
What Lasts by J. Bengtsson is now live!
Falling in love is the easy part.
It’s the late 80s when wealthy East Coast socialite Michelle Carver meets Scott McKallister, sun-crusted California local and frontman of an underground heavy metal band who flirts like he’s got nothing to lose. It’s instant chemistry. And when Scott promises a night she’ll have to lie about later, Michelle can’t resist.
“From the day I met Scott, life asked me to choose.”
Michelle’s status-obsessed family has plans for her that don’t include marrying down. When the secret romance is discovered, Michelle must decide between the future she was raised for and the man she’d risk everything to keep. Their story ends the way every romance promises: with a happily ever after.
But that was only the beginning.
Told across multiple eras, What Lasts is a story about love that survives beyond the honeymoon phase: when kids arrive, money gets tight, and real life moves in. Marriage isn’t about finding “the one,” or even learning to pee with the door wide open. It’s about choosing the same person, again and again. Scott and Michelle think they’ve figured that part out…
…until the day one of their children doesn’t come home.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon US: https://bit.ly/4aLSJOX
Audio: https://bit.ly/4chkVbX
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4b0Hr8x

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
Having been a fan of the Cake series since book 1 (Casey & Jake’s story, aka Cake), and having read the subsequent books about the other McKallister siblings, I was so excited when I heard that J. Benttsson was writing a prequel book about the parents, Scott and Michelle.
Told over the course of several decades, What Lasts really gave an in-depth look into the backbone of the family. I’d known the general story of Michelle and Scott, how he was a single dad (raising the oldest brother, Mitchell) when they’d first met, and Scott was not the kind of guy her well-to-do parents deemed appropriate for their socialite daughter to date. So I really enjoyed getting deeper into all of that in this book, and what led to Michelle’s estrangement from her family. (Man, her mom is a piece of work!)
As the story unfolds, the reader goes on a rollercoaster of ups and downs as Michelle and Scott struggle in the early days of their marriage. And then, in later years, the horrible event surrounding their son, Jake, and how they dealt with that horrible tragedy that seemed to define the McKallister family.
As much as What Lasts is the origin story of Scott and Michelle’s romance, it is also a lovely testament to the bonds of the McKallister family. The nostalgia of the 1980s and 1990s was a bonus! While What Lasts is a prequel to the Cake series, I would definitely recommend reading it *after* the other books in the series. And now that I have read them all, I will most definitely be coming back to What Lasts and reading the whole series in order!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet J. Bengtsson

J. (Jill) Bengtsson is the bestselling author of the Cake Series. She writes contemporary novels focused on love, humor, passion, and family. Her heroines are strong, nurturing, and quirky while her heroes are what dreams are made of – gorgeous, committed, and in need of a little saving. A native Californian, Jill’s novels are set under the glittering lights of the West Coast entertainment industry. They are for the dreamer in all of us.
Connect with J.
Website | jbengtssonbooks.com
Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15258209.J_Bengtsson
Amazon | https://www.amazon.com/J-Bengtsson/e/B01GTFTM8K
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/jbengtssonauthor
Facebook Group | https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebananabinder
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/j._bengtsson/
Bookbub | https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-bengtsson
Newsletter | https://jbengtssonbooks.com/newsletter
























