Review: When You Knew

When You Knew by Jamie Beck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third book in a series about the Cabot siblings and the Tea business they own and run with their father and his second wife.

I read the first book and felt the angst was massively overdone, somehow I missed the second book but was lucky enough to be approved for an ARC of the third, which features the youngest daughter Gentry, half-sister to Hunter and Colby, the wild child, rebel and rule breaker.

The book starts with Gentry as a single mother following a one-night stand in Napa with a man she knew only as 'Smith'. Her baby Colton is fractitious with colic and she isn't coping. When Hunter and his wife Sara pop round Sara thinks Colt might have a fever and calls an EMT she knows called Ian for a favour.

Ian is a humanitarian aid worker in Haiti, only home to collect his possessions from his ex-fiancee's house before flying back to Haiti to continue to honour his father's legacy. He is frankly condescending towards this obviously wealthy young woman who is bemoaning her first world problems and seems unable to keep herself or her luxury apartment clean. His favourite refrain is that people in other parts of the world, like Haiti, have things a whole lot tougher than poor little rich girl Gentry. Nevertheless, Ian ends up helping Gentry by babysitting while she gets a night's sleep and tidying the apartment as well.

When Gentry finds out that Colt has an ear infection and can't go to nursery as planned she is desperate to find a reliable nanny who would be willing to work for a few weeks and is able to start immediately. Ian is looking for short-term work to fund his flight back to Haiti so it seems like a match made in heaven - an EMT that Gentry already knows, who has proven he is good with children and can start immediately.

At first Ian came across as very judgemental and preachy and my heart sank because I thought Gentry was going to be portrayed as the thoughtless rich woman who is brought to realise that her moral compass is skewed by a compassionate and selfless man. Ho boy, I thought, prepare to DNF. What actually transpires is something very different. And I loved the fact that Gentry calls Ian on his holier than thou attitude (I won't spoil how).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, although I felt that the resolution of Gentry's issues with her mother was overly simplistic and unrealistic, Gentry and Ian were a match made in heaven and I felt that they both exhibited emotional growth. I'm also not ashamed to admit that I cried, not once but twice while reading this book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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