Guest Reviewed by Ami
Title: Baby, It’s You
Author: Jane Graves
Series: Rainbow Valley #2
Heroine/Hero: Kari Worthington/Marc Cordero
Genre: M/F Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 Pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: May 27, 2014
Available at: Grand Central Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: With only the wedding dress on her back and her honeymoon luggage in the car, Kari Worthington is running away. Determined to put her controlling father, her rigidly structured life, and the uptight groom she left at the altar in her rearview mirror, she escapes to the Texas Hill country . . . and lands on a tall, dark, and gorgeous winery owner’s doorstep. All she needs is a job and a place to live until she can get back on her feet. So why is she fantasizing about losing herself in his powerful arms?
For Marc Cordero, freedom is so close he can taste it. He’s devoted his life to managing the family business and being a single dad. Now with his daughter away at college and his brother taking over the winery, Marc is ready to hop on his Harley for parts unknown-until a runaway bride bursts onto the scene. Free-spirited and tantalizingly sexy, Kari excites him like no other woman has before. But when irresistible passion turns into something more, will Marc give up his future to take a chance on love?
Review:
For me, Baby It’s You represents the “what you want is not always what you need” theme, and Ms. Graves has done a very good job in twisting my emotion and my thoughts about it. There were times that I wondered if the decision was the right one, and whether or not I should be upset with the outcome. However, after all was said and done, I realized that this story had a very good depth of facing tough choices in life and well, it just spoke to me greatly.
The characterization is wonderful here. I really adored Kari. Duly noted that Kari starts the story as the daughter of someone wealthy, who has never really done anything on her own (daddy pays for everything, even opening her bank account!) and easily quits when things get tough (like running away from her own wedding, rather than tell confronting her dad). However, I saw how Kari slowly but steadily took her steps of independence. While she still gets help in doing so — and there’s one moment when Kari almost quit again after a grueling first day being a waitress at a local diner — but Kari is then able to work through the pain and actually learn to enjoy the job. Oh, Kari still makes mistakes, but she finds out how good she is with kids, she realizes that she can entertain people, and she ends up getting her tips worth. For someone who never really worked a day in her life, I thought that was quite admirable.
Meanwhile, Marc is one of those heroes whose actions definitely speak louder than his words. Being the oldest of three who have learned to take responsibility in life since a teenager, Marc thinks that it’s time for him to get his freedom. People have been relying on him for eighteen years. He basically takes care of that vineyard on his own too, since his younger brother and sister are not really into it.
Just when freedom seems to be waiting around the corner, life throws challenges again into Marc’s way. Marc’s brother doesn’t seem to know the best way to take care of the vineyard. Marc’s sister is suffering from heartache after losing her husband and her beloved dog. Then, his daughter doesn’t seem to be happy in university and wishes that Marc was there to be a safety net. The whole twist with Kari (I can’t really say without spoiling anything, but the ‘twist’ was definitely the point where I was having conflicting emotions the most!).
You see, I couldn’t help but think that Marc DESERVED the freedom after everything he was going through. So I wondered if that was fair for Marc. But then, I started to think that THIS was what the story wanted to say to us: sometimes you need to alter your dreams when life challenges you. And yes, like I said in the beginning of this review: “what you want is not always what you need”.
Because Marc finally realizes that freedom isn’t exactly what is best for him. Being with his family and the community who cares about him is. Even if it seems that Marc is back to where it all started, he isn’t really. This time, his siblings have grown up, his brother is a millionaire who can help financially, and his daughter also knows what she wants from life. Then there’s Kari … a woman who loves him and will stay with him, who understands Marc’s love for his vineyard and is willing to fight to save it when nature is threatening it. And Marc himself is not exactly a seventeen-year-old boy anymore.
So, in the end, Baby It’s You is a great story of self-discovery, for both Kari and Marc (and myself too in a way). I enjoyed it immensely. I hope Ms. Graves continues this series with either one of Marc’s siblings — their moments in this book make me want to read their stories of reaching happily ever after too.
Overall Impression: I really liked it
*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*
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