Results May Vary

It is easy to fall for the convenient illusion of love in a relationship. Particularly when the other person's mask fits so well, it is conceived as authentic. How can one differentiate between an actor and a true lover? In Bethany Chase's book, Results May Vary, this very question comes to light and radically changes the course of several lives. It may even leave you, the reader, asking: Do you love your significant other, or just the idea of them?

Caroline Hammond is an art curator on her way to an art showing of the latest up-and-coming photographer. She does not expect to know the subject of the photos intimately. She does not expect her husband to be in the photos. Neither she nor her husband expect his affair to be revealed.

The show more resulting chapters illustrate the challenges and loneliness of a rift in what was thought to be a solid marriage: the difficult questions that cannot be answered quickly or openly; the betrayals of not only the affair, but also the mask that she was not aware that her husband was having either; the fear of who to turn to or rely on when you have been a partner to someone for so long. Caroline must face all of these unexpectedly, along with discovering secrets that others had as well. She must discover how to trust others and how to be on her own.

Quite frankly, Caroline needs to grow up. She calls her former spouse to argue, she calls the gentleman who had an affair with her husband (at said gentleman's job) to get answers that she is trying to get from her former husband, she kisses her (male) best friend because he was there for her and she was "upset", she is mad at her former husband for hiding work accomplishments from her when they were married because she "should have known" and "she would have been supportive". Perhaps if she had been focused on others, rather than herself, these other characters would not have felt the need to hide things from her. The point is: it is all about Caroline.

To further this point, there are several spots in the book where other characters are overly praising Caroline. A few examples are: when a co-worker compliments her several times so that she may get a donor for the museum that she went to high school with, when the "tension" between her and said former classmate was because the former classmate was jealous of Caroline, when her sister says she was jealous of Caroline growing up, when her former husband compliments her at the beginning of each conversation. It was redundant and irritating, in my opinion. Furthermore, other characters avoided telling Caroline about things and events, seemingly out of respect for her emotions. It was not a story of Caroline overcoming the obstacles of betrayal and finding herself after hitting rock bottom. Nor was it a story about finding a way to work through the divorce with your former spouse. It was a story of how Caroline's fairy tale did not end up the way she wanted and so she had temper tantrums, rebounds, marijuana, and just plain greed until she found something that worked. As a reader, it just did not work for me.

For those who may be sensitive: there are scenes with sexual content, foul language, mild drug use, alcohol use, extramarital affairs, and divorce.

Please note: a copy of this book was generously provided by LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. show less

I picked up this book because I came a brief review of it and though I usually try to avoid books with blatant infidelity as a plot point, something in the review grabbed my interest. What I found was a very thoughtful, well told story of how one can react, can grow, when faced with the sure knowledge that what was held true is false. The power of secrets can be mighty, and the author pitted that fierce strength against the equally bold, often underplayed, power of self. But what I think I really liked the best was how the author incorporated quotes of love and relationships, by writers, artists, philosophers, as chapter headings. Sometimes the quotes, so eloquent and evocative, were sheer beauty in their own, sometimes they were show more foreshadowing for that chapter, sometimes both, but for me, they were always that little chocolate candy, wrapped up in glittery paper, to savor along with a well told tale.

So yes, this is the story of a woman who finds out her husband, who was her high school sweetheart and only love, has been unfaithful with another man, and then goes on to discover even deeper betrayals, but it also is a story of survival, and reshaping your life when you thought it perfectly shaped. It's not a "stages of grief" novel, but there is movement and growth. It also reminded me quite clearly that I am several decades older than the characters in this novel, but it didn't put me off their lives and world.

One of my favorite quotes for the book, comes from the mouth of a local folk artist the main character knows.
"And there you go. Honey, aside from love, art is the most subjective thing there is. You're never gonna have a predictable result."

To that I'd add since writing is a form of art, books, and thoughts on books are highly subjective, too.

