Somebody to Love
By Sharon Sala
Release Date: February 23, 2021
Ebook Available from WV Reads!
2.5 Stars - Possibly I was a bit harsh on this book but it felt chopy, and I struggled to really get invested. That said, Shala crafts a sentimental tale here of family struggles and a slow-blossoming romance. Ava and Hunt's relationship is a sweet, less than steamy, affair that is only a chunk of this drama.
This isn't a book to end a slump, and I've been in a bit of one. It drew obviously parallels to The Forever Girl, which I also didn't much enjoy. There's nothing wrong with the plots per se. But having a huge multi family perspective that does a lot of dwelling on a member's death is not as uplifting as a writer may hope. Hunt's a likable hero but he lacks a unique personality to make him really memorable. He's a vet and a pilot, done wrong by his family. But the remarkably kind Ava steps back into his life to try to draw him out of his shell. Ava I had no issues with at all, a classic romance heroine, equal parts sweet and determined.
The hot mess Hunt and his siblings have "off-page" to start just isn't intense enough to draw a lot of interest. Readers who perfect a soothing pace and just a hint of mystery will appreciate this background plot more than ones like me that prefer excitement (most days) in fiction. Sala's got a heartfelt writing style I've sampled in a few novels. But here, she's paced things awkwardly. The multi-POVs were hard to get invested in because sometimes we only got a couple paragraphs from one person before a switch. And Hunt and Ava suffer from a lot of wishy-washiness on Hunt's part early on, sometimes in a single day/scene. Ava had more patience than I did. Also, I was a bit disappointed in the Southern small-town atmosphere. But it was hard to picture for me. Blessings just didn't quite come alive. And accents were pretty non-existent (also they said 'pop' for soda which is not usually a Georgia thing?). Overall, if you're looking for suspense or sultry Southern nights, skip it. But if you're a fan of Sala, sweet and devout romances or moving family dramas, give it a go.
(NS)
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