Official Review: Waking Amy by Julieann Dove

[lmoses]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Waking Amy" by Julieann Dove.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Waking Amy is a romance novel written by Julieann Dove. The novel is told in first person POV of Amy Whitfield, a conservative homebody. Amy has been married to her best friend, Wesley, for four years and Waking Amy follows her adventures in learning that her relationship is not what is seems and how she realizes she needs to make a change.

Amy believes she has a great relationship, but after hearing her friends talking about their sex lives, she decides she needs to try something new. After deciding how to spice things up, Amy returns home to find a letter from Wesley stating he is no longer in love with her and wants to end the marriage. Heart broken, Amy tries to make a new plan for her life, but then the emergency room calls to let her know Wesley has been in an accident and is in a coma. Seeing this as her chance to save their marriage and become a woman Wesley wants to stay with forever, she enlists her husband’s doctor, Mark Reilly, for help in changing her from a homebody wife to a sex-bot.

Mark is a young, good looking, bachelor, who agrees to help Amy save her marriage if she can help him shed his playboy image to get a promotion at work. The only problem is, after spending so much time with Mark and learning more about the reasons for why Wesley ended their marriage, Amy begins to question her plans for the future. Struggling with her emotions and thoughts, Amy knows that things will forever be altered when Wesley wakes up, but what she is she not sure of is who she will be when he does.

I rated Waking Amy 3 out of 4 stars. I really enjoyed the way the story was able to evoke strong emotions for Amy’s character and those she interacted with. I found myself tearing up in several scenes, which is rare for me when reading books. I also thought the author did a great job of creating witty banter between the characters that felt real and added to the story line, such as:

He raised his glass to toast me. “Why can't there be support groups for people like us?”
“Because we'd have to go to the meetings and we don't like to go places, remember?”
He winked at me. “I think this will be the beginning of a wonderful friendship, Amy Whitfield.”

The reason I did not give Waking Amy 4 stars was because I felt that the middle of the book dragged for the story-line and the character development of Amy was lacking. The premise of the book is Amy waking up to realize she needs to make a change, but several times I became frustrated that she kept making the same mistakes over and over again, while Mark’s character was full of self-evaluation and depth. There were several chapters that I felt the book was too full of details that slowed the tempo more then it improved it.

I would recommend Waking Amy for fans of romance novels and journeys of self-discovery. The relationship between Amy and Mark felt real and built on unexpected friendship. The side characters also added to the story and emotion of the book, which I always appreciate. Fans of seeing growth and inner evaluation from multiple characters will enjoy getting lost in this book.

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Waking Amy
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Like lmoses's review? Post a comment saying so!

[bookowlie]

Nice, insightful review! I am glad you enjoyed the book. Despite the slow pace, the premise sounds very interesting.

[lmoses]

The second book in the series, Leaving Amy, came out today and has a faster pace and continues the interesting plot Waking Amy did. It also answers a few questions that the first book leaves open. Fans of book 1 will love book two.

[Swiftmover07]

nice review! I had thought about reviewing this book myself but didn't know if I would like it. Kinda wish I had read it now but you did a wonderful job

[kimmyschemy06]

The premise is very interesting. I agree with you, though, that it's, somehow, frustrating when characters do the same mistakes over and over again. However, I think that makes them more.. real Great job on the review.