Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Part of Your World

Jimenez mixes romance and comedy with a deep dive into how parental and intimate partner emotional abuse can impact someone who appears to have it all. Throw in some sweet small town charm, serious class differences, and a bit of magic for a unique spin on common romance tropes.
I appreciated the portrayal of a secondary character with mental illness who struggles while being a full member of his community and not being treated as a burden.
*Cute alert: includes a baby goat in pajamas.

Content Warnings

fkshg8465's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Major domestic violence trigger warning. Otherwise, a nice and neat romance. Not too cloying. A woman learning who she really is and stepping into it. A best friend worthy of the title. A boyfriend every woman wants.

Content Warnings

violetheart34's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

nyquillll's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There are parts of this book I really enjoyed and parts of it that seemed to drag on. One of the most challenging things for me was the classism that was rampant in the book - or more so, I could see the book trying to address classism and how it can impact a relationship, but the extent to which it was discussed and how things turned out didn’t allow for more thoughtful dissection.

I liked the MMC and felt like he had so much to offer the FMC, who got on my nerves a bit toward the end. What’s tricky is I understand setting boundaries and clear rules before engaging in a relationship of some kind - but I’m not sure the nuances of respecting those boundaries/seeing how feelings can shift were fully untangled.

I liked the representation of complex family dynamics and learning to live for yourself, I actually didn’t mind as much the age-gap though I thought I would more. I did like how the author portrayed the small town life juxtaposed with the rich glitz and glam, though I will say Alexis it was frustrating at times with how in denial she was. I do appreciate the portrayal of

generational trauma with abusive/manipulative relationships

and finding the strength to believe you deserve better.

Content Warnings

katrinalamothe's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

missbitiz's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

kris_tea516's review

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Review: I feel like I'm being generous by giving this book a 3-star rating. The more I think about it the more I want to give it a 2.5. I didn’t hate this book, though. I hated many parts of it but it wasn’t a terrible story. <<Update>> I did end up lowering the score to 2.5. Every time I think about this book, I think about how much I didn't like it, so that tells me that it really shouldn't have been as highly rated as I originally felt.

Now, I want to clarify that I am not a fan of romance. If I have learned anything by reading so much this year it is I do NOT like romance. I don’t mind if some romance happens in a story as long as it isn’t enough to classify it as a “romance.” (There are a few exceptions to this but they are rare.) Having said that, this story is basically a Hallmark movie. It is very predictable but not awful. I can see why romance fans like this book...not my thing, but I can understand why some like it.

I also feel a little embarrassed to admit I read this. This book, in my opinion, is very explicit. I may be a prude but this was probably the most sexually explicit thing I have ever read. I called it “Hallmark porn” to someone. If she had written this book as a “closed-door” romance, it would probably have shortened it by 1/3.

A lot of this book does deal with domestic abuse, both mental/verbal & physical. Jimenez does a good job dealing with it and includes resources at the end of the book for anyone who might need them.

I have lots of other opinions but I don’t want to accidentally spoil it for anyone who might be interested in it even after (or maybe because of) my review. LOL

Synopsis: Rich, city, lady physician meets super hot, country-boy mayor & carpenter who owns a B&B. Will this end up being more than just a fling?

Content warnings: explicit sex, language, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, alcohol use, mental health/depression, loss, grief, medical trauma, death of a child, birth, traumatic birth, home birth, birth detail, pregnancy

Content Warnings

noellegrace8's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I read the second companion novel first (Yours Truly), which I adored because of the main characters. This was just as good - Jimenez absolutely knows how to write a legit love story. I liked that it was basically like a Hallmark movie (big city professional woman meets small town rough man) but completely turned on its head with inverted tropes, inappropriate ocurrences, unexpected fallout, and suprising sincerity.

Jimenez does a great job at keeping her romance humorous and enveloping while still maintaining a plot line with character development. Both of these companion novels are about love, but also other huge, important concepts. This one in particular focuses on abuse and its different types, obligation to family/ found family, generation gaps, identity, and purpose. It is lighthearted and tense mixed together, just like life. You feel frustration with Alexis sometimes because it feels obvious what she should choose, but Jimenez, in that way, portrays what it's like to live with the effects of abuse and control.

Fair warning that this book has a higher level of spice than Yours Truly; they are not comparable in that manner.

A couple things that bugged me were how many times people "blinked at one another" and "sucked air through their teeth." I'm surprised an editor didn't point out the overuse of those descriptors. Also, I love The Princess Bride, but somehow I found the use of quotes from it a little cheesy. I don't think it's an actual or valid piece of criticism on my part haha, but I guess it just came off as incongruent to me. Lastly, I'm not a huge fan of the "acts of God/magic" thing. Random things happen in the book that have no explanation other than divine intervention. They're never explained, and it's a bit cheesy.

I don't factor audiobook performance into the star rating of the book itself, but I give both Julia Whelan and Zachary Webber 5⭐️'s.

Content Warnings

More...