then who are we to condemn her still). Val was insecure in her life because society places these steps and requisites on us throughout life based on age. I have my own as many others do and we feel somewhat less than because those around us seem to flourish while we feel stagnant. Luckily enough, the people around her supported her and allowed her to find her happy.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect to like this installment of the celebrities story as much as I did, as I didn’t love Midnight Tradition, and didn’t take to Jess or Val much during their short appearances in that book. With that being said, I loved this story and really ended up like both leads very much. I’m happy the story of the final couple ended on such a high note for me. I thought the pacing for Jess and Val’s relationship worked (considering this is just a short story) and surprisingly I ended up being very much “Team Jess” in the situation with her and Maddox. Obviously if you’re already deep in the celebrities series, you should continue on with this book, it was an excellent edition.

[Chelles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Path Forward ❤️

I have to admit that I've been stalling on finishing this series because I wasn't a fan of the Jessica character. If you felt the same, let me say that I was foolish to wait! This might be my favorite in the series (although I say that very lightly because I love all the couples).

Jessica absolutely redeems herself in this book. She owns up to her mistakes and tries to make amends with her friends. However, when her and Venice meet, it's like everything falls into place for the both of them. They are from different worlds but seem to fit so perfectly together. I loved their story - super sweet!!🥰

[Patricia Vander Kamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this group of strong women!!!

Venice and Jessica find what they’re looking for in each other. Two beautiful women with their own insecurities find strength in each other. Forgiveness is a profound practice that frees one’s soul and all of these women are kind and generous in their approach to life, friends, and family. I love this series. It was wonderful watching these women develop their lives around each other. I enthusiastically and unequivocally recommend this series and all of this author’s works. Thank you Peace

[Alexa Dinnago · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one wants to read about Jessica because of her history with Maddox. I didn't at first, but I continued because I wanted to know her way of thinking. It's always been easier to say things than do things so it's easy to judge when you are not involved but when you are, it's hard to step back and see from the outside. People makes mistakes but they're not all bad people. I didn't want to give spoilers so I hooe I haden't. I also relate to Val in a way so I am attracted to her character. Not my ideal couple though, so sometimes it's hard for me to picture. I still enjoyed it.

[Zayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give it a 3 out of 5 because of the sexiness, but while I liked the premise of Jessica's story coming full circle and her being able to move on with her life. She knows she messed up with Maddox and she knows Maddox is moving on from their relationship, but I don't really care for how she handles the cheating. She doesn't justify the cheating being right, but she also does punish herself and it's actually Venice who picks her back up.

[Ness Reeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great end to a brilliant series

I have really enjoyed the celebrity series and Jess & Val's story finishes it off nicely. Jess messed up her friendship with Peyton and co due to cheating on Maddox & when she meets Val and realises she is a friend of those friends she had lost she doesn't think she has a chance but Val isn't put off that easily. Great read and some smoking hot scenes.

[Carolyn G. Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding Forgiveness

Jessica Morrison made her biggest mistake when she cheated on her girlfriend and lost her and her friends. Venice Valentine Russo, a packing store manager, finds herself friends with a group of beautiful lesbian couples. Jessica wants her friends back and to find a woman who needs her as much as she needs them. A wonderful Sapphic series. Sizzle and romance.