If You Must Know

***Note from the author***<br /><br />Thank you for considering reading and reviewing my next novel, IF YOU MUST KNOW. This book is special to me because it’s my first foray into writing mainstream fiction. When I decided to pivot away from romance, my goal was to craft something entertaining and a bit escapist while also maintaining some heart. Like most of my previous books, this one involves a complicated family. But while many family stories trade in material secrets or substantial betrayals, I’ve chosen to explore the ways common sibling rivalries and petty jealousies affect family dynamics and individuals’ perceptions--of themselves and of one another.<br /><br />I drew inspiration for elements of this sister story’s plot from two sources: my mother’s best friend, who, at 74 years old, sold her house and now sails the East Coast and Caribbean year-round on her trawler; and the many stories my best friend’s husband, a forensic accountant, has told us throughout the years. For the bit of whimsy needed to lighten up the fictional family’s grieving of their fallen patriarch, I turned to my mother-in-law, a medium, to thread in the possibility of this trio of women communicating with the dead. My research took me everywhere from speaking with multiple law enforcement professionals to learning to make homemade sugar scrubs, so I had a lot of fun while writing this novel. I hope that joy bleeds through and adds to your reading experience.<br /><br />In the end, I want the message most people take away from the story to be that our attitudes toward others often determine their attitudes toward us. <br /><br />And don't worry, there's still a little love story woven into this tale!<br /><br />XO-Jamie B

I enjoy novels told by two different friends or, in this case, sisters, who aren’t great at being friends. Amanda was always jealous that Erin was, from her point of view, their father’s favorite. Erin wished she could have basked in her mother’s acceptance like the good student Amanda. <br /><br />It’s almost a year after their father’s death that Amanda and Erin face crises in their respective relationships at the same time they’re concerned that their mother isn’t doing well. Hoping their mom isn’t facing dementia, they have to overcome their differences to ensure their mom is safe, which means more than making sure she doesn’t leave something cooking on the stove and burning the house down. She had trusted a family member with a significant amount of money, and it appears this person might not be trustworthy, which devastates the whole family emotionally but will wipe their mother out financially. <br /><br />This was a completely adequately done novel, but I feel ambivalent about it. For some reason I just didn’t feel passionate about the writing, and I’m not sure what was missing for me to get more excited. Obviously not every book is one you’re going to try to force your friends and family to read, though this was fun enough. <br />

My Rating: 3.5 Stars<br><br>They grew up as sisters distanced by their own style of seeing and acting out life. Amanda followed the rules, lived for the rewards of being the perfect daughter, wife and mother-to-be. Then her life took a shocking and painful spin out of control. Erin lives a Bohemian lifestyle, more colorful, more visionary than her black and white sister. Their differences caused tension in their family, but now as adults, deceit, loss and betrayal may be what brings them to a new understanding and acceptance. <br><br>Family secrets, petty jealousies and selfishness mark this tale of two sisters who may find they have more in common than DNA. <b>IF YOU MUST KNOW</b> by Jamie Beck has all of the makings of a truly deep and soul-level read, one that readers could say, that’s me or I know someone like that, but for me, it fell short.<br><br>I’m not sure if it was the portrayal of the mother, as being feeble at a young age, even before she did seem to have problems or perhaps the whining of Amanda, who quite frankly, put me off really enjoying the powerful message of this tale. Instead, I felt her own insular ideals of the perfect life made her less real to me.<br><br>Erin had her share of ups and downs, too, but her break up with her boyfriend seemed almost too contrived, too convenient, other than that, she made this story for me.<br><br>Not a fast-paced read, filled with heavy angst and surface resolutions, but not a lot of growth for all of the characters. This just missed the mark for me in the family saga department.<br><br>I received a complimentary ARC edition from Montlake Romance! This is my honest and voluntary review.<br><br>Series: Potomac Point - Book 1<br>Publisher: Montlake Romance (June 1, 2020)<br>Publication Date: June 1, 2020<br>Genre: Women's Fiction | Family Saga<br>Print Length: 362 pages<br>Available from: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Must-Know-Potomac-Point-Book-ebook/dp/B07VXFFKMQ/" rel="nofollow noopener">Amazon</a> | <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-you-must-know-jamie-beck/1132899854?ean=9781542008716" rel="nofollow noopener">Barnes &amp; Noble</a><br>For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: <a href="http://tometender.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://tometender.blogspot.com</a><br><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VzWcuxwzgIg/VCiZSxUyvmI/AAAAAAAAfb0/Zeysvfwdgos/s1600/June%2BHeader%2Bw%2Bhttp.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1411946937i/11303744._SX540_.jpg" height="250" width="400" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a>

