TELL ME
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Abigail Strom
Release Date: October 1, 2017
Shy bookstore owner Jane Finch grew up hiding in the margins of her own life while her vibrant, adventure-loving sister, Samantha, dominated every plotline.
She’s made peace with it, unlike Sam’s business partner, Caleb, who’s always nudging Jane to go after what she really wants.
Why should she care what blunt, brash Caleb thinks? They’ve never had much in common, except for Sam.
After tragedy strikes, they don’t even have that.
Caleb can’t quite remember when Sam’s little sister stopped being like a surrogate sibling to him and became just…Jane. She’s the most intriguing woman he’s ever met, and so much sexier and stronger than she thinks.
On the emotional journey to honor Sam’s memory, the spark they’ve tried to deny becomes an inferno.
This journey was meant to be an ending, but will they discover an unexpected new beginning?
First off, thank you Arabella ~♡AB♡~’s review for bringing this book and this author to my attention. I enjoyed this book so much. I cried and laugh, and let me tell you that I’ve never rooted so hard for a couple as much as I did with Jane and Caleb.
Both are deeply flawed and complex characters whose differences might be too great that love might not be enough!
Yes, you read that right! There were moments in the book where I was like…
Why? Because the conflict is that good. Simple but really effective and it’s not very obvious if we go by the blurb. In fact, I thought initially that it’s going to be something else. But I prefer the direction that the author took. It’s a very mature conflict and she was able to really flesh out the story and each of the characters.
Aside from the conflict, what I also loved about this book was how tight the writing was. Not one scene or interaction was wasted. Everything that you read has a purpose. And the author did a fantastic job tying up all the loose ends and giving readers the answers to questions they have about the characters and the story. It was masterful.
But what really made this book a favorite was its cast of characters. Jane and Caleb felt real. Jane is a shy bookstore owner. At first, I was skeptical because the character sounds really cliched. I mean, hello, shy, plain-Jane bookstore owner? That’s like classic character trope.
But the more you read, the more you see the nuances of Jane’s character. And the same goes for Caleb. He’s a tough nut to crack. He was a very intriguing character. At first, he came off really cocky and was a bit annoying. The moment the two of them are together on page, you could feel the tension that was borne out of their differences despite the fact that there’s definitely an attraction there.
I loved how Anne of Green Gables was used as sort of a backdrop in the story. It was clever and it made me want to read Anne of Green Gables again. It made me curious about the lore behind that series.
Another intriguing layer to this book was Sam, Jane’s beautiful and adventurous older sister who also happens to Caleb’s best friend and business partner. She was the thread that connected Jane and Caleb at first. Her tragic death served as a catalyst for Jane and Caleb’s relationship. I personally didn’t feel that her presence detracted from the romance between Jane and Caleb. I thought that Jane’s feelings about Sam was handled really well. Again, it felt real and it was so heartbreaking.
There are so many thing I loved about this book. I especially loved how the author brought everything in full circle, giving readers what they long for. The resolution wasn’t perfect but it fit the story really well.
Tell Me is a heartwarming story about two people who couldn’t be more different from each other fall in love. It’s a beautifully written romance which I highly recommend you guys read.
