Official Review: Just The Beginning by Maria Goode

Jennifer Allsbrook · Post by **Jennifer Allsbrook** » 19 Jul 2017, 19:51

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Just The Beginning" by Maria Goode.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Just the Beginning by Maria Goode takes readers on a journey of personal growth, love, tragedy, and perseverance. Lizzie Bryan, a young student teacher, encounters Rahul Chaudhary, a dentist visiting schools to share the importance of dental hygiene. Rahul immediately senses a strong attraction for the blonde and vivacious teacher. Sharing the day and lunch together, the two hit it off but go their separate ways. Rahul cannot shake the image of Lizzie from his mind and seeks her out at her weekend job at a local retail shop to ask her out. Pleased and surprised to see the dark and handsome dentist, Lizzie gladly accepts his invitation. Thus begins what Lizzie would discover is an unlikely and forbidden relationship, for Rahul is a Sikh.

Rahul’s parents are pressuring him to enter into an arranged marriage with a Sikh girl that they have chosen for him. Rahul only wants to marry for love. When he meets Lizzie, he willingly disobeys his parents’ wishes and journeys down the path of emotional and physical love that opens his mind, body, and heart to Lizzie whom he calls his “beautiful English rose.” A shared love of running, sensual attraction, and the ability to have fun together allow Rahul and Lizzie to build a life together. Readers follow the two lovers as their relationship grows and they face the hardships associated with their cultural differences and parental disapproval. Will the two lovers overcome the many obstacles that could stand in the way of their happily ever after?

Maria Goode builds an intricate cast of characters in Just the Beginning. Not only are the protagonists interesting and bold characters but also the supporting characters add layers of significance to this story. From Rahul’s Dentistry partner, Chris Johnson, to Lizzie’s best friend Lucy, the chemistry and deep friendships provide authentic and true to life relationships. Goode includes moments of humor, passion, suspense, and tenderness that the reader can enjoy. Both Lizzie’s and Rahul’s parents play key roles where the Bryan’s are accepting of Rahul and supportive of the couple while the Chaudhary’s support comes from Rahul’s mother only. She loves her son and sees that he genuinely loves Lizzie but his father cannot see past the cultural differences and disowns his son. Abandonment by his father angers and saddens Rahul and provides much of the conflict that the couple faces.

Being a romance fan, I enjoyed reading this story. The author developed a sweet and abiding love between Lizzie and Rahul with their love-making adding to the story without being graphic and raw. The thing I enjoyed most involved descriptions of the couple’s travels, the different settings the couple found themselves in, and the meals they prepared together. All these aspects of the story brought the couple to life for the reader. The thing I liked least about the story involved finding some of the language strange because the British author used slang terms and phrases like “bits and bobs” or “bubble and squeak.” Also, the spelling of many words jumped out as typos before I remembered the differences between American and British English. To me, the story seemed overly long and could have reached its climax and resolution in fewer pages. The author also did not provide as much background about the Sikh people as I would have liked.

Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Love, conflict, complex relationships, and following characters’ personal growth always make for an intriguing read. I recommend this story to fans of romantic fiction or those who enjoy reading about others’ relationships.

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Just The Beginning
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Mercelle · Post by **Mercelle** » 22 Jul 2017, 06:25

I'm a sucker for romance. This is definitely a must read.

jaysaa · Post by **jaysaa** » 22 Jul 2017, 07:08

Nice book really love it carrying message

Post by **kandscreeley** » 22 Jul 2017, 07:19

I do enjoy complex relationships. Sometimes they are so unrealistic. Still I'm not a huge romance fan.

Jennifer Allsbrook · Post by **Jennifer Allsbrook** » 22 Jul 2017, 11:55

Mercy Bolo wrote:I'm a sucker for romance. This is definitely a must read.

This was a sweet love story. It had a few tragic twists but HEA prevailed.

Nyajimo · Post by **Nyajimo** » 22 Jul 2017, 12:01

Am already carried away by the synopsis.... I need this

IsabelMay · Post by **IsabelMay** » 22 Jul 2017, 13:14

This sounds like a wonderful mix of several genres, but I like the original take on an arranged marriage. I think this could be a great book for young adults as well. Thank you for the lovely review.

Pm7lucas · Post by **Pm7lucas** » 22 Jul 2017, 14:38

This review was very helpful in determining if I wanted to read the book. I'm not a huge romance fan, and if I'm going to read one, it has to have something else going for it besides romance. While this sounds like the cultural differences could have been that "thing", the review states that the author doesn't give as much background on the Sikh as she would have liked. I think I will skip this one. Thanks for this very helpful review!

Paula

Jennifer Allsbrook · Post by **Jennifer Allsbrook** » 22 Jul 2017, 20:22

Pm7lucas wrote:This review was very helpful in determining if I wanted to read the book. I'm not a huge romance fan, and if I'm going to read one, it has to have something else going for it besides romance. While this sounds like the cultural differences could have been that "thing", the review states that the author doesn't give as much background on the Sikh as she would have liked. I think I will skip this one. Thanks for this very helpful review!

Paula

I had recently read about the Sikh people and so had that background. For people unfamiliar you can figure it out eventually but not at first. The story was good and had others aspects that made it interesting.

mukaminjenga · Post by **mukaminjenga** » 23 Jul 2017, 10:08

Conflicts in a forbidden relationship.

ebethina · Post by **ebethina** » 23 Jul 2017, 16:57

Thanks for sharing

LadyClaire · Post by **LadyClaire** » 24 Jul 2017, 17:26

Your review is really informative, thanks a lot. Just the beginning by Maria Goode seems cool but I've read lots of novels with same story line so I think I'll skip this one.

AncaPaic · Post by **AncaPaic** » 25 Jul 2017, 10:24

there is nothing like a good romance book.

Jennifer Allsbrook · Post by **Jennifer Allsbrook** » 25 Jul 2017, 20:57

AncaPaic wrote:there is nothing like a good romance book.

I couldn't agree more!!

-- 25 Jul 2017, 20:58 --

LadyClaire wrote:Your review is really informative, thanks a lot. Just the beginning by Maria Goode seems cool but I've read lots of novels with same story line so I think I'll skip this one.

Thank you for the positive comments. The marathon running by the couple is something I had never come across in another story.

MrsCatInTheHat · Post by **MrsCatInTheHat** » 25 Jul 2017, 21:32

This just got added to my "MUST read" list. It sounds like the perfect book to cuddle on the couch for hours with and just forget the world.

-- 25 Jul 2017, 22:35 --

Well, I was going to add it to my list but I can't find the button to add it to the list. Didn't those used to be included at the top of each review?