Setting: Namibia
Time Period: Modern Day

He grew up attracted to her – she grew up thinking he was a dweeb – but years of college took them a part, and now, they wonder if God put them together on purpose for a special reason, or, just to agitate each other. 

Well, you might be thinking this is quite the drama, but actually, “Happily Ever After” by Jenn Faulk is a fun, chick flick novel about falling in love on the mission field. After coming home from a short term placement in Japan, Cammie Evans takes on another term in another country. What she doesn’t know is that the boy who had a crush on her forever is head of the mission station she’s going to, and my, oh my, had he changed!

“Happily Ever After” was entertaining, romantic and pointed out issues female missionaries face on the field. Throughout the novel, Cammie was unhappy that so many women were devoted to missions, yet, men never made it long term on the field. Of course, she found her “Mr. Right,” as the title implies. But, the lack of serious male leadership in the church has been an issue across the world for years, and was definitely highlighted as a major theme in this book. On a happier note, there were some memorable characters who added a lot of fun moments to the story.

Conclusion: For a missionary themed novel, this was a light read with fun characters. The romance was sweet in some places and frustrating in others, but all in all, the author did a good job in keeping enough tension between the two so the romance wasn’t too quick, but nothing too drastic either. On the other hand, I really liked how the author kept the feel “missionary-ish” without losing the chick flick feel. Though the whole book was on the lighthearted side, you still felt like you were in Africa dealing with the struggles the African people face. Well done!