Monday, August 9, 2010

Mini: Her Best Friend by Sarah Mayberry

This was a category romance with the friends-to-lovers trope, a favorite trope and a triangle -- not a favorite romance device for me -- so this was a mixed bag. I'm really loving Mayberry's writing and in some ways this was no exception -- she puts together a good book in a few pages.

Quinn and Amy have known each other since they were born -- neighbors in a small Australian town. Amy develops a crush on Quinn at age 14 and she's pretty sure he feels the same way until Lisa moves to town. Lisa becomes their friend and she and Quinn become high school sweethearts and eventually marry. Amy spends 16 years secretly in love with Quinn, her friend Lisa's boyfriend and then husband. It's so uncomfortable and painful for her that she decides to distance herself from her best friends. A year after Quinn and Lisa separate and while they're going through a divorce, Quinn returns to town to help Amy achieve her dream and things change. Quinn is definitely attracted to Amy but things get complicated when Lisa comes back to town.

I liked the main characters and Mayberry again fleshes out her characters and the story. I enjoyed Amy and Quinn's rediscovering their friendship and going from friends to lovers. As always with a Mayberry book, there's sexual tension and build-up and she knows how to write those sensual scenes.

However, although there's no question that Quinn had deep feelings of friendship and then lust for Amy, I did have a tough time buying the true love part of it all -- the "you are the love of my life" and "I want to marry you" love. I don't know... I wasn't quite sold on that. For me, it had a lot to do with the length of time Quinn was involved with Lisa, and the fact that he didn't give Amy a second thought in all that time -- that pesky triangle. The timeline used to develop Amy and Quinn's romance was also a factor.

Although I enjoyed some aspects of the story, first my reservations about Quinn's feelings took away some of that enjoyment, and later Lisa's return and actions gave Her Best Friend a sense of predictability that made this read a mixed bag for me.

Genre: Super Romance/Contemporary
Series: None
Release Date: April 13, 2010 - Kindle Edition
Grade: B-

Visit Sarah Mayberry here

7 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this one, it didn't top ANYTHING FOR YOU as the best friends-to-lovers book but I was happy I read it.

    I have some of the same reservations as you. The history between Quinn & Lisa was so long & deep, it's pretty hard to unravel all that in such limited word count. While I believed Quinn's feelings for Amy are sincere and he does in fact feel as if he's found his 'true love' I had issues with how Mayberry handled Lisa!

    The woman cheated on her husband for 2 years!!! TWO YEARS. Not a fling, not a one night stand and she has the audacity to want a second chance?! Quinn was way too nice to her. I would NOT have given her any donut, LOL!

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  2. Hmmm, I think this is the lowest grade you've given to a Mayberry!

    I thought Amy could have tried to move on earlier. I mean, how long have Quinn and Lisa been married already? 10 years?

    However, I get your point about true love and the quick timeline. It was indeed quick; however, it usually works because the H/H have known each other so long.

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  3. I liked this more than you but it's not my favorite Mayberry.

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  4. I'm glad you enjoyed it Scorpio.

    RE: Lisa. I absolutely agree with you on that subject. She needed to be kicked to the curb, lol! I thought that part was really predictable, after 2 yrs of cheating & 1 yr of separation, her expectations came from left field & her excuses were lame. But... oh well...

    Nath, I think you're right, lol! I still enjoyed parts of it and it's still a pretty good grade. And LOL on those 16 years of suffering, at least Amy tried to distance herself and go on with her life that last year. ;P

    Leslie, I'm glad you enjoyed it too. Definitely not a favorite for me either, but I have lots of other favorites in Mayberry's list of books. I look forward to her next release. :)

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  5. Nice review Hils - thank you! I must see if my library has any of Sarah Mayberry's books.

    And this book reminds me of an old Linda Howard...Sarah's Child!

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  6. Oh does it? I still haven't read Sarah's Child, although I've heard so much about it, and I love Duncan's Bride. Well, I love Sarah Mayberry... you have some good reads ahead of you if you can find her work in your library.

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  7. Orannia - how does this book reminds you of Sarah's Child? Having read both, I can assure you they are completely different.

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