When Ellie Black meets Dan Cooper, she feels as though she’s found her best friend and soul mate. After an idyllic courtship, Dan proposes and Ellie happily accepts. She loves everything about Dan, even his family: his sister, Emma, has become her good friend, and his mother, Linda, might end up being the mother Ellie never had when she was growing up. Ellie’s own family was far from ideal–her alcoholic mother died when she was 13, and Ellie and her father withdrew from each other almost completely. She hopes Dan’s family will become her own, that is, until she gets to know Linda and realizes how controlling and manipulative she can be. Ellie’s resentment toward Linda grows after she gets pregnant and gives birth to Tom. When an accident puts Tom’s life at risk, Ellie’s bottled-up emotions spill over and threaten not just her relationship with her mother-in-law but her marriage itself. Green, best-selling author of Jemima J (2000) and To Have and to Hold[BKL Mr 1 04], is particularly adept at producing engaging women’s fiction, and her latest is a prime example–warm, convincing, and eminently readable. Although at times Ellie’s venomous anger toward her mother-in-law grates, overall, she is a sympathetic heroine

I want to start my review by saying that in general I really enjoy Jane Green and her writing. So with that said this was not my favorite book of hers. The writing was still solid and very readable, put together well with a good flow to the overall story. So that is why I kept with it. The rest of it however is all pretty predictable and honestly I had a lot of time trying to enjoy Ellie because she is supposed to be the “heroine” of the book the one you should connect with. I just couldn’t. We all have our issues with in laws I am no different on that but the reasoning behind a lot of her issues is just not very solid at all. Overall if you like Green you can give this one a try and see if you like it better then I did.

My Gemstone Rating: