Review: And Then You Loved Me by Inglath Cooper
Print Length: 350 pages
Publisher: Inglath Cooper (March 22, 2018)
From Goodreads.com: People say you can't ever go back. That some of the things that happen to us simply cannot be redone.
But the paths of a life journey are rarely straight. They twist and turn and wind back across those once visited and long thought to have faded from existence.
Becca Miller has lived her life trying to do the right thing, even when its cost has been giving up the boy she loved and wanted to marry. The sacrifice she made for her sister isn't one she regrets because there was no other choice for her to make. And for eighteen years, she lives this choice with full commitment and as little looking back as she can manage.
When Matt Griffith returns to Ballard County for the funeral of his grandmother, the path that had seemed so straight begins to loop back and take her across feelings she thought she had put away for good. As it turns out, those roads we've traveled do not fade at all. They simply wait to be retraveled, leaving us with the decision to follow them exactly as we did before, or make a different choice and find out where it will lead us.
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My Rating: 1 star out of 5
Unfortunately, everything about this story (blurb and cover) is presented in a way that is very misleading. To begin with, Becca's family is ... Amish just without being called such? I'm sorry I don't know a better way to describe them. They live a certain way, they expect their children to stay in the life (and although they claim not to shun people who marry outside the faith, throughout the entire book Becca's mother doesn't recognize her son's marriage or her own grandson... although maybe that isn't because Linda wasn't one of them, but because she's black? I don't know it was never specified).
Then we add to it that both Becca and Matt are MARRIED to other people when he comes back to town? And even though Matt can claim his marriage is falling apart, he sure makes it a point to come around Becca time and again even when she nearly begs him to stop doing so.
Goodness, this was a trainwreck of a story.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE second chance stories. I was utterly drawn in by the synopsis of this one, and maybe that is why I hated it so much. By the blurb, I expected two people who had loved and lost when they were young finding a second chance.
What I got? A married man, unhappy with his wife, comes back to his old hometown and begins pursuing the girl he had once loved who was now also married with a teenage daughter. Sure, they had left things unresolved when they were young, but they had moved on, and it was a definite turn off to watch Becca tell Matt time and time again that he shouldn't be there, that they couldn't do this, whatever - only to have him push his company on her time and time again.
Then we add in Emmy.
When I look back, the entire story revolves around her. Something catastrophic happens to her and her intended (although we never really do find out what), something so bad that her sister ends up giving up her own hopes, dreams, and life to protect her, and something that keeps Emmy from .... well ever speaking, dressing, moving, addressing basic hygiene, etc ever again.
And yet, as a reader, I am expected to believe that after all of this, Emmy is not only capable of writing two well-worded letters to both Becca and Abby, but she is capable of doing what else she did. After not even so much as walking to the window or dressing in years?
This book, unfortunately, was just one unbelievable thing after another. Making me sorry I ever wasted my time with it.
Unfortunately, everything about this story (blurb and cover) is presented in a way that is very misleading. To begin with, Becca's family is ... Amish just without being called such? I'm sorry I don't know a better way to describe them. They live a certain way, they expect their children to stay in the life (and although they claim not to shun people who marry outside the faith, throughout the entire book Becca's mother doesn't recognize her son's marriage or her own grandson... although maybe that isn't because Linda wasn't one of them, but because she's black? I don't know it was never specified).
Then we add to it that both Becca and Matt are MARRIED to other people when he comes back to town? And even though Matt can claim his marriage is falling apart, he sure makes it a point to come around Becca time and again even when she nearly begs him to stop doing so.
Goodness, this was a trainwreck of a story.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE second chance stories. I was utterly drawn in by the synopsis of this one, and maybe that is why I hated it so much. By the blurb, I expected two people who had loved and lost when they were young finding a second chance.
What I got? A married man, unhappy with his wife, comes back to his old hometown and begins pursuing the girl he had once loved who was now also married with a teenage daughter. Sure, they had left things unresolved when they were young, but they had moved on, and it was a definite turn off to watch Becca tell Matt time and time again that he shouldn't be there, that they couldn't do this, whatever - only to have him push his company on her time and time again.
Then we add in Emmy.
When I look back, the entire story revolves around her. Something catastrophic happens to her and her intended (although we never really do find out what), something so bad that her sister ends up giving up her own hopes, dreams, and life to protect her, and something that keeps Emmy from .... well ever speaking, dressing, moving, addressing basic hygiene, etc ever again.
And yet, as a reader, I am expected to believe that after all of this, Emmy is not only capable of writing two well-worded letters to both Becca and Abby, but she is capable of doing what else she did. After not even so much as walking to the window or dressing in years?
This book, unfortunately, was just one unbelievable thing after another. Making me sorry I ever wasted my time with it.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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This novel is available from Amazon.com
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1 Comments
I think it was a little weird for me that they were both married as well, but Matt makes it a point to say he’s separated, and multiple times addresses the fact that his wife was having an affair. And the relationship doesn’t go on. As for Emmy, we 100% know the tragic event? It tells us in the beginning of the story as a flashback, and then confirms towards the end that it was the death of her baby daddy and soon to be husband that tore her apart. Depression that Emmy had is real, and intense. I’m also pretty sure it mentions her standing by the window and watching outside. She has her parts of the story throughout the book from her POV, so what makes anyone think she isn’t capable of writing letters apologizing for and explaining the action that she was about to do.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that as much as I yearned for Becca and Matt to be together again, Matt was pretty overbearing. But eventually, it was fueled by Becca going to visit him, or kissing him.