Getting What You Want

GETTING WHAT YOU WANT by Kathy Love is part of a trilogy of books centering on the Stepp sisters. In this novel, Abby is the main character, returning home to Millbrook, Maine, for a temporary job assignment with Rand Corporation. Her sister, Ellie, the local librarian, still lives in Millbrook in the home that belonged to their grandmother, the woman who raised the three sisters, while Abby left town years ago and had been working in Boston as a scientist.

Abby has dreaded coming home. She has bitter memories of their childhood and the classmates who constantly made fun of the three sisters. Abby left home never expecting to return, and now she is about to face her hometown once more for the sake of a job. It is only for a few months, and she loves her career so much that it was worth returning home.

Barely back in town, Abby and Ellie are about to order a meal at the Afternoon Delight when someone from the past recognizes Abby. It's Chase Jordan, whom Abby had such a crush on back in high school, but being the class nerd, no one had paid any attention to her back then, except to taunt and tease. She didn't think Chase would even remember her.

When Chase sees Abby, he is astounded at how beautiful she has become. But he still views her as the stuck up girl he remembers from high school. Abby, on the other hand, is so choked up she can barely speak. She still has feelings for Chase, but thinks he would never feel the same way for her. She still sees herself as the insecure girl from the past. Besides, she has a boyfriend back home, Nelson, who she feels is her perfect life partner. She will not betray Nelson and decides that she can never act upon this crush she has for Chase.

Later that week, Abby attends a party at her boss's home, and finds that many of her old classmates are there as well. It's not a very comfortable situation for her, thinking they will ridicule her as they did when they were kids. While her former classmates welcome her back to town, Abby finds it difficult to feel the same friendly feelings towards them. Chase again notices her rude behavior, and gets the impression that she feels she's better than the rest of them.

After an embarrassing altercation with one of her former classmates, Abby cannot wait to leave the party, and as she finds her way to her car, she hears Chase trying to start up his old truck. Abby seeks him out. This chance encounter allows Chase to see a different side of Abby, and he wants to get to know her better. He asks her out on a date, but Abby tells him she has a significant other, and says she can only be a friend to Chase, nothing more.

As the two get to know each other as "friends", both have a hard time holding back their feelings. Abby questions whether she should be loyal to Nelson, or move on with Chase. And Chase finds that the more he gets to know Abby, the more he likes her as a person.

This reviewer was pleasantly surprised with GETTING WHAT YOU WANT. It was more than just a romance, and while a lot of romances only touch on the "relationship" aspect and "getting there", this novel went into the dynamics of the relationship, comparing Abby's feelings of isolation and loneliness as a child, to Chase's feelings of insecurity as a man. Many romances often only explore the here and now, but in GETTING WHAT YOU WANT, the romance novel becomes a little bit more complex. It was interesting how the author worked this part of the story into the romance, and it worked out quite well. Along those same lines, it's the characters that make a romance work, not necessarily the situation, and the author did a good job developing not only the protagonist and the leading man, but also the minor characters were developed into three dimensional people that "felt real". GETTING WHAT YOU WANT comes highly recommended.