Review: If Not for You

If Not for You

About the Book:

If not for her loving but controlling parents, Beth Prudhomme might never have taken charge of her life and moved from her native Chicago to Portland, Oregon, where she’s reconnected with her spirited Aunt Sunshine and found a job as a high school music teacher. If not for her friend Nichole, Beth would never have met Sam Carney, although first impressions have left Beth with serious doubts. Sam is everything Beth is not—and her parents’ worst nightmare: a tattooed auto mechanic who’s rough around the edges. Reserved and smart as a whip, Beth isn’t exactly Sam’s usual beer-drinking, pool-playing type of woman, either.

But if not for an awkward setup one evening, Beth might never have left early and been involved in a car crash. And if not for Sam—who witnessed the terrifying ordeal, rushed to her aid, and stayed with her until help arrived—Beth might have been all alone, or worse. Yet as events play out, Sam feels compelled to check on Beth almost daily at the hospital—even bringing his guitar to play songs to lift her spirits. Soon their unlikely friendship evolves into an intense attraction that surprises them both.

Before long, Beth’s strong-willed mother, Ellie, blows into town spouting harsh opinions, especially about Sam, and reopening old wounds with Sunshine. When shocking secrets from Sam’s past are revealed, Beth struggles to reconcile her feelings. But when Beth goes a step too far, she risks losing the man and the life she’s come to love.

My Comments:

Maybe I'm outgrowing Debbie Macomber.  Either that or she's getting lazy in her success.

I found the writing in If Not for You sacchrine and the story both trite and unbelieveable.  In some ways it is a typical white collar girl falls for blue collar guy story, which, while not original (but what about romance novels is?) was believeable, but then Macomber takes this girl who had to move across the country to get out from under her mother's thumb and puts her to meddling deeply in the most personal aspects of some other people's lives.  Not only did I find her level of interference in the lives of others out-of-character, I found it intrusive and insulting.  While Macomber gives everyone a happily ever after, in real life, I doubt things would have turned out that way.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  C+ (a story I didn't care for but which you might).