Review by Jillpillbooknerd -- One Way or Another

[Jillpillbooknerd]

[Following is a volunteer review of "One Way or Another" by Mary J. Williams.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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One Way or Another by Mary J. Williams is the first in a quartet of books about four sisters. Andi, Calder, Bryce, and Destry Benedict are rich. The men that they date are using them for their money, name, and power. They come to realize, throughout their life, that the only people that they can truly trust are each other. Their dads are mostly non-existent and their mom is flighty and self centered. They get all of the love and support that they need from each other. Or so they thought.

This first book is about Calder Benedict and her journey to love again. Calder has time and money and wants to do something to give back. She works hard and starts a non-profit organization called Erica's Angels. Through the charity she meets Adam Stone, a hard working man who has worked his way up in the world. They flirt, date, and eventually over the course of the book, fall in love. Calder and Adam come from widely different backgrounds and in the beginning of the story it seems like that may be an obstacle for them. They are able to overcome their differences though and go on to form a pretty solid relationship. Throughout the book there is only one conflict that they have and they are able to overcome it pretty quickly. All in all their romance is very nicely written and feels realistic to me as a reader.

What I loved about this book was the fact that the women were first and foremost loyal to each other and themselves. They were strong women and came off as such throughout the pages of the book. They didn't take anything from anyone. I liked the fact that the author made them such strong women despite the example that they had growing up with their mother. One of my favorite characters was actually their housekeeper, Mrs. Finch. She seemed to really love the girls and was always there for them if they needed advice or a shoulder to cry on.

There were a few things that I disliked throughout the book. The main issue that I had with the book was that the characters would sometimes fall back onto tired and old gender roles. The one instance that I really didn't like was a part of the book when Calder is explaining to Adam that she doesn't want to get engaged. Instead of discussing this like adults, he just says that her ring will his mother's stone in a setting of her choice. No discussing why Calder doesn't want to get engaged or anything like that. He seemed to completely ignore what she wanted and she just went right along with it! This one issue was not enough to stop me from finishing the book. I still very much like it overall and would still highly recommend it.

I would give this book 4 out of 4 stars. I found no significant issues with grammar or editing throughout the book. The plot and story line flowed very nicely as well. I really loved this book and I'm very much looking forward to reading the other books in the series as they are published.

In conclusion, I very much liked this book and would highly recommend it to fans of romance novels. I feel like this series will be one that I enjoy for a long time. I think fans or Nora Roberts or Danielle Steel would also enjoy this book as well.

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One Way or Another
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