If You Must Know, by Jamie Beck, is an enjoyable novel about two sisters that are completely different. When tragedy and betrayal occur within the family this forces them to become closer.<br />Their relationship gradually changes as the story progresses, at times both heart-warming and heart-breaking.<br />I enjoyed that the story is told from each sister's point of view.<br />A well-told, realistic story about family dynamics.<br />I look forward to the next book in this series.<br /><br />Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.<br /><br /><br />

Check out all of my reviews at: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com">https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com</a><br /><br />IF YOU MUST KNOW (Potomac Point Book #1) by Jamie Beck is her latest contemporary Women’s fiction and the start of a new series. Ms. Beck has written an emotional and realistic story with dysfunctional family members in upheaval that I found difficult to put down.<br /><br />Amanda and Erin Turner are sisters that have gone about life differently and have never felt close. They lead separate lives as adults. Amanda was the middle child and always wanted to please by being perfect and was closest with her mother. Amanda followed her plan and went to college, got married and is now expecting her first child. While Erin was the baby of the family and always felt different and was closest to her father. Erin has always led a bohemian life and while she teaches yoga and makes her own soaps and scrubs has never really worried beyond the current day.<br /><br />Suddenly everything changes. <br /><br />Amanda finds out her marriage is not as perfect as she believed. Amanda’s mother loaned her husband the majority of her dad’s death benefits for a business deal and he has taken off. As these secrets are being kept, Erin moves home to help with her mother’s inability to take care of herself. Erin does not know if it is because of her mother’s continued grief over losing her husband a year ago or the stress of the missing money. Suddenly all three women are together again and must deal with unsettling truths about themselves and their family. <br /><br />I loved the different and difficult family relationships. The characters and emotions were to me believable because having grown up in a large family I could relate to all their character traits. Ms. Beck has written a complex and fully fleshed sister-to-sister relationship that had to evolve from childhood hurts and misunderstandings to grow and help each other in the present. Amanda and Erin’s mother’s past also played a large role in the present family dynamics. <br /><br />I enjoyed this first book in the series and I will be looking forward to more.<br />

Whew! If you’re looking for a book with juicy drama, this is for you! A family of siblings who aren’t close, a mother and father who played favorites (and still do), a bunch of relationships on the rocks, men you will want to absolutely SLAP any time they appear on page… what could go wrong? I loved every minute. ?<br /><br />Amanda and her sister Erin have never gotten along. Erin is the free spirit. But when her loser boyfriend Max takes things one step too far, she kicks him to the curb in a great girl power moment. I loved Erin. And author Jaime Beck really knows how to write arguments that will make you want to absolutely slap her male characters, they are that slimy. Amanda is trusting (way too trusting.) We find out from chapter one that her husband Lyle is cheating on her while she’s pregnant, but Amanda makes one excuse for Lyle after the next. <br /><br />Amanda, you just kind of want to shake your head and groan a lot of the time. Particularly after it comes out that <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="f6927689-2738-4df4-b1bb-8bbb03ee045b" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="f6927689-2738-4df4-b1bb-8bbb03ee045b"> she convinced their mom to loan Lyle a half million dollars AND he ran off with the mistress AND he won’t return their calls AND… the bad news just keeps piling up, but Amanda just bursts into tears and insists to anyone who speaks a bad word about Lyle that he would never do all these terrible things that the reader is insisting on. <br /><br />Amanda, I did not care for quite as much as Erin. However(!) I liked the story overall because the author crafted a drama-filled twisted tale with a true narcissist at its center (the portrayal of Lyle was spot on and she did a great job of showing the problems when parents have “favorites” as well) and lots of surprises. </label> Overall, this was a quick read that was fun. <br /><br />Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.<br />

