Customer Reviews

When a Man Loves a Woman

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Can friendship become love? That is the question for Doctors James Elliot and Deborah Brody. They've known each other since their freshman year of medical school, and though they characterize themselves as friends, in many ways they are more like siblings who have together weathered the trials of that institutional family substitute called The Medical Profession. Twenty years into their relationship, Deb is suddenly widowed, and the delicate balance between them abruptly changes. Elliot (they can't call each other by their given names - too intimate, perhaps?) has never married, Brody is suddenly available, and neither one of them seems able to negotiate the overwhelming possibility that they might actually love each other as man and woman.

The strength of this book lies in Alina Adams' written dialog and character development. There is no big suspense or mystery subplot, and not a lot of technical medical narrative - just the halting and sometimes painfully realistic unfolding of a relationship between two people who are very cerebral and who long ago had to learn how to suppress feelings and spontaneity in the service of their profession. In this respect, it's a romance in its purest form, and if you are used to a lot of action in your stories, you may find this one a little more challenging to read. It's a story that can't be read in one sitting because it's too intense, and at times, I had to put it down to take a breather. However, I found I couldn't abandon it. Brody and Elliot stuck to me like cockleburrs, and I had to find out what they were going to do about their dilemma. These characters are not starry-eyed and suddenly smitten; instead, there is a fairly pervasive sexual tension between them throughout the book. This story is also different in that the characters are older and more experienced than is usual in this genre - both are in their early 40's and entering the height of their professional achievement. AA's book reminds us that love blooms at any age and in the most unanticipated places - a really nice story.

So often in contemporary romances, authors take two characters that really belong in another century, add a little suspense, and voila, they have a book. Alina Adams's When a Man Loves a Woman takes a different tack - this book deals with contemporary issues in a contemporary way. As a result, the love story feels authentic, and the two main characters are understood and liked by the reader.

Deb Brody and James Elliot have been friends since Med School began twenty years ago. Brody's been married this whole time, Elliot's been a bachelor. They have been best - call in the middle of the night when you're worried, show up when you know the other's in trouble, take care of you when you need it - friends. When Brody's husband dies, their relationship changes. Elliot is in love with Brody, but Brody wants to respect her dead husband.

About halfway through the book some workplace politics cause Brody to think that Elliot betrayed her and the book changes tracks very quickly. She is forced to reassess her relationship with Elliot and her feelings for him.

I enjoyed reading this book because I actually know people like the two main characters. They are flawed, but lovable people. They have made career and personal choices that affect their lives, and they are not 100% comfortable with them. They are the best of friends, but what do you do when the person you need most wants more from you than you're ready to give? What do you do when the person you've cared about most in your life thinks the worst of you? Adams addresses these questions deftly, and as a result, the book feels real - more like a story about people you know than a book about distant far-off places and people.

It is this intimacy that I enjoyed the most about this book. The author took her time to explore both characters, and I enjoyed getting to know them. Their realness made me care about them more, and when they had ups, so did I. When they had downs, so did I.

There is one sub-plot within the book that seemed a little contrived. It has to do with a betrayal (I won'd give details because that might spoil it). Basically, I felt that the characters, as written, would not have actually behaved the way they did. But this flaw takes little away from the book as a whole, and all its other enjoyable aspects overcame this small drawback.

So if you're looking for a good real-life romance with main characters that are as flawed and yet lovable as real people, definitely read this book. I don't think you'll regret it.

During the early eighties, James Elliot and Deborah Brody became best friends as they attended medical school together. James secretly loves Deborah, who remains faithfully devoted to her understanding husband Max, a commodity trader.

In 2000, both work at Los Angeles Valley Hospital. Elliot runs the renowned pediatric trauma medicine department while Brody heads up the Pediatric Neurosurgury Department. They remain close friends, though Deborah still loves Max. However, the unthinkable occurs when Max suddenly dies from a heart attack. Elliot supports his best friend through her grief, but one night they lose it and make love. While she wants to return to being buddies, he wants her to be his bosom buddy forever.

WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN is an entertaining contemporary romance that centers on friendship between the genders. The lead characters drive the story line as their strong friendship turns into a passionate love. Though the two doctors are a charming couple, Max is the rare character that gains reader respect. He not only approves his spouse's friendship with Elliot; he encourages it because he trusts her with every cell in his body. Alina Adams provides readers with an enjoyable medical romance that will send the audience seeking ANNIE'S WILD RIDE.

Harriet Klausner

I really enjoyed Alina Adams' WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN for many of the same reasons I loved her prior romance, ANNIE'S WILD RIDE: great writing, well-drawn and realistic characters, believable dialogue and story-telling. It is just one of those increasingly rare examples of romances, where the love story at the center of the book in and of itself is actually interesting and compelling enough to support an entire book. There's no need for extras: psycho-killer/suspense element so popular in many contemporary romances or the campy supernatural/mystical setting. The characters are ordinary and have real problems and issues which are not going to be magically resolved, that draw the reader in. Also, as both h/h are doctors, the medical profession is nicely utilized as background material, which provides added depth to this book.

