Something To Talk About by M.J. Fredrick
Contemporary Romance
Ebook
June 20, 2011
Lyrical Press, Inc.

Reviewed by Tori

When Ellie Morgan breaks up with the town’s football coach, all she hears is the old refrain, “She’s just like her mother-never happy.” Ellie doesn’t know exactly what she wants in a relationship but she does know she wants more than a self absorbed man who puts her second to his career. So Ellie cuts him loose after a year (a personal best for her) and attempts to go on with her life and ignore the accusations and disapproval from the town.

Noah Weston is still recovering from the shattering blow of his wife Lily’s death. She died suddenly, along with their unborn child. After a year and half, Noah begins to emerge from his self imposed seclusion and notices Ellie holds a similar vibrancy and light that Lily did. Noah is confused and unsure as his feelings grow stronger the more time he spends around Ellie. Noah begins to find himself at odds with a town that isn’t ready for Nick to move on-especially with his dead wife’s best friend.

As Ellie and Noah begin to explore their fragile emotions, the heat and sexual tension that simmers between them threatens and overwhelms them in it’s intensity. When their new relationship takes a serious turn, Ellie and Noah have to figure out how to make peace with the past in order to have a future.

Something To Talk About is a sweet, heartwarming, and very,very sexy contemporary romance about a young woman who is relationship shy due to her past and a widower who is fighting the guilt of wanting another woman. The story is set in a very small town whose residents long memories are only matched by their ability to hold a grudge. Ellie‘s mother left her family 14 years ago. She raised her sisters and now watches her father pretend that his lover doesn’t spend the night with him every night. She finds herself unable to commit to anyone because she’s not sure what drove her mother away and strives to not be like her. I found myself drawn to Ellie. She’s smart, courageous, and while everyone thinks she’s flighty in love she’s not. She knows exactly what she wants and refuses to just “settle.” The town has painted her with the same brush they painted her mother and sadly, I never see anyone defend her BUT Noah.

Noah have been friends with Ellie for over 8 years. He married her best friend and they all absorbed him into their circle. When Noah’s wife dies, it leaves them all at a loss; especially Noah. When Noah begins to “see” Ellie in a different light and Ellie reciprocates his feelings, it opens a whole new aspect in their relationship as guilt, sadness, and old memories overwhelm them both. Noah feels his falling in love again betrays Lily and Ellie feels that she will never be anything be second place to Lily in Noah’s heart.

I adored both Ellie and Noah. Ellie with her quick smiles and obvious love of life and Noah’s smoldering sexuality and quiet charm makes the chemistry between them burn hot and bright through out the story. Ms. Fredrick’s does a fabulous job of facilitating Noah and Ellie’s romance amongst the disapproval of the town. Legitimate concerns are addressed and nothing is skimmed over to make the story more aesthetically pleasing. It’s an emotionally heartbreaking journey that realistically shows us the pain and grief these two feel as they try and find their way down a very rocky path to love. As with love and relationships in the real world, nothing is perfect and we aren’t sure till the very end if Ellie and Noah will be able to accept the second chance they have been given. Ms. Fredrick also doesn’t take the easy way out by painting Lily in a negative light in order to give Noah a plausible excuse to love Ellie. Noah falls in love with Ellie because of who she is and in doing so he doesn’t cheapen his feelings for her or Lily. Rather, Ms. Fredrick explores the possibility that you can find love more then once in life and that you don’t have to erase or forget a special time or person in your life in order to move forward. The heart is boundless in it’s capacity to love and that is the best lesson of all in here.

All in all Something To Talk About is a delightfully romantic contemporary that packs quite a powerful punch for only being 162 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Noah and Ellie and being a part of their lives and look forward to reading more of Ms. Fredrick’s stories.

Overall Rating: B

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