Mamma Mia – here I go again!

It’s my first read of 2022, and I chose a great one! I fell in love with Tweet Cute and You Have a Match by Emma Lord, so when I had a chance to preview When You Get the Chance, I jumped at it.

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.

There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?

My Review

I loved this cute, quick read! There was so much going on, between Millie trying to find her mom and getting to know 3 different women and their lives, her rivalry/crush on her nemesis Oliver (while working at an internship), geocaching with her best friend, and fighting with her dad over attending a new school in a new state. The way Emma Lord can blend all of these together so masterfully is nothing short of amazing.

Before I read this, I was excited. You see, my husband was a theater kid, and I love musical theater. I have been known to burst into tears at shows when the music is powerful (I’m looking at you Wicked). Then, around the middle of the story I began to relate to Millie in ways I did not see coming.

Millie lives her life as though she is always on stage – she’s loud, she bursts into people’s lives whether she should or not, and she’s always in costume. I could relate to that how I was in high school too. Wearing “weird” clothes, being loud – anything to distract everyone from seeing the real me. Reading about Millie realizing this about herself cut a little closer to home than I thought it would.

Throw in the romance, and the page turning what-will-happen-next fervor of if Millie would get to go to her new school, and WHO IS HER MOM, and we have here another hit! Emma Lord is definitely one of my go-to authors now!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Emma Lord for a free digital copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own!