Title: Who Loves You BestAuthor: Tess Stimson
Publication Date: August 3, 2010
From Goodreads:
An unforgettable story about the complex choices women make for love, motherhood, and family—and the unexpected events that open our hearts to what really matters in life.
Clare Elias feels more than ready to conquer being a parent. She’s already mastered the business world, running a flourishing chain of boutique flower shops. Her husband, Marc, is handsome, successful, supportive—and nearly a decade her junior. Clare is at the top of her game, so how hard can motherhood be?
Then the babies come—both of them. And Clare finds herself in the midst of the crisis faced by every woman who’s ever tried to Have It All. She’s sworn she won’t have her children raised by nannies the way her inattentive mother did, but when help arrives in the form of pretty, young, hyper-efficient Jenna, Clare has no idea that bringing this stranger into her family will change everything. As Marc becomes distant and secretive and, worst of all, one of her babies gets sick, Clare—and Jenna—must make the kinds of heart wrenching decisions that no woman wants to face.
Clare Elias feels more than ready to conquer being a parent. She’s already mastered the business world, running a flourishing chain of boutique flower shops. Her husband, Marc, is handsome, successful, supportive—and nearly a decade her junior. Clare is at the top of her game, so how hard can motherhood be?
Then the babies come—both of them. And Clare finds herself in the midst of the crisis faced by every woman who’s ever tried to Have It All. She’s sworn she won’t have her children raised by nannies the way her inattentive mother did, but when help arrives in the form of pretty, young, hyper-efficient Jenna, Clare has no idea that bringing this stranger into her family will change everything. As Marc becomes distant and secretive and, worst of all, one of her babies gets sick, Clare—and Jenna—must make the kinds of heart wrenching decisions that no woman wants to face.
My Thoughts:
!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!
!!!THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW MAJOR PLOT POINTS!!!
This book was not what I was expecting. I picked this up thinking it was going to be a nice quick read about a workaholic woman with twin babies whose newly hired nanny was sleeping with the husband. Instead, there was so much more drama.
Usually I like the alternating viewpoints in books. I like when chapters jump back and forth between characters, you get a better feel for them. It is much easier to connect with them that way. But with this book, when a new character is narrating a chapter, the author goes back through dialogue from the previous chapter and you basically read the whole scene again (dialogue written out, again) just to get two or three sentences of how the new character is reacting to the situation. It really started to drive me crazy, especially since not all characters were given the same amount of time. They would just have one random chapter that they had to sum up their whole situation in.
Also what really bothered me was the drama. Nobody seemed to have the decency to just spit out whatever they were thinking. Nobody said what they really felt or wanted, they just bickered back and forth until it blew up in their faces. And this was especially frustrating when you had to go from chapter to chapter rehashing everything over and over again in different points of view.
Lastly, there was just way too much going on:
and much more. Then to top it all off, the wife still decides she wants to work it out with the money stealing, baby kidnapping husband even though now she is love struck with that customer. I don't know, maybe I'm just having an off day or whatever, but that is just way too much drama to be taken seriously. I can't say I completely hated the book because it was interesting at times to see what was going to happen and it was a quick read. It held my interest enough for me to finish it. I just don't think I will be rushing out any time soon to get this author's other books.
Usually I like the alternating viewpoints in books. I like when chapters jump back and forth between characters, you get a better feel for them. It is much easier to connect with them that way. But with this book, when a new character is narrating a chapter, the author goes back through dialogue from the previous chapter and you basically read the whole scene again (dialogue written out, again) just to get two or three sentences of how the new character is reacting to the situation. It really started to drive me crazy, especially since not all characters were given the same amount of time. They would just have one random chapter that they had to sum up their whole situation in.
Also what really bothered me was the drama. Nobody seemed to have the decency to just spit out whatever they were thinking. Nobody said what they really felt or wanted, they just bickered back and forth until it blew up in their faces. And this was especially frustrating when you had to go from chapter to chapter rehashing everything over and over again in different points of view.
Lastly, there was just way too much going on:
- A workaholic mom
- A nanny who is dating a drunk who beats her because he was raped crossing a park at night
- A snooty grandmother who thinks she is better than everyone else
- A brother who has ALS but doesn't tell anyone and lets them all think he is a drunk who now the nanny has the hots for
- A husband who is stealing money from his rich wife's account because he lost over a million in a bad stock deal
- Same husband kidnaps one of his babies and takes it to Lebanon but is conveniently tracked down by a customer who has randomly fallen in love with the wife and happens to have connections in all the right places
- one of the babies has a rare salt diabetes disorder which is then believed to have been a poisoning by the mother until once again that love struck customer calls one of his convenient contacts who just happens to be a specialist at the hospital the baby was taken to
and much more. Then to top it all off, the wife still decides she wants to work it out with the money stealing, baby kidnapping husband even though now she is love struck with that customer. I don't know, maybe I'm just having an off day or whatever, but that is just way too much drama to be taken seriously. I can't say I completely hated the book because it was interesting at times to see what was going to happen and it was a quick read. It held my interest enough for me to finish it. I just don't think I will be rushing out any time soon to get this author's other books.
The alternaitng perspectives sound good but the characters sound kind of strange...
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'll be trying this one anytime soon.
Great review :)
SeeitORreadit
Thank you! I was really disappointed in this book because it could have been so much better and I had been wanting to read it for so long before I finally sat down with it. I think there was just way too much going on and it was overkill :(
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