Part of Your World

Content warnings: emotional abuse, gaslighting, domestic violence, childbirth, drug addiction

Doctor Alexis has a fling with a decade-younger carpenter.

The novel begins with Alexis returning from her great-aunt's funeral, where she swerves to avoid a raccoon and ends up in a ditch. She calls for a tow truck, but small-town carpenter Daniel arrives and tells her the man is several drinks deep at the local bar, so he's her best option. He offers to make her dinner, and she accepts. They begin seeing each other and Alexis is surprised at his kindness and the effort he puts into having her over.

Alexis Montgomery comes from a dynasty of surgeons who have half of a hospital named after them. It's been understood since birth that she would also become a doctor, go to her parents' college, and keep her famous last name. But Alexis decides to be a "lowly" ER doctor while her twin brother is the renowned surgeon in the family.

When Alexis breaks up with her abusive ex, she begins to apply to other hospitals to get away from him. But then her brother drops the bombshell that he's permanently relocating to Cambodia where he was doing a temporary stint for Doctors Without Borders. It's understood that there is always a Montgomery at the hospital, so Alexis feels the cage growing smaller around her. When her ex tries to move back into their shared home, she feels even more violated. Alexis' parents keep pushing her to go to therapy with abusive ex Neal (who is acceptable because he's a surgeon), and it's the last straw.

Alexis knows that her world and Daniel's are not the same, but she decides to keep her high society, rich world from him and lives the small-town life with him on weekends or whenever she is free. When Daniel discovers Alexis' world, he's already in love with her. But Alexis has almost everything in her life working against her and Daniel's relationship...

It's refreshing to read a romance with flawed characters. Alexis is struggling with her father's and ex's emotional abuse. Even though she is grown, she's still treated like a child. Her father is a narcissist who refuses to accept his son's marriage to a celebrity and disowns him. Daniel's cousin is in a physically abusive relationship and refuses to leave it. Daniel's friend is a veteran who struggles with depression and PTSD. Meanwhile, Daniel is trying to keep his family's B&B afloat while also practicing carpentry, and his estranged drug-addicted mother is trying to sell the B&B out from under him.

Recommended for all fans of contemporary romance.

Abby Jimenez is the founder of Food Network star Nadia Cakes bakeries in Minnesota and California. She is also a New York Times bestselling romance author.

Publisher: Forever (print); Hachette Audio

Narrators: Julia Whelan & Zachary Webber

Running Time: 10 hours, 5 minutes

Length: 400 pages

Release Date: April 19, 2022

Representation: depression, PTSD, veteran, anxiety, women in STEM

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.