Customer Reviews

Someone Like You

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is nothing wrong with the quality of writing in this book - in terms of romance authors, Bretton is actually among the best at being literate and having a story to tell. This story is about family and the ties that do (or do not) bind them; two sisters who are living on different continents, come together when their mother is injured in a terrible accident. The sisters, both of whom are not particularly close to the their mother (or each other, it seems) are not thrilled to be back home again, but come back anyway. Catherine and Joely (the sisters) are both involved in romantic relationships of some sort, and are having a hard time being truly in love, mainly because of their rotten childhood. It sounds like a good story, and it starts out that way... BUT... it doesn't really live up to expectation. The girls' mother, Mimi, never says a word throughout the entire book, and she is supposedly the main problem both of these girls face, and the relationships that the girls have with their boyfriends is really convoluted and a lot is left unexplained. For instance, we don't even discover how Joely knows her current boyfriend for several chapters - they seemed so distant that I thought Joely was a nanny and not a girlfriend. Basically, there is no romance in this story and I suppose I was expecting some of that. I wouldn't recommend this book.

For the last quarter of a centry, Mimi Doyle has lived on the hope that Mark Doyle would return home from his little trip to "get guitar strings". Her two daughters, Cat and Joely, suffered no such delusions. The two girls became no nonsense young women who held love at arm's length. Just as they are beginning to let the walls around their hearts soften, Mimi's latest crisis tests her children in every way possible. Whether due to substance abuse, a stroke, or some unknown cause, Mimi passes out one night, setting her home on fire. She survives; now, Cat and Joely have to return home to pick up the pieces. Cat is in her first trimester, but her love life is still a bit uneasy. The man in her life will have to accept the new challenges in her life, plus decide how he wants his role in it defined. Joely's entered a seriuos relationship, but it's on shaky ground when she gets the call. With her lover in Japan at a meeting, she has no choice but to pack up his little girl and fly from Scotland to Maine. Her William faces even more tests than Cat's Michael. Throw in tabloid reporters on the scent of "blood" and an unexpected reunion or two, and you have the recipe for a moving story that will give those on the rocky road to a happy ending hope.

**** Ms. Bretton is one of those writers who writes far more good than the opposite; and this may be her deepest, most complex, and heart touching work to date. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.

News that her mom's in the hospital has Joely reluctantly boarding a plane from Scotland with her lover's daughter in tow to return to the Maine hometown that she'd rather forget. Raised by her sister Cat (her absentee mother was too busy wallowing in self pity when dad left home 27 years earlier to get guitar strings and never returned), Joely never had a normal upbringing. Getting reacquainted with her sister brings up past memories of their fractured childhood. When she has difficulty reaching William, she questions if the only thing they have in common is his daughter Annabelle. With a potential job offer in place outside of London, Joely has some soul searching to do. Meanwhile Cat is dealing with a surprise pregnancy and is not sure how the father will fit into her life.

When the media finds out about her mother's hospital stay, news crews and paparazzi set up camp and hound the family. Her mother and father, Mark and Mimi Doyle, made up a popular 60's folk duo. The renewed interest in her mother's health has some old ghosts knocking at the family's door.

Despite being under 350 pages, I found the story to be long and over populated. Bretton introduced secondary characters that did little to move the story along; some were introduced then abandoned altogether. The book itself was well written, I just found it... well, boring, most characters underdeveloped or unlikable. It made it hard to really care how it all played out.

The good:
The writing is clear and evocative without being fussy.

The bad:
38 is old. Okay. Gah.
Two sisters in their 30s with preternaturally understanding long-term boyfriends can't commit because their father left their mother, ergo All Men Leave. I'm rolling my eyes here. Get over it already.
I hated all the characters.

The verdict:
Basically a typical women's fiction story, which reminds me why I loathe this genre in general.

While i did like this book, it left me with a feeling that something was missing from the storyline. It was not as good as her previous books.

Joely Doyle left her hometown of Idle Point, Maine to make a life for herself. Eventually she settled in Scotland where she currently lives with William and his daughter. However, though she loves her housemates, the adult relationship is drifting apart and only their adoration for the child keeps the couple together.

Her thirty-eight years older pregnant sister Cat begs Joely to come home as she needs her help since their mother, former folk singer Mimi, suffered a stroke, burned down their house, and is currently hospitalized. Reluctantly Joely returns to Maine to see her mother, a woman who has lived in a fantasy world ever since her husband deserted her three decades ago; that "realm" is where Joely feels she and her sister were raised. However, Joely begins to learn family secrets especially that of her parents; this makes the American expatriate reassess mom and reconsider her future.

This strong family drama stars three realistic females struggling with the pivotal moment in their respective lives, the abandonment of the male over thirty years ago. Readers will appreciate how that particular key event impacted the three Doyles left behind as none of them trust males and for the most part not one another too. Readers who appreciate a powerful character study that digs deep into cause and effect will want to read Barbara Bretton's fine convincing tale.

Harriet Klausner

I'm studying English as a foreign language.
This book is very interesting and helpful to my reading skill.
I had read it many times.
I have a plan to read Barbara Bretton's works.