When a Man Loves a Woman by Alina Adams

When a Man Loves a Woman Reviews

• 
  Julianna

  Reviewed for
  www.thcreviews.com
  
  I am usually a huge fan of best friends romances, so that is what caught my eye and made me want to read When a Man Loves a Woman. With that theme, I really thought I would enjoy the story, but ultimately it fell extremely flat for me. The book got off to a decent start, but the further I got into the story, the more I kept thinking, “Where was the editor?”. In my opinion, the book had good potential, and might have actually been good, if it had been about half the length that it was. The storyline was entirely character-driven, and the plot was pretty thin with guilt and a huge misunderstanding serving as the main elements keeping it afloat. Something might actually happen about every fifty pages or so, but everything in between seemed like little more than filler. The two protagonists would spend page after page ruminating about their feelings for each other, their guilt over those feelings, what they would like to say to each other but couldn't, etc., etc., etc. I'm all for characters who exhibit some introspection, but page after page of it is just too much. For two people who had been friends for twenty years, their communication skills with one another certainly left something to be desired. On the seemingly rare occasions when they actually had some dialog, one or both of them would sometimes go off into a half-page or longer soliloquy, and then there was one passage near the end where they literally engaged in dialog for nearly an entire chapter with nothing else happening except a few more random internal thoughts. Unfortunately, I found all this to be about as exciting as watching paint dry.
  
  I had very mixed feelings about how Elliot and Deb's relationship began. They became friends during medical school right after Deb had married her husband, Max. Now I have no problem with married people being friends with someone of the opposite sex, but Elliot and Deb were characterized as “best” friends, who spent a great deal of time together and who leaned on each other a lot for emotional support. There were things that Deb discussed with Elliot that she felt she couldn't discuss with her husband, which in my opinion, is treading on shaky ground. It was also rather apparent from the prologue that there was some sort of attraction between them right from the start, and they admitted as much to each other by the end of the book. They also confessed to having loved each other for the whole twenty years that they had been acquainted, even though Deb adamantly stated that she loved Max as well. This all left me with the feeling that Deb was trying to have her cake and eat it too. Now on the positive side, Max was always aware of Elliot and Deb's close relationship. He seemed to have trusted them implicitly even though rumors ran rampant about them, however, I did not find Max's long-suffering under these circumstances to be entirely believable. Elliot and Deb also never in those twenty years, even touched inappropriately, much less had an affair, so in many ways I admire their restraint and their choice not to break up Deb's marriage or hurt Max, who appeared to be a really stand-up guy. However, in the end this all just left me with the uncomfortable feeling that they were walking a thin line between right and wrong. I think the story would have been better or at least more appealing to me if Elliot and Deb had simply been friends in med school and then parted ways with only minimal contact, reuniting after Max's death, instead of having this ongoing ambiguous relationship for twenty years.
  
  I also had mixed feelings about the protagonists themselves. Deb was a genius who had graduated from every stage of her schooling early, and had worked hard to become a world class pediatric neurosurgeon which I liked. In spite of that though she still seemed like a rather bland character to me. She had a limited home life with Max, no children, no other friends besides Elliot it seemed, and not much going for her except that friendship and her work. It's no wonder that she relied on Elliot in what I would characterize as a dysfunctional way, and felt that she couldn't live without him. Although I don't consider myself a true feminist, this dichotomy seems to fly in the face of even marginal feminism and everything Deb had worked so hard to achieve all her life. I was also extremely disappointed in Deb when it came to the “big misunderstanding.” She and Elliot had supposedly been best friends for twenty years and in my opinion, two people who have maintained a close friendship for that long should know each other extremely well. Yet, Deb still believed things about Elliot which no one who truly knows someone ever should have. Elliot was rightfully heartbroken over her belief that he had betrayed her trust, and even though Deb tried to make it up to him when she learned the truth, it just seemed like too little too late. I never was fully satisfied with the way it all ended. Ultimately, Deb was simply not a character who stood out enough for me to truly understand why Elliot fell in love with her in the first place and had maintained that love for so long. Elliot was a little more relatable, but still had some contradictions and problems in my opinion. He was a pediatric trauma surgeon with a really big heart and a great bedside manner, and who was wonderful with kids. All these things made him very appealing to me, but at the same time he was still just a “typical” man, having been something of a womanizer over the years. I suppose this was to help compensate for the one woman he wanted and couldn't have, but it all seemed a little callous to the women he was having the relationships with. As I mentioned earlier, I never quite understood Elliot's love for Deb, and more importantly why he pined over a married woman for twenty years. It just seemed like extremely dysfunctional behavior to me.
  
