Mosaic Paperback – 12 April 2021

I must say thatI really enjoyed this book. I am a big fan of this authors work and it didn’t disappoint. There is plenty of angst but this is good because it allows the author to flesh out the two main characters flaws and how they overcome their issues.

Love practically anything Susan X Meagher writes and this paperback was so low priced it felt like I almost got it for free!

3.5 Would be more exact, if you are looking for a more will they wont they book as I am, this book is not totaly for you since from the start Kelsey and Summer pretty much click in everyway. That until Summer find out a past trauma which Kelsey dealt with by not dealing with it.That beeing said, the book is really more about relationship, dealing with a past trauma, family and the impact they can have on your relationship, the book made me cry at least 3 times, well written, with great emotional and sensual moment, this book live you with emotion.

While it’s true that this was far from my favorite S.X.M. book, the quality of her storytelling is such that I still enjoyed it from start to finish.As with all of her stories, this one is full of delightful descriptions of the characters, their careers and the city they call home.One of the MCs owns and operates a custom tile design and manufacturing business, creating unique and functional art for demanding customers. The other MC is an interior designer working at a venerable family-owned hardware store that’s been in Pittsburgh for generations.The two meet in the course of a high-end home renovation and romance ensues … unfortunately for the story (in my opinion), so does waaaay too much drama and angst.One of the MCs comes from an almost unrealistically dysfunctional family. She has her birth parents, but also three stepparents. Or maybe it was four? Her father is a “professional” gambler - see “addict,” because he’s really bad at it. I think I caught a glancing reference that one of her ex-stepmoms still lives in the same house as her dad and wife number three … I’m pretty sure it’s number three. There’s other glancing references to one of her ex-stepfathers being physically and mentally abusive. Lots of half-siblings, emotional immaturity, divorce, neglect and abuse in her family background. Definitely does not make for a stable emotional foundation.The other MC has more than her share of family drama, too. I won’t spoil anything, but it’s as if the author wrote of the above mentioned dysfunctional family and then thought, “I’ve gotta top that!”I’m sure there are lots of horrible families like this out there (and some much worse), but I don’t really enjoy them taking up so many pages in a romance novel. Any good story in this genre needs a dash of drama an a pinch of angst, however in my opinion it was carried to a bit of an extreme in this instance.Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, these two ladies are almost certainly each too damaged to make a long-term go of it. They’re both in therapy, with varying degrees of reluctance. The romance bounced erratically from off-to-on again. There’s a horribly stereotypical moment of U-haul syndrome, where they actually buy a house (kinda together) while still relatively early-on in an uncertain relationship.If there ever was a sequel (please, no), it would be all about their angst-filled overly-emotional divorce a few years into the future. After all, there’s so much dysfunction in each of their family backgrounds that it’s practically genetic.If you’re a S.X.M. fan, this is certainly worth the read. If you’re new to her works, there are many other titles to delve into first. My favorite is Almost Heaven, followed closely by Arbor Vitae, Chef’s Special and Vacationland.And if you’ve read all of Susan’s stuff and are looking for something similar, check out K’Anne Meinel (start with my favorite, Out at the Inn). Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters. Strangers by DeJay. And for something a bit different, the Sisters In Arms series by D.J. Bershaw.

Susan, each one your tales take me on a journey from which I find it hard to extricate myself. I live the highs, the lows, the twists and turns that each main character takes and grow with them. And this tale is no different. And that’s why I love it.I loved that the tale was not just about the trials and tribulations of falling in love but what it takes to sustain it when all pieces appear to fall in place. The characters were all human, but Susan X Meagher doesn’t just tell us outright but allows the circumstances to reveal them to us.This novel reaffirms why Susan X Meagher is among the best writers, and I say this as someone who reads a lot.I don’t write reviews for every book she writes. There’s a good reason for that too. With all due apologies to George Orwell, all her books are equally good, but some are just brilliant than others.

When I tried to read all the reviews, only the best (five stars) were listed. All others had a message that said "Sorry, no reviews match your current selections". After I read the book, I came back to this point and was still confused by all of it. What was going on? Honestly, this book just never read like a book Meagher wrote. The prose seemed awkward and simplistic, with characters I thought were immature, selfish and incomplete. I read the book twice, the second time with care, trying to understand. Maybe I'm the one who needs therapy, but I came away not really giving a damn about these two women and their doomed relationship. This was no "happy ever after" book, although it stops there. Their relationship will never make it, and I'm somewhat irritated that I'm supposed to believe it will. I was surprised and disappointed that this book really had SXM's name on it.