Paige Torn

“Erynn has such a warm, witty, and winning writing style. These are the sorts of characters who become your dearest friends and you feel a little sad once you've left them. Fortunately, this is only the first book in a very promising series, which definitely lessens the sting.”

— CHRISTA A. BANISTER, freelance movie and music critic;
author of
Around the World in 80 Dates
and
Blessed Are the Meddlers

“Erynn Mangum gives voice to another twentysomething determined to make her mark on the world — or at least the state of Texas! Erynn never fails to infuse her books with wit, joy, and enough angst to keep the sugar at bay. Readers have much to look forward to!”

— REL MOLLET, book reviewer, Relz Reviewz

Check out what readers are saying
about Erynn Mangum and her books:

“You are my all-time favorite author. I've read every single one of your books. I have to tell you that you are the only author capable of making me laugh out loud! Your books are uplifting, funny, addictive, and personable. I am super-excited for your latest book to come out!”

— MADISON, reader

“Once I started reading your books, I couldn't stop! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing books with a Christian emphasis for young women. I love your books. They have helped me make it through what seems to be the busiest time of my life! With so much going on, your books let me know that someone understands what I'm going through.”

— SARA BETH, reader

“I'm a huge fan of your novels! I absolutely adore them! I read them in my free time at school. After my friends saw them and read the summary on the back, all of a sudden I was sharing my brand-new books with twenty other friends! And I've led five friends to Christ because of the lovely mentions of God you add in there.”

— KAITE, reader

“I'm so glad I came across your books. I love the characters, the themes, and the humor! You had me laughing out loud many times!”

— GRACE, reader

Other Novels by Erynn Mangum

L
AUREN
H
OLBROOK
S
ERIES:

Miss Match

Rematch

Match Point

M
AYA
D
AVIS
S
ERIES:

Cool Beans

Latte Daze

Double Shot

 

 

 

 

 

For my grandmother Eloise Terry —

I am so blessed to be the granddaughter of a woman who loves the Lord so much. What an amazing legacy I have been given! I love you so much, Nama.

Acknowledgments

T
o my Lord — thank You will never be enough. May every breath I breathe serve to give You glory, even in the midst of pain and questions. I love You, Jesus.

To my little family — Jon and Nathan — I love you both more than words can say. Jon, you are my best friend. I love how you make me laugh and hold me when I'm crying. Nathan, sweetheart, you are the light of my day, and being your mommy is the biggest honor God has given me.

To my family — Mom, Dad, Bryant, Caleb, and Cayce — God blessed me beyond comprehension when He put me in this family. I don't think I even realize how blessed I am that my parents and siblings are some of my closest friends. I love you all.

To my in-law and extended family — Nama, Greg and Connie, Allen and Vicky, Tommy, my aunts and uncles, and my dear cousins — thank you for being there for me during this last year. Your prayers and love kept me going! I love you.

To my dear friends — Leigh Ann Trebesh, Eryn Beechem, Melanie Larson, Jamie Poore, Thalia Chan, Shannon Layer, and Kaitlin Bar — I love you with all my heart. I can't imagine a sweeter circle of friends. Thank you for everything.

To my incredible NavPress team and my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray — I am so grateful to each of you for making this book a reality! Thank you for pushing me outside my comfort zone and making Paige a real character.

To
you
, my dear reader, I pray daily that God will bless you with His presence and that He will flood you with His love. May we both “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

L
iving in Texas can be awesome. Or awful.

Like during the winter. I turn off the car and sigh at the blinking bank billboard across the street from the Starbucks parking lot that keeps repeating:
5:34 p.m.… 74˚ … 5:34 p.m.… 74˚.

So I am late, and snow is nowhere near in the immediate future. It's January, for goodness' sake. I climb out of my used Camry that I've scrimped and saved for two years to buy and trudge into the Starbucks where my best friend, Layla Prestwick, is waiting for me.

She has an enormous smile on her face, and she doesn't even bother with a greeting or volume control when she sees me.
“Paige! I am getting married!”
she screeches, grabbing me in a hug so tight I can't even choke out a congratulations.

I grin just the same. I knew it was coming. I had an idea after reading her text that brought me here today.

Y
OU MUST MEET WITH ME @
S
TARBUCKS ASAP
!
H
ERE IS A CLUE: <>
O

An inkling, anyway.

“I'm so excited for you!” I say when she loosens her grip
a little bit. “Macchiato is on me today.” I order us both caramel macchiatos while Layla talks a hundred miles a minute about how her used-to-be-boyfriend-now-fiancé, Peter, proposed.

“So we were just sitting there on his couch watching a movie like we always do on Sunday nights and he is like hey Layla I love you and I am like yeah Peter I love you too and then he suddenly is handing me a ring and it is soooo special and I couldn't believe it so I started screaming and I am pretty sure I woke up his entire apartment complex and then the cops showed up because his downstairs neighbors thought Peter had gone postal or something but they were really nice and then told me congratulations and here's the ring!”

She shoves her left hand over to me — a solitaire, sparkling in the lights.

For all the zero-breaths-taken during Layla's engagement story, I'm not about to confess to her that I think Peter's way of proposing is pretty lame.

The couch?

Compared to all of Layla's passion and exuberance and romance, Peter is about the dullest person on the planet, maybe right behind that
Thinker
statue everyone is so enamored with. I just don't see what Layla sees in him. And I really don't get the fascination with
The Thinker
either.

He is thinking. Got it.

It's about the same reaction I have to Peter. For all intents and purposes, Peter will make a great groom. He is male, he will show up to the wedding, and he will have no opinions about the ceremony or reception. He is like a Ken doll with dark hair but minus the great facial bone structure. I've compared him to a head of lettuce before. Obviously, I've never told Layla that, but I did tell my mom.

She didn't think it was very nice of me to compare one of God's creatures to a head of lettuce. Until I pointed out that a head of lettuce was created by God too.

“Paige, he's a person for goodness' sake. You can't just arbitrarily decide you don't like someone.”

I've known Peter for almost four years. I am pretty certain I'm not being arbitrarial, or however you say that grammatically correct.

You know how there's always that one person you just don't like, and you don't really know why?