2.5 stars

This book started strong. It was fun and witty, and the banter was great, but then the "age gap issues" started, and I got bored.
I don't like it when in books the age gap is treated differently when the man is the older one (oh its soooo sexy!) than when the woman is the older one (weird and her inner clock is ticking!) apparently when you hit 35, you stop being attractive? interesting? you need to settle? 🫠 don't like it. it kinda ruined the romance for me because I didn't know if Alexia was with Hart because she loved him or because the clock was ticking and she needed to settle and have babies.
Also, the side characters were not fun to read.
This had a lot of potential, but it felt flat, and for me, the romance didn't work.

thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the advance reading copy.

This was a wonderfully easy read with a warm, feel-good vibe throughout. Alessia, in her late 30s, is ready to settle down—her biological clock is ticking, and she dreams of becoming a mother.
While on a spontaneous trip to Italy, Alessia meets Hart—a charming, much younger man—with whom she shares an instant connection. She brushes it off, thinking their age gap is too great. But fate intervenes when Hart Winthrop and his prominent family show up in Nairobi as major donors to her nonprofit.

I’ve never read a reverse age-gap romance before, but this was a refreshing change. One of my favorite aspects of the story was their sweet little getaways to different cities—it kept things fun and engaging.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel-good romance featuring a billionaire MMC, a generous and likable FMC, and a soft, semi-clean love story. If you're looking for high heat, this one has very minimal spice—but the emotional connection more than makes up for it.

Such a quick and fun read! Older woman and hot shot billionaire younger man! Loved the story. I was expecting more spice. The primary conflict is the age gap which got repetitive.

Thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for this eARC! Opinions are my own.

This was a sweepingly emotional and swoony reverse age-gap romance that sees Alessia, a philanthropist in her late thirties meeting Hart Winthrop, a billionaire investor in his mid twenties while they're both in Florence. Later they meet again in a business meeting and what follows is a slow, very romantic courting where Hart works hard to break down Alessia's reservations about the potential future a relationship between them might have despite their hot chemistry. Good on audio and perfect for fans of Robinne Lee's book The idea of you. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Truly enjoyed this read! Highly recommend it! Come out August 5th, pre-order now.

Author Kendall Ryan writes a beautiful love story. You will be cheering for Alessia and Hart throughout this book. Alessia runs a nonprofit and is building a school for girls in Nairobi. Hart comes from a very wealthy family and is twelve years younger. They meet when she is pitching his family trust for funds. Alessia is troubled with the age gap and society expectations.

This story will take you from Nairobi to Maldives to New York to California. The characters are deep, interesting and very likable. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Publishers for this advance read.

An age gap romance between a woman with purpose and a man with money. Alessia is 37, Hart is 25. They're drawn to each other but can they actually form a mature relationship? This hits on the age thing over and over when the real question should have been whether Hart, with all his money, is actually a multi-dimensional person. While it wasn't for me, I'm sure others will enjoy it as a light read for a lazy day.

this book was very easy to get into which I love in a romance. Hart and Alessia's chemistry was pretty undeniable and written in extremely well. I did hate the amount of times that they broke up throughout the book although I understand why it has to be that way I am not for like a second and third and fourth act break up well I did feel like the whole age difference wasn't that extreme it did take up 95% of the plot. I read this in one day and overall have to say I did enjoy it even though it was kind of corny and kind of predictable.

I was so excited to read A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO FOREVER based on the description of the book. I loved the idea of a ‘mature’, career-driven FMC who begins a romance with a younger man.

Tropes
• Age Gap Romance
• Billionaire Romance
• World Traveling Romance (Italy, Africa, Maldives, London, New York, LA, Aspen, Etc.)

Listen, age gape romances usually aren’t my cup of tea, because traditionally it’s older MMC to younger FMC. I was excited to read the reverse, where the FMC was the older of the two. Where I think this story struggled was that fact, seemed to be the only area of conflict for this pair (and the book as a whole). In my opinion, far too much time and words were dedicated to Alessia commenting every two sentences about how much younger Hart was and how it never would work.

Instead of telling me how it wouldn’t work, the book should have taken the time to show me why it WOULD work. I wanted to buy into their relationship, but to be honest, it never really came together. The parts were there, the execution lacking.

