Review by HRichards -- One Way or Another
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HRichards
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Review by HRichards -- One Way or Another
[Following is a volunteer review of "One Way or Another" by Mary J. Williams.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Calder Benedict has it all: looks, money and success. What she doesn’t have is a normal family or a decent love life until she accidentally meets successful and handsome Adam Stone, who proves he’s a gentleman and might just be what she’s looking for. Unfortunately for Calder, her life is heavily complicated by her flighty, man hungry mother Billie who has recently moved on to the oily, sneaky, and possibly criminal Ingo Hunter. Added to a mother who is less than reliable is the fact that Calder’s father is proving to be less than upstanding as well. What’s a girl to do other than focus on the handsome ex-military man who has just entered her life in Adam?
One Way or Another is a contemporary romance that while focusing on the romance aspect between Calder and Adam, also does an excellent job of engaging the reader in Calder’s family drama as well. Calder is a nice, intelligent woman who acts rationally even in the face of some challenging circumstances that many authors would be tempted to have their heroine react to in a ridiculous way for dramatic purposes. When faced with one of Adam’s manipulative former girlfriends, Calder immediately realizes the woman is a troublemaker and doesn’t fall into the narrative trap of allowing herself to misled about Adam. Calder only begins to question Adam’s intentions after seeing evidence of him not with another woman, but with shady businessmen she doesn’t trust. Adam, for his part, is presented as a decent guy who is immediately up front with Calder about his past relationships and also very serious about wanting a committed relationship with her.
Calder’s sisters are intriguing and well developed, and their relationships with Calder are supportive and believable. The sisters are clearly set up for romances in books of their own in this series and they are all distinct personalities. The girls’ mother is also interesting as a loved but troublesome part of her daughters’ lives.
I gave One Way or Another 4 out of 4 stars. Not only is the writing very good and the dialogue natural and believable, the added aspect of family intrigue being the focus almost as much as the romance is very well done. I never had to wonder about the characters’ motivations nor roll my eyes at them doing something out of character or ridiculous. Adam was an intriguing love interest without engaging in any behavior that would make me question why Calder liked him.
The only drawback I would point out about the novel is the plot twist at the very end that seemed rather implausible involving Calder’s mother. I understand it was setting up conflict for further novels in the series, but it seemed a bit fantastic. All things considered though, this romance lived up to what it was expected to deliver with very good writing and a unique plot. I was especially pleased with the level of characterization invested into the sisters when it would have been very easy to make them all cookie cutter personalities. I would definitely recommend this book to the romance crowd as a novel that is not only well written, but interesting as well.
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One Way or Another
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4 out of 4 stars
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Calder Benedict has it all: looks, money and success. What she doesn’t have is a normal family or a decent love life until she accidentally meets successful and handsome Adam Stone, who proves he’s a gentleman and might just be what she’s looking for. Unfortunately for Calder, her life is heavily complicated by her flighty, man hungry mother Billie who has recently moved on to the oily, sneaky, and possibly criminal Ingo Hunter. Added to a mother who is less than reliable is the fact that Calder’s father is proving to be less than upstanding as well. What’s a girl to do other than focus on the handsome ex-military man who has just entered her life in Adam?
One Way or Another is a contemporary romance that while focusing on the romance aspect between Calder and Adam, also does an excellent job of engaging the reader in Calder’s family drama as well. Calder is a nice, intelligent woman who acts rationally even in the face of some challenging circumstances that many authors would be tempted to have their heroine react to in a ridiculous way for dramatic purposes. When faced with one of Adam’s manipulative former girlfriends, Calder immediately realizes the woman is a troublemaker and doesn’t fall into the narrative trap of allowing herself to misled about Adam. Calder only begins to question Adam’s intentions after seeing evidence of him not with another woman, but with shady businessmen she doesn’t trust. Adam, for his part, is presented as a decent guy who is immediately up front with Calder about his past relationships and also very serious about wanting a committed relationship with her.
Calder’s sisters are intriguing and well developed, and their relationships with Calder are supportive and believable. The sisters are clearly set up for romances in books of their own in this series and they are all distinct personalities. The girls’ mother is also interesting as a loved but troublesome part of her daughters’ lives.
I gave One Way or Another 4 out of 4 stars. Not only is the writing very good and the dialogue natural and believable, the added aspect of family intrigue being the focus almost as much as the romance is very well done. I never had to wonder about the characters’ motivations nor roll my eyes at them doing something out of character or ridiculous. Adam was an intriguing love interest without engaging in any behavior that would make me question why Calder liked him.
The only drawback I would point out about the novel is the plot twist at the very end that seemed rather implausible involving Calder’s mother. I understand it was setting up conflict for further novels in the series, but it seemed a bit fantastic. All things considered though, this romance lived up to what it was expected to deliver with very good writing and a unique plot. I was especially pleased with the level of characterization invested into the sisters when it would have been very easy to make them all cookie cutter personalities. I would definitely recommend this book to the romance crowd as a novel that is not only well written, but interesting as well.
******
One Way or Another
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: Yeh-shen by Ray Simmons