Tags: 2016-read, didn-t-want-to-put-it-down, i-liked-it, made-me-think, read, read-on-recommendation, sometimes-fluff-is-good, thank-you-charleston-county-library, thought-provoking show less

Not sure why but it took me a little while to warm up to Caroline but then I became fascinated with how much she was telling to whom....to me, the reader? To some extent she is writing all this to herself to try and explain how her life seemed to become so complicated---was it her fault? And that's really the basis for the story....where did all of this come from and what's left at the end. There are so many twists and turns in Caroline's story that it stays interesting. It seemed somewhat agonizingly long in the beginning but then, it sped up, and I was hooked.

A special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this author's debut title "The One that Got Away," and thoroughly enjoyed it. Her second book did not disappoint. It was also beautifully written.

Since high school, it’s always been Caroline and Adam. In their 30s, the married couple is the envy of all their friends. Adams is an expert on all things Caroline and lovingly dotes on her. Caroline thought she knew everything about Adam, too, until she accidently stumbles upon nude photos of him with a man. The door opens wider to reveal her husband is not who she knows him to be. The story follows Caroline as she deals with the charade Adam has made of their marriage, show more and her attempts to come to peace with those lies.

On another book review site, a reviewer called this book a ‘fluffy’ read. I take offense to that comment, not only on behalf of the author, but as a reader as well. Fluff is, as defined by Merriam-Webster:
1. down
2. something fluffy
3. something inconsequential

I don't equate emotional stories as any of these, and frankly, to call a realistic story of a woman coming to grips with not only her husband’s infidelity, but also his sexuality, a fluffy story, well, in my opinion, you might as well call all fiction fluffy. Still, I'm trying to figure out the reviewer's barometer for fluffiness. Would they consider a paranormal adventure or vampires-in-love to be more or less fluffy?

I empathized with Caroline as she rediscovers who she is without Adam at her side and timidly treads the waters of a new relationship. What I loved most about this book, besides sentences that literally made me sigh aloud, and as a writer made me envious, were the few times my toes got to curling and butterflies danced in my stomach.

Toes curling and butterflies dancing—Ah ha! Clearly that is the fluff here.

I consider Results May Vary women's fiction, and typically women’s fiction cannot be confused with romance titles, but there is some romance building within the story. Perhaps it's what pushed the reviewer's fluffy limits. Or perhaps she/he simply prefers a gritty plot with guns, secret agents and drug cartels. Whatever the case, Results May Vary was told in a realistic fashion and not in an overly dramatic (aka sappy) way, as true romance stories can be, and personally, I thought this book’s subject was the opposite of fluffy. I thought it rather thought provoking, and it was so easy to slip into this book.

The same reviewer claimed Caroline's husband, Adam, was poorly developed and hard to figure out — only I thought Chase portrayed Adam clearly as a man who lived his life as a lie to accommodate his overbearing father’s biddings, a lie he convinced himself of. And a good portion of the book is spent describing his quirks, from painstaking letter writing, to always wanting to be right—all things Caroline once found endearing about him.

Women’s fiction seems to move at a slower pace than most fiction, but I found that for the most part, Results May Vary moved at an easy, enjoyable pace because the writing was spectacular. However, there was a chapter to two where Caroline entertains a wealthy classmate in hopes to gain sponsorship funds for the museum she works at—as the significance to the overall story seemed minor, it could've possibly been cut. Still, it was interesting and didn't distract from my my overall feeling about the book. Because, as I might have mentioned before, it was extremely well written. It really, really was. show less

After finishing First Comes Love by Emily Giffin, I was in search for a new adult contemp romance, and I was very fortunate to receive this wonderful ARC of Results May Vary by Bethany Chase, an author I was not yet aware of. Man, I'm glad I am now! The fact I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review does not change the contents or rating for this review.

Results May Vary by Bethany Chase stars Caroline Hammond, who seems to have the perfect life. She has a perfect husband who dotes on her and is her high school sweetheart, she has a hot best friend who everyone wants to date, and she has an amazing house and high powered and prestigious museum curator job, that she enjoys thoroughly. Until one night seems show more to brush away all of the perfection-- her husband has had an affair with a man. Caroline's whole world falls apart, and she journeys to pick up the pieces and figure out exactly who she is without Adam, and if that's a person she'd prefer to be.