I’m not sure if it was because I’d received an advance reader copy through NetGalley and the publisher, but I felt as though important parts of the storyline were cut in editing. Towards the end of the book, Alessia references that she and Hart had an important conversation about babies, but when I flipped back a few pages the last they said was ‘they’d talk later’. That later was never revealed to the reader other than a reference that they had fought about the baby discussion.

In my opinion, A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO FOREVER could have really benefited from being a dual POV story. I found myself in multiple places feeling the need to know Hart’s feelings on their relationship, and the story as told through only Alessia’s POV left something missing. This could have also helped with the miscommunication that seemed to happen left, right, and center through the story, because all I ever really heard from Hart was his unwillingness to talk about harder subjects and instead would dismiss Alessia’s concerns with things like- and I’m paraphrasing here… “Aren’t you enjoying our time together? Why do we have to label it? Or make big decisions about what we are now or in the future? Just trust me… Let’s keep on, keeping on.”

I’m sorry, but those responses and lack of communication, do make the MMC seem as immature as his age says he is and does make the reader doubt his capabilities to be a true partner to the FMC.

Overall, I did like the book, especially the few here and there times where faith seemed to come into the storyline. I also felt like I connected with Alessia and where she was in her life. Her struggles with getting older and trying to decide if she was going to wait for something that may never happen, or make it happen on her own. It was a very real struggle that I thought on its own was well handled. This book’s prose was unique, and I think held a lot of promise and I adored how it traveled all around the world.

A guide to forever❤️‍🩹

A beginner’s guide to forever is a new book by Kendall Ryan and I absolutely am so glad she’s writing again🙌

I enjoyed this story and the premise of it…young man falls for older woman, both at different stages of their lives but essentially fate keeps throwing them together☺️ My only complaint was that Alessia was so stuck in the stigma of their age gaps, that I feel she caused more harm than not at times. Luckily though, Hart was determined and confident enough to break through Alessia’s walls and brave enough to keep fighting for what he wanted….her❣️

I received an advanced copy via Netgalley and voluntarily leave my honest review❤️

Thank you to Kendal Ryan, Montlake and NetGalley for providing me with this arc!

It’s been a hot minute since I read anything by Kendall Ryan and the premise of this one sounded great - a reverse age gap between a career driven woman who thinks she’s nearing the end of her prime and a twenty-something billionaires son who doesn’t know what he wants from life.

While this one was a quick and fun read for me and I did enjoy reading about Alessia’s work project in Nairobi, the romance in the book fell flat for me.

The whole reverse age gap thing really intrigued me and honestly I think it would have worked better if Alessia was older! As someone in her early 30s, having to read about a 37 year old, apparently drop dead gorgeous, successful woman constantly calling herself old and past her prime and comparing herself ALL.THE.TIME to younger people around her was a bit demoralising. I get women are judged so much more harshly in these situations then men but honestly I think the only person who cared about the age difference here was Alessia (and maybe Hayes but he’s for the birds.)

Like I said, it was a quick and fun little read and I flew through it but I think a few things could have been done better.

We never really got to know Alessia and Hart outside of their jobs/family and I would have liked a bit more character development before the happily ever.

The Beginner’s Guide to Forever was fun in some ways, but overall, it didn’t fully click with me. I’m not usually a big fan of reverse age gap romances, so that probably played a part, but even setting that aside, I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Alessia and Hart as much as I wanted to.

That said, it worked well as a palate cleanser after heavier reads. It was light, fast-paced, and easy to get through, just not a story I’ll remember for long.

I have been reading Kendall Ryan books for several years and A Beginner's Guide to Forever was a different type of book than I'm used to from her. This seemed to be a more mature book and while it is tropes I've read many times, it didn't feel the same (in a good way!).

Alessia Moore is a 37-year old is working to establish a school for girls in Nairobi. She needs monetary backing for her non-profit and it is through a meeting that she meets 25-year old Hart Winthrop who along with his parents and their sizable bank account could make her non-profit dreams come true. While the chemistry between Alessia and Hart is undeniable, they are in very different stages of life.

Alessia wants to focus solely on work and getting the school up and running. She struggles with balancing a personal life with being successful in her professional life. When she meets Hart, she realizes that maybe she could have both, however the age difference is somethings she's not sure she can get past. Hart, on the other hand, is wise beyond his years and he is much more mature than many his age. The question is can he make Alessia see that they really can work?

