Customer Reviews

When a Man Loves a Woman

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When a man loves a woman will he truly do what ever it takes to make her happy? Well this books shouts loudly, "Without a doubt!"

The female character, Debra, was not the one I focused in on because she was somewhat self-absorbed (which she realizes later) but I focused mainly on the men in her life... they truly loved this woman in a way very few men will do ... with THEIR hearts wide open... we are so used to seeing the women go through the pain and heartache of unrequited love that when we read it in a role reversal some have the tendency to say 'this is unbelieveable'... There are truly men out there who love their women to the point of mind blowing intensity that they can scarcely breathe... we women are not the only ones to feel that type of emotion regardless of stereotypes....

Thanks to Alina we have a peek into that sort of "emotional male psyche" that few of us will (unfortunately) get a chance to see (or live) in our life time... All consuming Love and Passion when a man truly loves a woman....

Give me a break! While the #1 reviewer did an excellent job recounting the story (which I won't bore you with again), I disagree with here contention that this is a five star story. It plodded along while Deborah acts oblivious to the fact that her friend (who she talks to and shares all of her problems, trials and tribulations with) has, is -- and always will be in love with her. She tells this guy more than she does her husband when they are in med school, she takes a job after her residency in the same hospital that he works -- having kept in contact with him over the years by long distance telephone calls that went on for hours. This is an implausible "contemporary" tale. What spouse would smilingly take this kind of behavior?? Please, don't bother buying this one. Go to the library and check it out if you must ot buy it used!!

I am a voracious reader, and usually can't wait to escape into a book like "When A Man Loves A Woman." However, this book just went into the trash, and I won't finish it.

It is astounding to me that the author chose to stage the main characters' first sexual encounter on the evening of the woman's husband of twenty years' funeral. Even for a work of fiction, it's too farfetched for any reader to believe.

I can't recommend this book.

I really enjoyed Alina Adams' WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN for many of the same reasons I loved her prior romance, ANNIE'S WILD RIDE: great writing, well-drawn and realistic characters, believable dialogue and story-telling. It is just one of those increasingly rare examples of romances, where the love story at the center of the book in and of itself is actually interesting and compelling enough to support an entire book. There's no need for extras: psycho-killer/suspense element so popular in many contemporary romances or the campy supernatural/mystical setting. The characters are ordinary and have real problems and issues which are not going to be magically resolved, that draw the reader in. Also, as both h/h are doctors, the medical profession is nicely utilized as background material, which provides added depth to this book.

and not just the typical boy and girl meet and fall in love, then live happily ever after. This book is more than that. It is the story of 2 doctors, Dr. james Elliott and Dr. Deb Brody, who have been friends for 20 years, and when the husband of Dr. Brody dies, they both find that their frienship is in jeopardy due to the feelings that they have hidden, from themselves and the world, for 20 years. They risk losing their frienship entirely over unspoken feelings and miscommunications.

I thought that this story, while a little hard to believe at times, was a very enjoyable read.

and not just the typical boy and girl meet and fall in love, then live happily ever after. This book is more than that. It is the story of 2 doctors, Dr. james Elliott and Dr. Deb Brody, who have been friends for 20 years, and when the husband of Dr. Brody dies, they both find that their frienship is in jeopardy due to the feelings that they have hidden, from themselves and the world, for 20 years. They risk losing their frienship entirely over unspoken feelings and miscommunications.

I thought that this story, while a little hard to believe at times, was a very enjoyable read.

This book is not just another fairy tale, where the hero happens upon the heroine, and because she is so beautiful and perfect, falls madly in love with her. This is a romance for adults, who know that love doesn't always come in neat little packages or tidy boxes. Sometimes love is a storm of passion, and sometimes it is a quiet evening of building card houses.

Granted, the see-sawing back and forth grew a little old, but this author, above all else, made the reader believe in the realness of her characters.

This book was very disappointing.It does not get interesting until the end of the story when Drs. Brody and Elliott renew there friendship. I never heard of "just close friends" becoming intimate the evening of the funeral of a spouse. I was looking forward to reading more by this author,but I think I'll pass.

