If I Say Yes (Say Something #1) By Brandy Jellum-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 20, 2014

Elizabeth Lewis was the child of Hollywood’s darling couple, until her father murdered her mother.

Six years later, she has traded her flashy, luxurious lifestyle for one of safe anonymity as a literary agent. With a different name and appearance, Liza Winter is living the life of her dreams—one where she’s known for who she is instead of what her father did. Except her apartment should be condemned, her car only starts when it wants, she hates the romance genre she has been assigned, and the CEO’s deliciously attractive nephew is out to ruin her carefully laid plans.

Reid Harder has never met an obstacle he couldn’t overcome. When his new position in the romance department comes with a benefit his uncle didn’t mention, he decides to wage a war against the intelligent, beautiful Liza to destroy every argument she has for turning him down. Still, the closer he gets to winning the prize, the more he realizes that the woman is keeping secrets that may endanger not just her life but his.

Will Liza overcome her mistrust of Reid to reveal her secrets before he learns the truth and walks away? Or will a grudge-wielding apparition from her past make her the next deadly Hollywood headline?

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This book was a unique package. You get murder, crazy stalkers, lots of secrets, a brewing love story, and best of all some really unexpected twists. I’m not sure if this book was a romantic thriller or romantic suspense but whatever it was, I liked it. There was just so much brewing in this book so to speak and the author sure knew how to work it to her advantage to keep you on your toes throughout the entire book. The correlation between the murder of Liza’s mother and the scary emails from the stalker, Reid onto Liza trying to find out what she’s hiding from him no matter how much she tried to keep him out and the building romance that Liza fights tooth and nail. All of it brewing that it made me wonder when it was all going to blow up in Liza’s face.

My most favorite part was when Liza and Reid first meet. Liza is in an interesting predicament where the CEO’s wife dislikes Liza and wants to get rid of Liza. The thing is she makes it known that she wants the company rid of Liza. So in an effort to keep her job and possibly get transferred out of the romance department and into the horror department, she goes to talk to the CEO. Although she comes in with the intention of talking to the CEO, she ends up ranting and stuffing her foot in her mouth in front of not the CEO but the nephew of the CEO, Reid. I thought the scene was really hilarious and to make things worse she also finds out that Reid is the head of the Romance department. All I could think of was, “Nice one Liza.” LOL

This book also provided the nice aspects of a slowly building love story as well as good character development which I enjoyed very much. It was a joy to watch Liza and Reid’s relationship grow slowly at a more realistic rate. Yes when they first meet the attraction was instantaneous but they also danced around each other getting to know each other before they really did anything physical which was towards the end of the book. I admit that it did get annoying when both Liza and Reid had this whole hot and cold attitude. It was like one minute they were kissing each other like they couldn’t get enough of each other and then the next minute one of them would act as if they couldn’t be in the other’s presence any longer. Don’t get me wrong I really like Liza and Reid as a couple but a person could only take so much fickle-mindedness. The annoyance was very easy to overlook because Reid and Liza do stay together at one of Reid’s places and it was then that they let their walls down in front of each other. It was a very nicely written turning point for the couple.

Then there is the character development for Liza. In the beginning I got the vibe that she was a bitter and quiet girl who just ran away from all her problems. I can also see that she was a control freak. But throughout the book, you can actually see Liza mature in the sense that she tries to face all her issues one by one. In the end of the book, Liza does face her demons of going to the house of her childhood, visiting her father in prison, learning to realize that she does have a right to be loved and accepts a marriage proposal from Reid and even has to face her best friend Elias that they won’t be more than friends. Most of all, Liza learns to let go of some control and trust again. I admit that her stringing Elias along even though she couldn’t return his amorous feelings towards her but kept around as a crutch in her life was a little cruel. Although I frowned on that, I can also understand where Liza was coming from that she needed a friend to keep her sane as well as so she didn’t have to be alone in the world.

This book surprised me and I did enjoy every minute of reading it. Brandy has done well to keep the reader engaged and on edge which I admire is an art in itself. I take off my hat to her on pulling that off. The ending caught me by surprise and I look forward for the next book. ☺

Reviewed by Xtina

Copy supplied by the author

Brandy’s passion for writing began long before she actually sat down to write. As a child, she has had an obsession with reading. Everything from the classic stories by Jane Austen to YA Fiction by Richelle Mead. Finally, in 2012, she decided to create her own stories for people to fall in love with. Brandy bounces back and forth writing both Young Adult Fiction and Romance.

When she isn’t writing, she can be found chasing after her husband, her four children and her black lab Diesel. Or curled up on her favorite corner of the couch with her newest book.

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