The story is set in small- town Potomac Point, and is centered on two sisters who couldn’t be more different from each other. <br /><br />Amanda who is pregnant, a teacher, a perfect daughter and wife whose life is suddenly shattered when her husband leaves her for another woman. Erin is a free spirit who lives a Bohemian lifestyle and follows her heart in matters of the love and family. <br /><br />This is a character driven story about strong women, complex family dynamics and sibling rivalry. Overall, I enjoyed a great family drama that is heartwarming, emotional and poignant that is easy to read with great characters I loved reading about. <br /><br />Well done Jamie Beck on this amazing story you told so well. Looking forward to this great start of the series.

<b>"When you love and trust someone, you don’t think to be suspicious. You don’t look for clues or betrayals. You simply live and love with no more thought than it takes to breathe.”</b><br /><br />Meet Amanda Foster and Erin Turner, two sisters who are COMPLETELY different in every way. Amanda the apple of her mother’s eye, always following the rules, married to a man named Lyle, with a daughter on the way. Then there is Erin, a free spirted music lover, living day to day promoting her soap business on Etsy, teaching yoga classes, and missing her father that passed away immensely. Even though they both reside in their hometown of Potomac Point, they are not close and communicate seldomly. But everyone’s feathers are about to get ruffled when someone close to them deceives them all. <br /><br />Well, if you like drama, this is the book for you! This book is told from two different POV’s, Amanda and Erin. I think the plot was well done and this is a very believable family drama. However, I must admit I was annoyed by Amanda and her mother a lot (I am team ERIN all the way!!!!). The way that the mom was constantly picking on Erin with every conversation was overdone…insert eye roll. I will say that this Lyle character brought back vibes from people I dated in my past and I was very hell bent on seeing that he got what he deserved. <br /><br />This book had a little bit of everything; dealing with grief, a failed marriage, dysfunctional sibling relationships, deceit, hopefulness, and love. I think Beck’s writing was good but I struggled loving this book based off of the characters of Amanda and her mom. 3.5 stars for me. <br /><br /><b>”If we carelessly disregard other people, we should change. But if we’re merely being true to ourselves, we shouldn’t. How others respond to pain or fear is their choice.”</b>

I think I'm one of the few that wasn't crazy about the book. Some parts were good but I just couldn't get behind the two main characters. It felt inauthentic to me. I was bored for most of the book and only completed the book because I wanted to know how the author would wrap it up. It's in between a chick lit and a drama and fell short on both counts

If You Must Know is women fiction book that follows lives of two sisters Amanda and Erin, when they lives implode after certain things come to light. These two are very different. Amanda is married one, kindergarten teacher, the introvert, always doing the right thing. On the other hand Erin is free spirited, yoga instructor, taking life how it comes, tells it like it is. The whole family is dealing with still fresh loss of their father. But everything is worse when Amanda finds out that her husband is having an affair. Erin love life is no better after her ex boyfriend steals her valuable music records. They all have to come to terms with all the trouble they are facing individually and together as a family. <br /><br />Pros; <br />* good writing &amp; pace of the story<br />* interesting story line <br />* Erin and Amanda opposites makes for good points of view from both sides<br />* family relationships; I am glad that Amanda and Erin worked on their issues and sister bond<br /><br />Cons; <br />* ending is more of happy for now which is subjective thing that I didn't like very much <br />* besides main issues with Amanda's husband nothing really resolved with certainty, which again can be my subjective thing <br />* I am left curious did I miss what is going on with their mother health <br />* I am unhappy how relationship between Erin and her mother is dealt with, through out the book she is awful to her and than everything is good in one sentence <br />* very little romance <br /><br />Overall, this is a solid novel. It is a first in a series and I am not sure which characters will next book be about but Potomac Point is excellent small town setting. <br /><br />I read this author before and her work now it reminds me of the transition that Kristan Higgins did years ago. <br />I'm excited for what is to come. <br /><br />3,5 stars<br /><br />Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion