Title: Studfinder
Author: L.B. Dunbar, Heart Eyes Press
Series: Busy Bean #5
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Small town romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021

I honestly don’t know much about the American judicial system, but this is definitely the first romance that I’ve read in which the couple meets through the restitution process. This might not have given me a huge amount of insight into the system, but it did give me a little bit of an idea. I’m also always looking for the novelty of a new Meet Cute with how much I read, and Rita and Jake meeting through the restitution process certainly met this criteria. The fact that Jake is actually innocent, somehow makes it a little bit harder to read about his past and time in jail.

Rita’s journey to become who she is now is a fantastic one. I love that she’s had a whole lot of challenges to overcome that would destroy a lesser woman, and that she does so with grace and kindness. Plus, even as she has found her feet and moved on again and again in life, she is constantly looking for new challenges. As much as this story is a romance, it is also Rita’s journey to find a new purpose in life at forty. And to have the guts to actually pursue it.

The biggest theme throughout this novel is the idea of forgiveness. Theoretically that is what the restitution program in America is about (but, as always, I have my doubts, society is not that kind). And, it is also a part of AA – forgiving oneself for the past and moving forwards. But, even bigger than this is that throughout this story, Rita and Jake also have to forgive each other for mistakes in the past. I both love and dread how much their pasts intertwine – it’s kind of sad and depressing. But, also, it drives the story forwards so well. And both Jake and Rita have so much growth from being able to forgive and move on.

As the mystery of the true arsonist unfolds, I didn’t think Dunbar would be so cruel as to have the real culprit be, well, the guilty one. It was brilliant, but also incredibly shattering. Plus, it meant that I really, really, really wanted there to be some form of justice for the real arsonist’s past actions.  However, as mentioned before, the theme in this story is overwhelmingly one of forgiveness, so I guess that I actually like how that whole story turned out. I just have to make the vindictive voices in my psyche be quiet for a moment or ten.

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Image source: Goodreads