I was torn, oh so torn, on what grade to give this book. It's really 4 1/2 stars for me. On the one hand, Ms. Adams is incredibly fresh, imaginative and unique. Her characters are grownups, and do truly original things like build card houses or fly nonstop to nowhere while grieving. She also has a talent for imagery and especially metaphors, for example: "the people in the window were like the negatives of a photograph, ghostly visages who merely looked like the two of them." I loved the characters, the plot, and the relationship in this book, and I truly believe Ms. Adams has the potential to become one of the best romance writers in the genre, as great as Laura Kinsale, Patricia Gaffney or Judith Ivory, but with a contemporary flair. HOWEVER...

THIS book doesn't live up to its potential not because of any big problems but because of a hundred little ones that could easily have been fixed. One, thing, that drove, me, absolutely, bonkers, was, all the, UNECESSARY COMMAS, in this, book. Examples: p. 148: "And, by the way, Elliott, please remember, you never.... But, you are..." or "Then, I say, let him try." This is a problem not just with dialogue but with description as well. The infestation of commas breaks up the rhythm constantly. Sentences that are otherwise great stumble and hesitate, stop and start, with, ur, um, uh, uncertainty - on practically every page, and often immediately before the last word in the sentence when dramatic impact is essential. There are also unneeded hyphens in what should be single words, like (p.159)"jump-start" and "break-dance." And the book contains copyediting and grammatical mistakes, such as (p. 176) "The passionate details of four months ago had long been encrusted with the guilt and recrimination and chaos that had followed in ITS wake." In this sentence "its" refers to "passionate details," and should therefore be "THEIR wake."

Unnecessary sentences explain and spell out things we already know and don't need to be TOLD because Adams has already done a wonderful job of SHOWING them. I was irritated by the number of single-sentence paragraphs; this technique is dramatic only when used sparingly, and the overuse here undercut the tension of the story. Repetitions sometimes had this effect as well. Though Adams is absolutely gifted with metaphors, occasionally she uses one that creates a jarring image and other times the image is great but the analogy itelf illogical; for example "her skin prickling like flower buds at first spring," doesn't work because buds don't prickle. In some scenes key details are inexplicably missing - Adams describes the tables at a crowded restaurant, but never mentions the cuisine or the décor. She forgets the international millennial festivities in a 1999 New Year's Eve telecast. On the other hand, she makes terrific use of song lyric details in a karaoke scene.

This book had all the big things in place - characters, plot, description. I loved a million things about it. But it was all the little things that could have so easily been cleaned up in the editing phase that will keep me from recommending it to my non-romance reading friends as an example of a well-crafted romance. I still recommend it to every romance reader, though. Not even one out of a hundred romance writers writing today are as talented as this writer, and if she can add quality control to her other achievements, her books will easily be among the very best this genre has to offer.

So often in contemporary romances, authors take two characters that really belong in another century, add a little suspense, and voila, they have a book. Alina Adams's When a Man Loves a Woman takes a different tack - this book deals with contemporary issues in a contemporary way. As a result, the love story feels authentic, and the two main characters are understood and liked by the reader.

Deb Brody and James Elliot have been friends since Med School began twenty years ago. Brody's been married this whole time, Elliot's been a bachelor. They have been best - call in the middle of the night when you're worried, show up when you know the other's in trouble, take care of you when you need it - friends. When Brody's husband dies, their relationship changes. Elliot is in love with Brody, but Brody wants to respect her dead husband.

About halfway through the book some workplace politics cause Brody to think that Elliot betrayed her and the book changes tracks very quickly. She is forced to reassess her relationship with Elliot and her feelings for him.

I enjoyed reading this book because I actually know people like the two main characters. They are flawed, but lovable people. They have made career and personal choices that affect their lives, and they are not 100% comfortable with them. They are the best of friends, but what do you do when the person you need most wants more from you than you're ready to give? What do you do when the person you've cared about most in your life thinks the worst of you? Adams addresses these questions deftly, and as a result, the book feels real - more like a story about people you know than a book about distant far-off places and people.

It is this intimacy that I enjoyed the most about this book. The author took her time to explore both characters, and I enjoyed getting to know them. Their realness made me care about them more, and when they had ups, so did I. When they had downs, so did I.

There is one sub-plot within the book that seemed a little contrived. It has to do with a betrayal (I won'd give details because that might spoil it). Basically, I felt that the characters, as written, would not have actually behaved the way they did. But this flaw takes little away from the book as a whole, and all its other enjoyable aspects overcame this small drawback.

So if you're looking for a good real-life romance with main characters that are as flawed and yet lovable as real people, definitely read this book. I don't think you'll regret it.