Title: Part of Your World
Author: Abby Jimenez
Narrators:  Julia Whelan & Zachary Webber
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: April 19, 2022
Print length: 400 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 5 minutes
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Library
Rating:

After seeing rave reviews for Abby Jimenez’s books for a few years now, I decided to borrow Part of Your World when it popped up as “available now” in my library app. What a treat! Sometimes a spontaneous borrow is exactly right.

In Part of Your World, a driving mishap in the middle of nowhere (okay, not exactly nowhere — rural Minnesota, about two hours from Minneapolis) introduces Alexis to Daniel when he comes to her rescue and tows her car out of a ditch. Hungry and rather amused by this nice, charming guy, Alexis accepts his offer of grilled cheese, especially when there’s an opportunity to meet his “kid” (the baby goat he’s fostering). One thing leads to another… but then Alexis goes back to her regular life, never expecting to see him again.

Alexis is an ER doctor working at the hospital her family founded 125 years earlier. In the world of high-profile medicine, her family is royalty. A Montgomery has always led the hospital, and with her parents retired and her elder brother suddenly deciding to continue his medical work overseas, the mantle is passing to Alexis, whether she wants it or not.

But she can’t get Daniel out of her mind, and he can’t stop thinking of her either. Daniel runs a B&B in his small town (where he’s also mayor), works as a carpenter/woodcrafter as a passion, and is deeply embedded in the lives of his neighbors. His life is in Wakan; hers is in Minneapolis. They’re incredibly different. There’s no way they fit together… and yet, as Alexis visits again and again, their chemistry is undeniable, and it’s soon clear that their connection goes well beyond physical.

While this may sound like a sweetness-and-light romance (and parts of it certainly are), there are heavier, more serious themes running through Part of Your World. Most significantly, the book deals substantially with abusive relationships. While there’s a background storyline involving domestic violence woven into the plot, the piece that most severely affects Alexis and her self-esteem, her outlook on life, and her self-criticism and stress is the emotional abuse she suffered for years in her relationship with her ex-boyfriend. It was never overt and certainly never in public, but the consistent demeaning and gaslighting left Alexis with deep wounds and insecurities that color how she moves through the world. Also, importantly, the behavior she lives with for years is both affected by how she interacts with her father and the burden of expectations she places on herself in order to fulfill her parents’ wishes, and this also severely impacts her relationship with Daniel.

In a nutshell, the pressures on Alexis to be what her family expects narrows her worldview to such an extent that she can’t even imagine doing anything but what’s demanded of her — and with that limitation, she can’t envision any possible world in which Daniel fits into her life. I ached for Daniel, who — not understanding Alexis’s experiences or knowing her history — is left feeling that he’s an embarrassment and not good enough for her. I often felt angry with Alexis, but that’s not really fair either. The abuse she lived with scarred her, and while Daniel is hot and kind and amazing, that doesn’t automatically erase everything that came before.

There’s a touch of magical realism in Part of Your World which startled me at first, but I ended up really loving. Nasty people who treat Daniel shamefully are suddenly pelted by acorns falling from the trees in the yard, despite it being the wrong season. A lightning strike, seemingly out of nowhere, knocks a branch from a tree and prevents Alexis from leaving in a moment when she feels all is hopeless. It’s not so frequent as to feel heavy-handed, just a nice, subtle touch that lends a bit of a “forces of nature” element to the love story.

One reason I was eager to listen to this audiobook, once I stumbled across is, is that Julia Whelan is the narrator for the Alexis chapters, and she’s as amazing here as always. Zachary Webber voices Daniel, and he captures his sensitivity and sense of fun to a T.

Part of Your World is romantic and full of small-town charm, but there’s plenty of heartache and sorrow too. The light and dark elements work together very well, and overall, this is a lovely, relatable, and uplifting novel. Highly recommended — and if you’re an audiobook listener, don’t miss out on these terrific narrators!

There’s a companion book set in the same fictional world, with Alexis’s best friend as main character. Can’t wait to read it!