The Other Side of Us

Another wonderful heartwarming story from Sarah Mayberry.

This is a gorgeous book with flawed characters who find their way back through each other.

So readable.

*3.5 STARS

(Review originally posted here at The Book Barbies.)

The Other Side of Us by Sarah Mayberry is a beautiful romance between two people who should by all accounts have broken due to different circumstances. But they weren't. That was one of the things that made this story so enjoyable. I loved Mackenzie and her tenacity, and I loved Oliver and his brilliant sense of humor. I didn't even mind the dogs too much; Strudel might be the cutest name for a dog ever.

Another aspect of this book that was nice was that both Mackenzie and Oliver were 39 when the story started, which is older than the norm in contemporary romance. It is by no means ancient or anything, obviously, but it made for a nice change of pace from the late-twenties-early-thirties heroes and heroines in stories I tend to read.

I liked the relationship between Mackenzie and Oliver; it developed quickly from the initial dislike, and sweetness and sexiness abounded in equal measure. It was almost simplistic in a way, but it just worked with them.

(Minor spoilers in this paragraph.)Pretty much my only real problem with this book was that Oliver was in the middle of a divorce when they met. Divorce is a sticky issue for me, because I feel like the divorce needs to be finalized before I can support any romantic shenanigans that may happen the story. Unfortunately, this was obviously not the case in this book, so I just tried not to think about it. I know it's a picky thing, but it still bothered me.

Besides the aforementioned issue and a kind of slow beginning, though, I really enjoyed The Other Side of Us. It was all kinds of adorable and fun and sexy and swoony. (Did I mentioned Oliver is a musician...?) It balanced all those wonderful factors with real issues, and the result was pretty great. Sarah Mayberry remains one of my favorite contemporary authors.

I don't read a lot of category romances anymore, but Mayberry was recommended on a few romance review websites so I downloaded this when it was free. Very nicely done and just the right mix of sweet and sexy. Only one minor quibble - why didn't the hero and heroine realize how easily their dogs' mating behavior would lead to a pregnancy and do the responsible thing by spaying and neutering them? . But overall it was refreshing to see that there are still strong category authors out there. I would read Mayberry again if the price was right.