Part of Your World by Abby Jiminez

SYNOPSIS

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come - the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

~~~~~

Part of Your World is a great take on the reverse age-gap trope in a world full of age-gap romances. As a young woman with a slightly daunting fear of age, it was nice to see the accomplished woman in her late 30s still having a vast pool of dating options available to her. It also did a great portrayal of city girl/small-town boy romance WITHOUT it falling into Hallmark cheese (I don’t like Hallmark Movies, so this was a big win for me). Alexis was big city, privileged, and wealthy without being so out of touch that she very easily could have been insufferable. Instead, we had a very empathetic accomplished Doctor who knew what it meant to work hard and more importantly, put people first (wow I sound like HR). Daniel was what I wish small-town men were like. Especially of the younger crowd. He was like the dream small-town male main character and I think his empathy is what really drove the dynamic in this book forward. It was a great break from life and I gave it 3.5 stars… My one caveat when it comes to Jiminez is that her dialogue always seems a little bit juvenile to me. Her descriptive writing is so good that I find her dialogue sometimes doesn’t quite measure up.

We follow both Alexis and Daniel’s points of view in this one. Alexis as she’s struggling with the weight of her family expectations and a narcissistic, abusive ex, and Daniel as he works his ass off to afford his grandparents legacy while fighting off his money hungry, unreliable mother. Both characters have deep familial trauma but they find the ultimate escape through each other. What starts off as a mutually beneficial long-distance situationship quickly evolves into something neither of them can let go of. Despite hiding their pasts from each other, they both jump in both feet first before even realizing it. But Alexis has too many responsibilities tying her to her life in the city and her family, and Daniel could never give up the town that makes him who he is as a person. So what can be done?

I loved how deep Jiminez goes into character backgrounds. In just one short book about one couple we get so much insight into Daniel and his childhood. His life with his grandparents, his importance to the towns legacy, his flaky mom. He’s instantly carved into our hearts as this reliable and safe person for Alexis to find solace with. Alexis has so much background trauma that makes her instantly likeable (they’re always much nicer when they’ve been through some shit am I right?). Watching her go from her shitty background of being everyone’s doormat to everyone’s last hope for relevancy is stressful and heartbreaking but also watching her find her own spine and decide who she wants to be was inspiring and also extremely relatable. I love a good story where the character can change their life trajectory even if they aren’t in their 20s anymore.

I do find some of the themes in this book a little “in your face” and cheesy. “Grace costs nothing” had me cringing quite often especially in some of the dialogue. I think it was supposed to come across as badass and slightly “be the better person” but it came off kind of condescending and trying too hard. Words and phrases like this were pretty constant throughout the book that made a lot of parts feel more like a Chicken Soup for the Soul book than a hit romance novel. This is my second Jiminez book where I’ve felt this way about some of the dialogue choices so I feel at this point if I read any further in her works, I’ll just have to go into it being ok with this aspect of her writing. It does take away from some of the enjoyment for me as it rips me immediately out of the story and suddenly there I am, back on my couch reading words on a page.

Overall I enjoyed this book and it was easy to binge in only a couple of sittings. I do find Jiminez to be a master at character growth. I also find she does a fantastic job of making me enjoy a concept I usually wouldn’t. Lots of times I’ve skimmed past her books in the store because the synopsis does nothing for me but she makes a lot of these plots and tropes interesting enough that I now second-guess myself. Looking forward to exploring more of this authors work.