Book Club June 2023- Part of Your World
By: Abby Jimenez
Published Year: 2022
Publisher: Forever
Pages: 400
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.
While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.
Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?
What I thought
I was excited when Meghan picked this book because I have been meaning to read a book by Abby Jimenez for a while. I even got one of her books for Hanukkah but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I have heard wonderful things about her books and I’m always on the lookout for new romance novelists to love.
Alexis is a legacy doctor in Minneapolis. Daniel is a small town mayor/carpenter/innkeeper about 2 hours outside of Minneapolis. When Alexis’ car ends up in a ditch, Daniel is the one who pulls her out. One one-night-stand later and Alexis is unexpectedly hooked on this tattooed 28 year old.
This book was so so good. I had relatively high expectations for it and it exceeded every single one. There are some serious undertones in this story, such as abuse, and Jimenez writes about it very well. Thankfully, that isn’t something I’ve personally experienced so I can’t truly say it was well written from that perspective, but Jimenez does use sensitivity writers which I appreciate. Daniel is also described as Scott Eastwood in The Longest Ride which is absolutely my type.
I could not put this book down. I read it in just over 24 hours which normally I don’t do during the school year. I flew through this book. Absolutely devoured it. The conflict between Alexis and Daniel as to why they couldn’t be together was unique. I hadn’t read a story with this storyline and I’ve read a lot of romance novels.
I’m excited to discuss this with my friends at book club because there were a lot of fun moments. The romance between them also made me grin and squeal which is my favorite.
What Book Club Thought
Everyone loved it! We didn’t have much discussion about it other than to gush over everything we enjoyed. It seemed like everyone enjoyed the depth of the emotional storylines tied in with the romance. We had a lot of discussion about the small town and the differences between Alexis and Daniel as well. I think we all added more of Jimenez’s books to our list after reading this one. If you enjoy romcoms, I highly recommend checking this out.