This book is unbelievably entertaining! Doctors Brody and Elliot are so well defined and developed, I started looking for them at my local hospital! The repartee between the characters is so witty and the dialogue so real the characters literally come to life. It is a love story beyond compare. Reading a story like this makes me forget my mundane existence and hope for a love like theirs that transcends 20 years! Bravo Alina Adams!

I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I loved the hero, Dr. James Elliott. He loved Deborah Brody practically all his life. They met in college and subsequently became fast friends. The fact that Deborah had been married three weeks before she started college had no effect on the friendship.

The story takes place 20 years later. Deborah is still married to Sam and she's still best friends with Elliott. Deborah's husband suddenly dies.

Brody and Elliott (they call each other by their last name) are now both doctors working in the same hospital. She is a pediatric neurosurgeon and he works in the pediatric trauma unit. The night of the funeral, after everyone leaves, Elliott is alone with Deborah. She doesn't want him to leave because he's the only person she can lean on, and, of course, they do it. The story deals with how Deborah and Elliott deal with that. Elliott finally confesses to Deborah that he has always loved her, but she, on the other hand, doesn't want to jeopardize their special friendship and she also doesn't want to tarnish the memory of her late husband. I think part of that was guilt over her close relationship with Elliott through the years and people always assume the worst.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Deborah, she was trying to deal with that aspect in a noble manner. She has feelings for Elliott she doesn't want to face, but I couldn't understand how she could want to waste the remainder of her personal life on this earth. She's doctor, for heaven sake, and she's supposed to know about the frailty of life. Elliott, however, wants it all - marriage - the whole bit.

I could understand Deborah's loyalty to her dead husband, but enough of her pontificating, already - dissecting the situation and her feelings for Elliott (whom she realizes she loves, by the way), ad nauseam, right through to the end of the book. I really wanted to throw the book at the wall at one point. I get annoyed when I don't want to read every word of a book, but I thought if I read another page of Deborah's analysis of her feelings, I'll scream. If I were her friend, I would have shut her up fast.

The above is my opinion. I thought the story had a lot of potential. I liked the hospital setting, but it probably could have been shortened by about 50 pages - either that or putting tape over Deborah's mouth.

When a man loves a woman will he truly do what ever it takes to make her happy? Well this books shouts loudly, "Without a doubt!"

The female character, Debra, was not the one I focused in on because she was somewhat self-absorbed (which she realizes later) but I focused mainly on the men in her life... they truly loved this woman in a way very few men will do ... with THEIR hearts wide open... we are so used to seeing the women go through the pain and heartache of unrequited love that when we read it in a role reversal some have the tendency to say 'this is unbelieveable'... There are truly men out there who love their women to the point of mind blowing intensity that they can scarcely breathe... we women are not the only ones to feel that type of emotion regardless of stereotypes....

Thanks to Alina we have a peek into that sort of "emotional male psyche" that few of us will (unfortunately) get a chance to see (or live) in our life time... All consuming Love and Passion when a man truly loves a woman....

and not just the typical boy and girl meet and fall in love, then live happily ever after. This book is more than that. It is the story of 2 doctors, Dr. james Elliott and Dr. Deb Brody, who have been friends for 20 years, and when the husband of Dr. Brody dies, they both find that their frienship is in jeopardy due to the feelings that they have hidden, from themselves and the world, for 20 years. They risk losing their frienship entirely over unspoken feelings and miscommunications.

I thought that this story, while a little hard to believe at times, was a very enjoyable read.

Long after you finish the last page, this book will stay with you. If you like your books light, with lots of dialogue, this one may not be for you. But if you enjoy a book that really delves into people's minds and into the 'why we do what we do' then you will enjoy this book.

I found it slow-going at times, with lots of introspection. But Ms. Adams' writing kept me interested and made me *want* to know how things would all turn out for Elliot and Brody, both sympathetic characters in a very believable situation. The backdrop of a big city hospital and Ms. Adams' description of it and the roles both Brody and Elliott played enhanced the story and made it real.

This is the first time I've read an Alina Adams novel, but it certainly won't be the last.

Adams had me hooked with her first book, 'Annie's Wild Ride'. Ironically, with both books, I hesitated to read them since the original premise didn't seem to be too interesting. WRONG - she will hook you in and you will be caught with the reading. I must admit that I really resisted thoroughly enjoying the book since an event takes place early on that I struggle with finding reasons for.......... Only a phenomenal writer like Adams can bring me through my concerns to admit that in spite of not reconciling myself to certain events I can admit this is a terrific read.