Not What We Pictured

Author: Becca Kinzer
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages:352
Release Date: April 21, 2026
Publisher: Tyndale House Fiction

This is absolutely not how they pictured their summer going.

McKenna Boston is feeling stuck. She’s spent years growing her photography skills only for her career to hit a wall. She’s ready to move on, and she will, just as soon as she helps her sister’s boyfriend stage the perfect proposal. But when her best laid plans go awry and a handsome stranger accidentally ends up with the heirloom ring, McKenna hops on a flight to retrieve it. Piece of cake, right?

Nate Lambert was hoping to enjoy a relaxing summer before starting his new job as a literature professor, but he arrives in Tennessee to discover his mom’s bed and breakfast is struggling and there’s a long list of repairs to be tackled. The last thing he needs is a gorgeous, determined photographer searching for a ring he doesn’t have since the airline lost his luggage somewhere on his route from Nebraska.

With the ring nowhere to be found, all McKenna can do is wait and use the time to build her portfolio and plan her next career move. But she also can’t help getting swept up in Nate’s bed and breakfast renovations and in planning a community concert with the townsfolk. As both await news of Nate’s suitcase, it begins to seem their serendipitous meeting, and the proposal gone wrong, could actually be everything going right . . . and that this may be their chance at a love neither could have pictured.

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Reviewer: Tammy Lunsford

The saying that “if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong”,  will take on new meaning with the many failed proposal attempts between Oliver and Bobbi. Bobbi’s sister, McKenna, would do anything for Bobbi. She feels responsible for Bobbi, more like a mother than a sister. After the last disastrous proposal attempt, McKenna realizes she has lost the heirloom engagement ring. She holds her newest friend (or foe), Nate Lambert, responsible for the latest epic fail. Their initial meeting was hilarious. This failed proposal was a doozy. But she has to put aside her dislike for Nate because he has the ring, even though he does not know it. McKenna is high strung and is hanging on by a thread as she heads to Tennessee.

When she arrives in Tennessee at Nate’s mother’s bed-and-breakfast, she lands in the middle of chaos multiplied times fifty. This crew of friends were quirky and more than a little strange, but they loved each other and protected one another. McKenna’s panic levels are not helping the situation.

This was not your average bed-and-breakfast. Trust me. It was more like a zoo, including animals and people.  

This story was also emotional at times as McKenna and Nate began to share their life stories. I wanted to reach into the book and give them both a hug.

I really wanted to throttle Oliver the entire time, and Bobbi was right up there with him several times. For two highly intelligent people, these two were rather obtuse.

Overall, the book was a hit for me, even with slightly confusing and somewhat crazy characters. The book’s ending sealed the deal for me. The author really hit a high note for me with that swoon worthy ending.

Thank you to Tyndale Publishing, through Interviews & Reviews and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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