Pulled
Author: Amy Lichtenhan
Review Copy Provided By Author Via Goodreads
Description:
For nine years, they drift through life, unable to forget the one who holds the strings to their hearts. In an attempt to escape the pain of her past, Melanie finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage, while Daniel loses himself in a career that means nothing without Melanie by his side. Now, when their lives intersect, neither can deny the connection they felt so long ago. But will the power that drew them together be enough to heal the wounds from their past, and do they have the courage to overcome the insecurities and fears that threaten to keep them apart? Pulled is a story of attraction and separation, of destiny and duty, of a love so strong it refuses to give up even when all others have.
Review:
It always sucks when you pick up a book by an author you enjoyed before, looking for a good read, and then are underwhelmed and unfortunately, that book was Pulled for me. I had previously read Take This Regret and really enjoyed it – it was the perfect length, not too overdone in the angst, and yet, just angsty enough (yes, that is a bit of a contradiction, but hopefully you know what I mean). So I was looking forward to reading Pulled – but by the end of it, I was decidedly underwhelmed.
I think my major issue was that it was in general too long and needed to be edited down a bit. I felt like the story dragged on. It wasn’t the sharp telling that was in her other books. Now, I know that this is her first book, so that could explain it – it is just the development of her writing style over time. I think this one could stand to be re-worked and edited a bit.
My other issue was with the ages of the characters. For me, everything that had happened in the previous ten years for the characters didn’t ring true. Friends of mine always laugh because I get so involved in the book and stuff like this irked me – but to me it comes down to research. Having a friend who just finished her residency after med school, I know a little bit about how the timing works. And I was supposed to be/set aside my knowledge and take it for granted that in 10 years, the (guys name here) had gone to college (3-4 years), finished med school (4 years), completed an internal medicine residency (3 years), as well as an oncology fellowship (3 years) (info about residencies was taken from the Mayo Clinic website) – all of which would be required for him to be licensed as an oncologist as the story called for…or at least, that it what I am assuming, since he was part of his family medical practice in oncology…at a minimum that time line would be 13 years later, not 10…and from the way it was described, he was decently well established (although, come to think of it, he was never mentioned to actually be seeing patients). With brings me to another gripe – if you are going to give characters a career, then at least make it kind of important to the book. What good is it to have a doctor as a character, if you never actually see that side of him…(rant off).
The book also hit a few hot topics for me and I wish that there had been some warning as to content – when it comes to things like domestic violence and cheating, many readers, especially in a romance, want that warning – so that they know what they are getting themselves in for. Although, I think I am in the minority, because for the most part it seems people have given this 4 and 5 stars, but I’m struggling to come up with a reason that I should give it 3, and I’m leaning strongly towards 2. It’s a pity that this just didn’t work for me, because I do think that A.L. has the potential to become a great author – but I definitely, wouldn’t recommend this book as one to start with, if you are going to read her stuff. It will be interesting to me to see how her other book (Collide) stands up when compared to this one and her other one.
I honestly don’t know if I would recommend Pulled to anyone. I gave it 2 stars, mostly because I finished it and there was a HEA at the end, but other than that…
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