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Have you ever gone into a book with certain expectations only to be served up a whole bunch of something else? Sometimes that can make a book an unexpected treasure and sometimes it can go horribly wrong. I went into When You Are Mine by Kennedy Ryan with the expectation of a contemporary romance and a dim knowledge that there was a love triangle.

First I want to discuss what worked for me because there was a lot that did work for me. I really liked all of the action Ryan was able to pack into When You Are Mine. We run the emotional gamut with the Walsh/Bennetts. We get to experience all manner of things with them; grief, love, happiness, fear, need, want determination, and stubbornness in spades. I enjoyed all of that. I liked the characters and even loved some of them. The settings really added to the story as well. They varied as far apart as a quaint, quiet, idyllic cottage to New York City. Plus, the Walshs have a foundation that takes care of a lot of charitable duties that include scholarships, orphanages, and just in general being really awesome people. We got to experience so much in one book and that aspect of the book truly saved this from being a DNF (which would have been my first ever).

The we come to what didn’t work for me. My expectations as a romance reader are almost more restrictive. I expect for a love triangle to settle to a couple. I expect loyalty, a solid decision, love, closure and I just didn’t get that from When You Are Mine. The constant back and forth between characters almost drove me over the edge. I was pretty frustrated and kept hoping for some solid closure. Nope. I’m sure about what I wanted to happen, I’m just not sure how I expected it to happen. I started out loving Walsh, Cam, and Kerris but I didn’t like the people they become.

Overall, I think my problem with this book is all about my reader expectations. I just checked GoodReads and everyone else is raving about it. I hate it when I want to love a book so much and I can’t even say I liked the main characters all that much at the end. The good news is that because of the fast-clipped pace I invested about a day in When You Are Mine by Kennedy Ryan. If love triangles in the contemporary world laced with philanthropical ventures is what your looking for When You Are Mine may be for you.

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About Kennedy Ryan

Kennedy Ryan grew up in North Carolina, but loves living in Atlanta with her husband (tall – check, dark – check – handsome – check), and her handful of a son. Though she knew, like writers often do, that she was supposed to tell stories, the road to fulfillment has been paved with “some of everything” jobs that kept her family eating and living indoors. With her degree in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Tar Heels!), she has focused on writing for non-profit organizations and even doing some non-fiction ghost writing. Only in the last few years did she start telling stories again.

In addition to being a devoted wife and mom, she’s also a passionate advocate for families living with Autism. Her son was diagnosed at the age of two, and she has made it her mission to help as many families as possible find the resources and services they need. 25% of her royalties will go toward her national charitable partner Talk About Curing Autism and Myles-A-Part, her foundation serving Georgia families.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and on her Website.