Quick Reviews: Opposites Attract

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez (2022)

When Daniel saves Alexis and her car from a ditch, it sparks something between them - but these two are opposites in almost every way imaginable, so could a relationship work?  I really loved this book - I was rooting for Alexis and Daniel from the beginning, although I really couldn't see a scenario where everyone could be happy in the end.  Alexis is 10 years older than Daniel; she's a big-city ER doctor who lives in a huge house and has even bigger expectations placed on her by her parents.  Daniel lives in a small town, working on his carpentry and managing a B&B.  He can't leave his town, and she can't leave her hospital, but the attraction and chemistry between them are undeniable.  I really felt for Alexis - no matter what she accomplishes, her dad will probably never be truly happy or proud, and the way they kept pushing her ex-boyfriend at her made my blood boil (trigger warning: emotional abuse).  There was just something special about this book, something about the way the writing flowed and the characters felt like real people you could meet on any street.  Highly recommend!  4.5 stars

Between Hello & Goodbye by Emma Scott (2022)

Faith is a party girl who also happens to be really good at her job in advertising, but her bosses aren't sure of her commitment, so she takes a two-week vacation in Hawaii to clear her head and figure out what she wants to do.  When she gets injured during a hike, she meets firefighter Asher.  They fall hard for each other, but the distance may prove to be too much.  I have mixed feelings about this one.  I like the premise, that these two people who are total opposites fall in love and try to make it work, despite also living really far from each other, but I had issues.  I didn't like Faith from the beginning.  She seems to have it all, yet she's so immature.  By the end she is a completely different person, and it was jarring.  Large parts of the story were swept over - I would have liked to see them navigate a long-distance relationship more.  There were important issues brought up that the characters seemed to have little or no reaction to, which was weird.   Also, there's a very big event that really came across as emotional manipulation towards the reader - it felt unnecessary for this event to be so tragic, and I wish something like that didn't have to fuel the story (I'm sorry for the vagueness, trying to avoid spoilers!).  This was my first book by Emma Scott, but I'm unsure if I'll be seeking her out in the future.  2.5 stars

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