“Love follows you. It goes where you go. It doesn’t know about social divides or distance or common sense. It doesn’t even stop when the person you love dies. It does what it wants.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Even if what you want is to not be in love.”
I started Part of Your World hoping for a light, fun romance. That isn’t exactly what I got. I knew after starting it that this book was going to hurt me, and it did. In the best way, but it still hurt.
Alexis is a doctor at a hospital where her family has been practicing for 150 years. There has always been a Montgomery doctor on staff, and when Alexis’ parents retire and her brother moves to another country, she’s left holding the weight of her family’s legacy on her shoulders. Her father isn’t a nice person, and he isn’t proud of Alexis. He thinks she can and should be doing more. An ER doctor isn’t good enough. Not only that, but Alexis ended a perfectly good relationship with Neil, a surgeon who is ten years her senior. Despite the fact that he cheated on her and has been verbally abusing her for years, her father wants her to make the relationship work.
One night when she’s driving home from a funeral, Alexis gets stuck in the small town of Wakan. Daniel Grant, a local carpenter, mayor and B&B owner stops to help her get back on the road. Alexis stops at a local bar and restaurant afterward and runs into Daniel and his friends. His friends have taken bets on who can get Alexis to go home with them. Alexis is amused by this and leaves with Daniel who offers to make her dinner since she didn’t end up eating out.
Suddenly, Alexis and Daniel are meeting whenever they can. They live two hours apart but Alexis can’t stop thinking about him and vice versa. Even though she doesn’t want a relationship, love or commitment, she can’t stay apart from Daniel. Even as her life gets more complicated because of her family, job and Neil, Alexis and Daniel keep seeing each other.
She knows they can’t fit into each other’s lives, but she also can’t stop the relationship. This was the first contemporary romance I have read where class and wealth played such a big factor. Daniel and Alexis’ lives were vastly different, but I loved that Alexis used meeting Daniel as a way to give herself new perspective. She couldn’t do laundry, cook, clean, or fix anything. But with Daniel, she learned a new side to herself.
Daniel is an amazing character. I adored him so much, and if I met him in real life I’d probably faint. He is a devoted, loving person who cares about everyone he meets. He loves with his entire heart, wearing his heart on his sleeve and being there for everyone he knows.
This story is beautiful, but it was hard to read at times. This story focuses on the struggles of several women with different forms of domestic abuse, so if this is a topic you struggle with, keep that in mind before reading. The author includes domestic abuse information at the end of the book because unfortunately many people are in relationships where they feel they can’t ask for help. But there is help, and there are ways to get help. I am lucky enough to be in a loving, happy marriage, but I still struggled with reading some of the scenes of domestic abuse in this book.
That being said, this book is fabulous. Abby Jimenez wrote an incredible story, and I am so excited to check out more of her books.
Of Worlds Forgotten 
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