Taylor and his crew almost die in a fire (as is customary in a Jamie McGuire novel. Because everyone knows you can’t spell romance without MORTAL DANGER OFTEN CAUSED BY FIRE BUT ONE TIME FROM GUNSHOTS!) Falyn decides that she must raise Taylor’s baby with him because fate. How did we get here?
Beautiful Sacrifice Chapter 24:
Now they’re arguing about getting married. Tell me, did you honestly expect this chapter to start in any other way?
“Fuck it,” he said, shrugging. “Who cares what the logistics are or what your college psych books said or what happened last night? I fucking love you. I want you to be my wife. I want you to have my last name.”
[…]
“Falyn Fairchild, you are a stubborn woman. You have the mouth of a sailor. You buck every rule anyone lays upon you, and you’ve broken my heart. Twice.”
“This is a terrible proposal,” I said.
Yes, and it’s mostly because I’m like does she have the mouth of a sailor? Does she break every rule? If you get to the end of a story, and the main character’s personality traits are this murky, it’s not a great sign.
“Everything that’s happened since we met has led to this moment. There is only one woman I’ve loved before you, and there will never be another after you.
“Unless it’s a girl,” I said.
Taylor blanched and then stood. “You think it could be a girl?”
“There is a fifty percent chance.”
[…]
“I can’t have a daughter. I’ll kill someone.”
I am now forced to image a future sequel in which Taylor’s future daughter is dating a bro from another family and he is forced to reckon with his own demons. Or. We’ll just read about two men pummelling each other for no apparent reason.
Taylor says he’d feel better if things were official between them. It cracks me up that people in these books seem to think that you can’t leave someone if you’re married. In real life, I’d give them a year tops.
Falyn agrees to marry Taylor. Were you expecting this to go any other way?
Taylor gets called to fight another fire, but don’t worry, there is no perilous situation this time. I think it’s just an excuse to have them kind of intro the next book?
“Come with me.”
“To wait at the hotel?”
“Ellie will be there. You can hang with her. Tyler’s crew was called out, too. I want you there when I get back.”
Hooray?
All we get is this stilted exchange between Ellie and Falyn:
“Oh, those Maddox boys,” Ellison said, shaking her head. She put her arm around me. “You really said yes, huh?”
“Am I crazy?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Why do you think they fell in love with us?”
[…]
“That’s why I know it will work,” I said. “You can’t really be in love without being a little crazy.”
That’s so weird, that’s why I don’t think it would work. Like this brand of crazy is not what I think of when I imagine long, enduring love. But I guess in Maddox Bro world, this is an accurate statement.
Epilogue:
Taylor and Falyn show up to the diner with not one but two babies. We get a lot of exposition about how Falyn got pregnant with their daughter and gave birth shortly after Alyssa did.
The moment we’d entered the room where we met him, the nurse had handed Taylor his son, and it was love at first sight for us both.
Four months after Hollis was born, we’d brought home Hadley. Miracles happened, and Hadley was ours.
What was the point of Alyssa getting pregnant if five minutes later Taylor and Falyn were going to have a miracle baby anyway? Both pieces of the plot were so tacked-on, why not just choose one?
Also, they have two very young children who are still under one years old, and Falyn is weirdly chirpy about it. Oh, we’re pros now! It’s so hard but LOLOL we’re soooo happy and it’s perfect.
I think the problem is it’s just way too cutesy for me without it feeling earned. Then again I’ve been up since 4am because I’m still jet lagged, and I’m cranky. So maybe other people are super touched by how things turned out. But then there’s also this:
“You know,” he said, “I thought you couldn’t be more beautiful than you were when you were pregnant, but I was wrong. I fall in love with you every time I see you holding our kids.”
I can’t with all the bullshit around needing to get married and how Falyn was most beautiful when pregnant and now as a mother. I CAN’T. I feel like her whole character has just been about this one thing.
He held my hand to his lips, and then he lowered it back to the console. “One choice led to all of this. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have either of my children. I owe everything that’s important to me to you.”
With his left hand, he reached across to put the gear in drive. We drove away from the place where we’d met to the place where we were raising our family, holding hands the whole way.
And that’s a wrap, people! I’m curious what you think of the ending. And I can’t believe there’s only one more Maddox Bro book left in the series!