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I Can Make You Love Me is the story of a single mother in her early-forties, and the younger man who is determined to win her heart. It’s a pleasant, but ultimately average read.
Real estate attorney Adam Carlyle has never forgotten Wynn Evans, his childhood babysitter and first crush. After Wynn went off to college when Adam was 5, he didn’t see her again for 25 years. But a chance meeting in a Detroit deli shows Adam that Wynn is just as beautiful as he remembers. Determined to sweep her off her feet, Adam pulls out all the stops to romance Wynn.
Wynn Evans is 43 and a successful business owner, but she’s also divorced, and a single mother to two young boys. At first she honestly doesn’t believe that a young, handsome, successful man such as Adam could be interested in her romantically. As Adam’s courtship progresses, however, Wynn starts to believe. But how serious should she take Adam’s courtship? Is Adam really in this for the long haul, or just until the sexual attraction wanes?
I’ll be honest: at first the whole former babysitter thing seemed a little squicky to me, and I worried that I just wouldn’t be able to jump that mental hurdle. To my surprise though, I got over it pretty soon. First, because Wynn was Adam’s babysitter only until age 5, and that was 25 years ago. Second, because once the romance begins (very early on), it’s abundantly clear that these are two mature adults, and very little time is spent on the past.
I Can Make You Love Me is an enjoyable, if average, read. There are no glaring problems; I just wasn’t wowed. It’s a quiet story that, for the majority of the book, follows the normal dating path. For most of the book, I could have put it down for long periods of time just because I didn’t have that urge to see what happens next. Near the end, though, the pace picks up considerably – dramatic stuff happens – and I didn’t want to put it down at all, so it ended on a high note.
Both Adam and Wynn are characters I both liked and respected, although Adam seemed a little too good to be true. The author did a good job of making Wynn feel real – like a woman I would know in real life – and although I would have liked to read more from Adam’s perspective, I still got a good feel for his character through Wynn’s POV. Plus, I think because much of the story followed the normal dating path, I was definitely sold on the HEA.
The conflict was a bit predictable in that many of Adam and Wynn’s family members were bothered by their age difference, but a little unpredictable in that Wynn got over that particular issue with relative ease. Wynn’s children didn’t get much page space, so they were a little two-dimensional, but what is shown of their behavior seemed pretty realistic.
While I Can Make You Love Me is overall an average read, it’s still a fairly enjoyable one and you could certainly do worse than give this one a shot.
Grade: C+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 12/10/09
Publication Date: 2009
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.