I absolutely love love loved this book!!! The characters are all deftly drawn, the prose is lush and gorgeous and addictive, and I couldn't put it down for a second. It's a perfect, emotionally wrenching but still glorious read about a woman who has it all, loses it all, but then fights back to build a life that is true to herself. Caroline is a great protagonist, who you root for from beginning to end. She's honest and real, and she's not always perfect, but she tries to be a good person, and she is a good person. She tries to see all points of view even ones that she doesn't quite understand. I definitely identified with her. She wants to analyze situations, even ones that don't really make sense, but she does until she can come to terms with her feelings. I would totally do the same thing. She made some choices, which others raise their eyebrows at, but I would and have done the same thing. I loved the side characters, and that the way things fall out, are exactly as they should be. Messy but realistic, and overall true to the characters.

A perfect summer read with pitch perfect dialogue, characters and prose. I will be picking up every book Chase writes. show less

"Results May Vary" is exactly the way I like to spend my summer - absorbed in a novel that give voice to human frailty and human strength at the same time! The story centers around Caroline Hammond, a married art curator, that discovers that her husband is having an affair - with a man.

Caroline's discovery causes her to question everything about the past ten years of her life and to begin to imagine what her life will be like without the person she is married to. Someone she thought she knew intimately, but as it turns out, barely knew at all.

Reading this novel, you come to think of Caroline as a friend, who is going through something quite disrupting and life-changing. Regardless of the path she chooses, she will come out happy on show more the other end. The journey is filled with hope and the read is highly recommended! show less

Results May Vary by Bethany Chase is the story of Caroline Hammond and her idyllic life married to her high school sweetheart Adam. Perfect job as a museum curator (he’s a photographer); perfect marriage; perfect house in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. But, of course, nothing is ever that perfect, and so it is with this when Caroline discovers at an opening of an exhibit a photograph of her husband in a revealing and intimate pose with the photographer being showcased, Patrick Timothy. The vivid glimpse into this surreal world leads to Caroline’s further detection that not only has Adam has been having an affair with Patrick Timothy, but that he is attracted to men—something she had not an inkling of. There is some back show more and forth—should she or shouldn’t leave the marriage-- but eventually she does, facing life on her own for the first time since she was seventeen years old.
Ms. Chase is an engaging writer, her phrases beautifully turned, as will the pages of this novel. You simply must know what happens next. Her characters are full and rich and packed with lovely flaws and foibles and so likeable you’ll want to drive to the Berkshires to look them up and ask them to tea. Oddly, though, there are two characters that seem to have been given short shrift: Adam, and their marriage—which is so central to the story, I believe can be included as a separate entity or character.
Ms. Chase has set herself up with a difficult task—the secret reveal—and it is a monumental one: he likes men. In order to keep her secret until the optimum time to reveal it, she must be careful in how she describes the growing strain and distress in the marriage. She plants red herrings and clues along the way, of course, but some of these raise questions that remain unanswered. For example, when her sister Ruby, a delightful and robust character, comes to stay with Caroline for a while due to her own domestic disturbance and loss of her job, Ruby paints a rather disturbing portrait of Adam as domineering and possessive, and the reason she and Caroline haven’t seen much of each other since she’s been married. Is this true? Is this an aspect of Adam? We’ve seen none of this behavior from Adam when he’s with Caroline. In addition, for a man who likes men, their sex life was rollicking. And Adam always professed great love for her. Towards the end some of this is cleared up, but the picture of Adam remained fuzzy for me, and I would have liked to have had a clearer image of both him and the marriage by the book’s end.
But these are really minor points. Overall, I finished this novel sated as if I had just eaten a hearty meal, and you will, too. And then you will look for the next one written by Bethany Chase. show less