whitneydaniell

How many fedoras are too many for a 38-year-old man? No shade to Cyril Dash but, I was sick and tired of this man and his matching fedoras.

It’s been years since Dr. Imani Kemp has returned home to Peachtree Cove, Georgia. As Tallahassee’s most sought-after OB-GYN, she doesn’t have much time for anything else. But when her mom announces she’s marrying a man she just met on a dating app, Imani knows she has to put a stop to it immediately. Let her mom be hurt again after the disastrous way her last marriage ended? Absolutely not. Always her protector, Imani won’t rest until her mom sees reason. She just never expected sparks to fly with the groom’s son…

After his mother’s tragic death, Cyril Dash and his father relocated to Peachtree Cove to escape the gossip and speculation. Now, in this quirky small town, they’ve made a new life for themselves, and after years of grief, his dad has finally found happiness again. And Cyril refuses to let Imani threaten that. The more determined he is to prove the strength of his dad’s love, the more drawn he is to this beautiful, complicated woman who’s determined to call off the wedding.

But when Cyril’s heartbreaking past comes to light, destiny won’t be denied. Because the secret to this southern wedding is you never know how far you’ll go in the name of love.

GoodReads

I. Characters

While the story is told from two POVs, the chapters aren’t separated into sections where we hear one voice at a time. Instead, all the chapters share an equal mix of both Cyril and Imani’s perspectives. I didn’t mind this mash-up of POVs but, I’ll jump more into that when I get to the writing of the book.

We meet Imani Kemp first. She is newly named ‘Doctor of the Year’ at Mid-State Health, and by all accounts, she is a successful and beautiful OB-GYN. To escape her small town, Peachtree Cove, Georgia, and the sordid history she has there, she finds herself in Tampa, FL, going along to get along. When an unexpected and shocking text from her mother, brings her back to her childhood town, Dr. Kemp can’t begin to take in what her small town has become and who the cute guy at the Dairy Bar is.

It would seem that the Dairy Bar is on the outskirts of town, but somehow, this is where Cyril Dash and Imani meet, unknowingly where their paths will eventually cross. Cyril is a transplant from Baltimore, MD. He and his dad, Preston, moved down after a tragic family event tore them away from the only family they knew. However, the people of Peachtree Cove have taken in Cyril and his dad and have been the extended family that they needed. Cyril is a handsome business owner who has been bitten by the small-town bug and has no intentions of going back up north to Baltimore.

Preston Dash and Linda Kemp found love later in life after they both went through traumatic experiences with their exes. Preston, a widower, and Linda, a single mother, both have a lot of love left to give to one another. A wedding, though, may be too soon. However, the affection, desire, understanding, and patience that these two have for one another is endearing and love that I would wish for anyone.

Honorable Mentions:

Halle, Imani’s cousin, I need her backstory. Who is her daughter’s father and why doesn’t she want anyone to know? How did we get a snippet of Joanne’s story and not hers?

Tracy, Imani’s close, childhood friend, I need her current story. From what I gathered, her husband is cheating on her with the front-desk lady, Monique (I think that’s her name). How is it that her husband has to go help his cousin all the time and Monique is conveniently helping family at the same time?

II. The Story / Plot

If you didn’t see where this story was going from chapter 3, then slap some Ray Bans on you and call you Ray Charles because… DUH

I can’t say that I liked or disliked the story itself. It was just very predictable. Halfway through the book, I had thought of a few things that I would have done differently if I had written this book.

1. The timeline was moving too slowly. I would have picked up the pace of the book and given Imani, Cyril, Preston, and Linda more time to develop their emotions and feelings. As a reader, I check out when there is whirlwind, quick romances that are hot & heavy — it’s not realistic.
2. The family history of both families, the Kemps and the Dashs, it was too much. I would have written them both to a have more deeper connected issues, not something that could have been easily googled and proven. While I understood the conflict of “trust” I just didn’t see that as a big “gotcha” when you can google and find the truth. I didn’t like the family trauma on both ends, give me one trauma.
3. The catalyst to everything is a wayward Aunt who pops up out of nowhere. I would have led up to the conflict. Maybe the Aunt has family in the area or was calling and reaching out first. Now I know, Preston called her, but she just appeared, no warning. And you happen to see Cyril off the side of the road. I mean, okay – farfetched but ok

Look, it wasn’t my favorite love story but it wasn’t the worst. I wouldn’t liken this to a Tyler Perry film so, that’s a plus. It was just very predictable, down to the very last chapter.

III. The Writing

As I mentioned before, the point of view from Imani and Cyril are mashed up together in each chapter. While I didn’t mind that in the beginning, it did get annoying as the plot thickened and the story began to unfold. I do wish that both protagonists had their own chapters, in their own voice I think that would have made following the story easier.

Other than that, my only other gripe was the mistakes, misspellings, and overall grammar errors in the writing. NOW TO BE FAIR, I READ AN ADVANCED COPY which often is not the copy that goes to print, so that is not a judgment on the writer because I’m sure the copy that went to print did not have the same errors. For example, on page 161 they’re at the meat market with Mr. Crowley however, in dialogue with Cyril and Mr. Crowley, Cyril says “Mr. Corley.”

Oh and speaking of the meat market, what happened with Kaden? Did he have a boy or a girl? I loved the inclusion of the LGBTQIA community and their need for inclusive healthcare however, it fell flat! It was like an afterthought or something added to make Imani feel more endearing, more kind – IDK, it didn’t curl all the way over for me.

And speaking of Imani and not curling over, she was emotionally immature and needed therapy more than she needed some good di*k. Her mother’s perspective of love and men throughout her formative years did a number on them both. The last thing the Kemp women needed was a new man to play with, they needed a licensed medical professional to talk to!

My Final Thought: This was a cute read. I needed this love story to break up all the heavy books I’d read this month. I love a good small-town romance no matter how unrealistic it seems. I love professional, educated, and successful black people. I’ve said it a million times, I will always read a book by, for, and about black women.