Smoothin' the Wrong Twin by Madison Love

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Biddies Might Gossip, but God’s Got a Better Playlist

Honey, pull up a rocking chair, because Connie Jo’s return to Baggersville is the sweet tea your soul has been craving. If you’ve ever felt like your life was a demo track over-produced by a committee of strangers, you’ll feel for our girl. Somewhere between the glitter of the pop charts and the pressure to be anything but a Christian artist, she stopped singing her own truth. It takes a ten-year cornhole tournament to pull her back to the Texas dirt—because nothing says "spiritual recalibration" like tossing beanbags for charity while the town watches from the sidelines.

The real kicker is the Miller twins. Hayden has traded his billionaire tech empire for the family ranch to help his brother after their daddy’s stroke—a move the city folk might call "crazy," but we just call "doing the right thing." In a move as bold as it is misguided, Connie Jo mistakes Hayden for his brother and recruits him to be her fake boyfriend to draw out a stalker. Watching her pine for the "wrong" twin while the "right" one is standing right there is like watching someone try to ride a mechanical bull after three margaritas—hilarious, a little messy, and you just can't look away.

This story is a sharp-witted look at how we get blinded by our own preconceived ideas, searching so hard for the life we planned that we walk right past the blessing God actually put in front of us. The author even recorded the songs mentioned in the book; while one is admittedly as corny as a Baggersville field in July, the others are powerful enough to make you pull over on a backroad just to listen. Ultimately, it’s a beautiful reminder that God is the ultimate sound engineer, always ready to correct our course when we start singing off-key. It’s a heartwarming, holy mess of a journey that proves the path back home is usually paved with old friends and the kind of love that doesn't need a spotlight to be seen.