Love Me if you Must

Love Me If You Must is apparently the first novel for Nicole Young. When I look for books to read, I always read the first couple of pages. If I am interested I read the book, if I can't get past the first page or two, I know I will never get into the book.

So when I read the first page of this book, I thought that it would be a great mystery with some humor.

This book is about Patricia "Tish" Amble. She has moved to a small town in my home state of Michigan. She buys old Victorians and renovates them. Tish has a past that she's running from and ends up moving in next to a cop, Brad. Her other neighbors include a nosey community watch lady (she's serious about that job) and a very handsome David, British and recently separated. As Tish sets about renovating the Victorian, she finds an old cistern in the basement she wants to demolish. She has a crew come in to help and finds out she needs permission from the city council since it is a historical house. As she is discussing the details with the crew, she sees a body trapped in the cement of the cistern. It seems however she is the only one that sees it. Adding to the apparent mystery of the body, she also looks like someone who used to live in this small town, someone who left under bad circumstances.

Add to the mix that both Brad and David seem enamored with her, there's a lot going on in this book, maybe too much. It was an enjoyable read and I understand why she threw out so many characters, but sometimes it seemed like to much. The ending was harsh to say the least. She has so much going on throughout the book, it feels like she just ran out of steam and creativity at the end and just slapped it together to be done with it.

She does have a sequel Kill Me If You Can which I may read, but I'm not sure if I really care enough about her character to read on...





I give it a 2 out of 5