If Not for You: A Novel by Debbie Macomber
- tarascates
- Jan 17, 2017
- 3 min read
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.
I like these kind of books for the simple fact that sometimes you just want something to pass the time and allow your brain to 'turn off'. It's prototypical stuff for this genre: boy meets girl, they date, fall in love, happy ever after, lots of drama in between. Thankfully the book started with a bang, quite literally as it began with the car accident that would lead to the dating otherwise the 2 main characters would have no reason to date. I felt their relationship and became serious awfully quickly but then it wouldn't be the first time a relationship was created out of trauma - reminded me a bit of the movie Speed starring Keanu Reeves. One of the things I most enjoyed was the author wrote the chapters from various perspectives of her characters so you get to learn more details than you probably otherwise would have as well as the emotional impact of decisions made by themselves and those around them. Definitely provided a more balanced view. I did have a little trouble with the credibility in how some of the characters were portrayed such as Beth and her car accident. The accident totaled her car, put her in a hospital, she nearly dies, ends up needing life altering rehab yet somehow she can forgive the teen who was texting while driving and ran the red light which nearly destroyed her life? No further mention is ever made of how that turns out because the focus becomes all on her relationship with the guy from that point on. Beth's mom is portrayed as being seriously angry with her sister (beth's aunt) to the point they haven't spoken in years and she wants nothing to do with her. You would think this is because her sister must've done something seriously heinous but later you find out it was Beth's mom, not her aunt, who was the witch and should've been begging her sister for forgiveness instead of being the witchy one - it didn't make a whole lot of sense especially as Beth's aunt was portrayed as being the forgiving one. Overall if you are a Macomber fan you'll like this book because let's face it, people don't read her romance novels for accurate plot lines, to find life changing stories or quotes they'll put on their social media accounts. You read the books because reality can suck and you need the break.
*synopsis and pic from amazon.com