More Than Words
By: Jill Santopolo
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Pages: 368
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Nina has always known who she's supposed to be. But is that who she truly is?
Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most. And Tim--her devoted boyfriend and best friend since childhood--feels the same. But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core. Soon, Nina begins to see the men in her life--her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael--in a new light, finding herself caught between the world she loves, and a passion that could upend everything.
First Impressions
This cover is gorgeous! The falling leaves and the silhouette are so perfect and it’s definitely a cover that caught my eye. The summary grabbed me too. I as very excited to read this book when I got it.
What I thought
This was such a thoughtful, well-written book with a romance that really resonated with me at this time in my life.
Nina is the heiress to her family’s hotel fortune. When her father dies, she is going to inherit the business, whether she wants to or not. And at this point it’s pretty much, not. She is dating her lifelong best friend Tim, who is the son of her dad’s best friend and everything her dad wants for her. It’s also what she thought she wanted for herself, until she met Rafael whose campaign she’s writing for in his run for Mayor of New York Ci
I think I’ve mentioned once or twice on the blog that I’m going through a divorce. My ex and I had been together since we were 19, so he was my comfort and everything I had known. Now, I didn’t meet someone while I was with him, but after we had separated I did meet someone who made everything feel different. The feelings that Nina is dealing with I could really relate to. She struggles throughout the novel with whether she should stick with what she knows and what feels comfortable or plunging into the unknown, letting go of what she has always dreamed for herself, and going after what makes her happy.
While there were some predictable plot points, they were well written and handled very realistically. Nina finds out a few secrets about her father after he passes away, and while I wasn’t surprised by what the secrets were, I appreciated how they moved the story forward. I think the reason I enjoyed this book as much as I did is because Nina was so relatable. She wasn’t perfect, but she reacted in a lot of ways similar to how I see myself reacting to those situations.
Her friendships were some of my favorite parts and I wish they had been a little bit of a bigger part, but I also get why they weren’t. Nina had a lot of growth and self-discovery to go through and she needed to do that on her own.
I wouldn’t say this is an un-putdownable book, but the more I talk about it and sit on it, the more I realize how good of a book it was. The writing is great, the characters are likeable even with their flaws, and the story is relatable. I think this is one of those books that the further I get away from reading it, the more it will settle and stay with me. I wish that I had chosen this as a book club book, so if you had a book club I would highly recommend picking this one up. I haven’t read Santopolo’s first book, but this one definitely moved it higher up my to-read list!