I enjoyed this as Ryan did a wonderful job of painting a realistic picture of the areas they were at in Nairobi, along with the other places they traveled throughout the book. The locations almost became a character of their own. I do wish we had gotten to see more of the development of the relationship between Alessia and Hart. It felt very surface level versus understanding why it worked between them. Overall, I enjoyed this and would recommend it.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Swoon! A Beginner’s Guide to Forever by Kendall Ryan was a sweet and swoony age gap romance that took my heart on an emotional journey. Alessia and Hart’s journey to HEA was full of stereotype-crushing and life-determining moments that had me cheering for these two to finally find true happiness together, no matter what! I admired Alessia’s passionate work ethic, but also related to her hesitancy and doubts when it came to Hart and his age. Hart was so damn dreamy, and I loved how he dug deep for the meaningful conversations, looked past Alessia’s age, and fell for her heart and spirit. The slow-burning chemistry between these two was so much fun and meaningful, and had me turning page after page.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of an opposites attract romance with a passionate globe-trotter working in nonprofits, a hunky billionaire son, an Italian meet-cute, deep conversations, moving on from past exes, flying to meet up, reliable besties, critical cousins, finding your passion, reverse age gap, love declarations, and a HEA that is a beginning to forever, then you will love Alessia and Hart’s story. I always look forward to more Kendall Ryan.

I really enjoyed this book. I love a good reverse age gap. I love that it was a fast read. I loved that it was more closed door. I loved that it held my attention and I was able to read it in one day. I loved that the characters had growth. I loved that it had depth beyond the superficial character. Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

.I love reading books by Kendall Ryan and this one was no exception.

I enjoyed the pace of the story and I really engaged with the characters. I thought the chemistry between them was delicious. I love an opposites attract, forbidden romance and this book was right up my alley.

I recommend reading this book.

Sadly this book was not for me. I was surprised by the storyline and not in the good way. The age gap was a significant problem for me as the MMC I thought was very immature. I didn't feel a connection or a lot of chemistry between the characters. I thought their first meeting was kismet but then it went down hill from there.

what a great read! i haven't read anything by this author before and this was a pleasant surprise. i loved the writing and characters. the plot was intriguing and addictive. really fantastic read for the summer

This book-I have no words. So many lessons to be learned all told in a magnificent life/love story. Much deeper than I expected and so worth reading. Make this story your next read! You’ll be ever so glad you did!

This book was so good! In A Beginner's Guide to Forever, we meet Alessia Moore a woman in her mid to late thirties leading a nonprofit in Nairobi with the goal of opening a school for girls. That aspect of the story was what sold me on picking this up. What I didn't expect was how powerful some of this book truly was. Alessia struggles with her singleness and unexpectedly meets Hart one night while in Italy. The last person that Alessia expected to show up in Nairobi was Hart - having had no contact with him since the night they met. While Hart clearly is set on having Alessia's heart, she's worried with how the age gap between them will play out and appear to other people.

There was absolutely so much to this story that I loved. I really love Hart and Alessia together. The struggles that they faced were more than just surface level relationship issues. The appearance of their relationship could have legitimate impacts on her nonprofit's progress with the school in Nairobi. Overall, I loved the balance between the jet-setting luxury with the poverty stricken village. Kendall Ryan did a wonderful job with this story. There were some minor things that I didn't love - some of the side characters didn't feel as developed and complete as I would have liked. Also, I found this book to be on the shorter side. I would have loved more of this story.

In the first chapter of this story, Alessia quoted real author Richard Bach saying, "You've sacrificed your entire life to be who you are today. Was it worth it?" That one quote packs quite a punch. It stuck with me while reading this story, and it'll stay with me long after reading this story.

I enjoyed this amazing 5 star story. It was a page turning adventure. An age gap.

Alessia knows what she wants and it’s to help the kids in Africa. She also wants kids. Comes in a much younger, rich man, Hart. They embark on an adventure. Alessia is very conflicted about their age gap. Hart needs to convince her they are ment to be together.

I enjoyed this story very much. It was a different kind of story from this author. One I binged read in a few short hours. It was addicting and highly entertaining. Bottomline this is a must read.

Standalone told in a Alesia’s POV with an HEA. I strongly recommend this story.