If You Say So by Megan Reinking: Book Review

 **ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own. 

The Book

When Sydney Peterson’s mother was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s years ago, her gut

reaction was to run, finding it much too hard to stay and face the harsh reality. Years later, she

finds herself back home in northern Minnesota as the lead architect on a large renovation project,

and she’s determined to push aside the lingering heartbreak that ruminates while she’s there. As

if that wasn’t hard enough, she comes face to face with another ghost from her past—one she

has long despised. Cole Fredrickson. A grumpy cabin owner who refuses to sell the land she

was hoping to attain.

When a phone call inquiring about the sale of his cabin prompts Cole Fredrickson to

travel home to check on the property, he finds the place in need of some fixing up after having

neglected it for far too long. While there, he encounters not only past demons of his own, but a

spunky, hint-of-a-flame from high school who proves to be irritatingly persistent about buying it.

What she doesn’t know is that he doesn’t plan on ever selling—especially to her. But that

doesn’t mean he won’t enjoy watching her try.

Will their pasts threaten to keep them both firmly stuck in their ways? Or will coming

together prove to be exactly what the other needs to heal?

The Author

Megan Reinking is a wife and mother who lives in Minnesota, where she spends her days reading, writing, or chauffering her three children around town. She's a homebody who loves quiet, lazy days and connecting with family and friends.

Book Review

If You Say So is the second book in the Ruby Lodge series. While you'll see some familiar characters from the first book if you've already read it, I do think this could be enjoyed as a standalone as well. 

Simply put, I absolutely adored this book. Cole and Sydney went to high school together and for a brief moment had a connection that never had a chance to go anywhere when he left town abruptly without a word. Years later, they're both back in town- with him refusing to sell his uncle's cabin and her trying to change his mind. The chemistry between these two was absolutely undeniable. The story alternates back and forth between present day and their history back in high school... seeing everything that happened between them and the struggles they were facing in their individual families at the time only made seeing them finally get their chance at a hard fought happily ever after all that much better. This was a deeply emotional story, but beautifully tender and romantic. There was such a vulnerability between these two and I absolutely couldn't get enough of the two of them together. 

If You Say So is a closed-door romance with a few fade-to-black moments/implied intimacy. It does have a bit of minor language as well. The story does deal with some difficult topics like a parent with Alzheimer's and abuse (not on pages) and while they were handled with sensitivity, it could still be triggering for some readers.  


You can purchase your copy here: https://amzn.to/42dVGmZ