Don't Let Go by Maya Alden
published in Reviews
My 4-star review of Don’t Let Go by Maya Alden. Maya Alden delivers another satisfying marriage in trouble novel with Don’t Let Go…
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Maya Alden delivers another satisfying marriage in trouble novel with Don’t Let Go.
SPOILERS:
Rhys and Jane have been married for a long time and have two children. Rhys is a cardiac surgeon and Jayne is an office manager at a busy law firm. Their teenage son is in high school and busy with sports practices. They’ve reached that point in their marriage where their own work schedules and their children’s schedules take up so much of their mental and actual energy that they are sort of losing each other in the mix. Jayne is resentful because she has shouldered most of the burden any time that Rhys has dropped the ball. And this is after she already put her own dreams of becoming a lawyer on hold in order to support him through medical school etc. And Rhys feels like he’s doing his best to accommodate both his demanding job and helping out with the family responsibilities when he can but it’s not appreciated.
Rhys works with a woman at the hospital named Tory, an administrator, who is just a little too friendly towards him. One day he decides that it would be a good idea to confide in her about how he’s been feeling. Unfortunately his timing is spot on and Jayne, who has come to the hospital to bring him something, overhears the conversation and is understandably hurt that he would tell this other woman about their problems rather than address them with her directly.
Rhys and Jayne clearly love each other very much but they’ve let everything else distract them from this basic truth. At the beginning of the story they are both frustrated but through this story they do the work to turn things around and get back to a better foundation. And instead of letting Jayne give up her career to be the superwoman she always has been in the past, this time Rhys decides that it is his turn to hit pause on his job. He takes a 6 months sabbatical from the hospital and during that time he demonstrates that he can be a better father and husband and in the long run sets himself up for a happier career because he learns what his true priorities should be.
Tropes: Overheard, Other Woman Drama, Marriage in Trouble
Disclosure: I received this book as an ARC. However, I read all of Maya Alden’s books and would have borrowed from KU if I hadn’t.