  On the plus side, I liked that the hero and heroine were slightly older which was a rather unique element. It is rare to find a romantic main character who is above the age of 35, yet both were in their early forties. On the downside though, these two characters virtually carried the entire story by themselves. The secondary characters who did appear, were little more than window dressing, playing very small roles. I was also disappointed in the lack of medical drama. With the principle characters both being doctors, I had high hopes that there would be some good ER-style action, but I was sadly mistaken. There was only one short scene of this type and a couple of other medical crises that played minor roles. Instead the plot contained a heavy dose of hospital politics and budgetary concerns, which quite frankly, was pretty dull by comparison. The book might have at least hit a note with me if there had been some deep emotion, real romance and/or sensuality, but in my opinion, these areas were all lacking as well. The emotions were stunted, because Elliot and Deb spent most of the novel denying their feelings for each other and then feeling guilty about having them in the first place. The romance and sensuality was very minimal with only two fairly non-graphic love scenes (one at the beginning and one at the end), with only a smattering of kisses in between, most of which weren't even that passionate. Elliot and Deb don't even have a “date” until the very end of the book. There were a few moments of tenderness here and there, but nothing that made my heart swell like other romance novels I have read. It was like they were simply too immersed in their respective careers and personal problems to really make that deep connection. While I am sure that there are people who may enjoy this novel, it definitely was not for me. Overall, it was pretty frustrating trying to read it, and I literally had to force myself to finish it. This was my first read by Alina Adams, and even though it appears that she has only written three other romance novels, I doubt that I will be reading them anytime soon.
• 
  Lyuda

  DNF at 2% - a record!
  I just couldn't pass the absurdity of the first couple of pages.
  
  Imagine a heroine laying in bed tossing and turning until 4 am, worrying about not getting a medical residence placement she'd requested. She doesn't turn to her husband with her worry, even though she loves him and he loves her back and he is right there sleeping besides her. What does she do instead? Why, getting up at 4 am to visit her best friend (male, single) because he is the only one who can help her with that worry. (Right). Meanwhile, her husband wakes up and offers a help, eager to please (remember, they love each other). But no, the heroine rejects the offer and is determined to visit the friend. What's her husband response? He blow her a kiss saying, "Good luck. I hope Elliot has the answers for you." And each of them continue on their merry way : she goes to her friend, and the husband goes back to sleep. AGHHHH.
• 
  Anne OK

  SPOILER ALERT: My one and only complaint with this book was that they made love for the first time on the day of her husband's funeral. To me, this just overshadowed the tenderness and joy of their own special relationship.
• 
  Marlene

  When a Man Loves a Woman is the title of a classic song from 1966 by Percy Sledge. It's also the title of an enhanced ebook by Alina Adams. What's an enhanced ebook? An enhanced ebook has added content from other media. In the case of this particular book, the added content happens to be music videos. Appropriately, one of the music videos is Percy Sledge singing the title track.
  
  But what about the story? The story is also a classic. James Elliot met Deb Brody in med school and fell instantly in love with her. There was just one problem. Deb Brody was already married, to a really nice guy named Max. So for the next 20 years, James Elliot was the perfect best friend. Always there, always helpful, always supportive, and never letting Deb suspect for one single second that he felt anything other than friendship for her.
  
  Fast-forward 20 years. Deb and Elliot are both successful doctors. So successful that Deb is Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and Elliot is the Chief of the Pediatric Trauma Center at Los Angeles Valley Hospital. There have always been nasty rumors about their close friendship, but Max always knew that the rumors had no validity. Because Deb never let herself see that Elliot played the field vigorously because all the women he dated had one fatal flaw that Max pointed out to her exactly once, all those other women were not Deb.
  
  But Max died of a heart-attack at the age of 44, and the situation was suddenly very, very different.
  
  Deb's friendship with Elliot is the most important relationship in her life. She loved her husband, but he is gone and she is alone. The first night after all of Max' relatives leave, after the funeral is over, she asks Elliot to stay. He's stayed before, the guest bedroom is practically his. It shouldn't mean anything different.
  
  But it does. She and Elliot never touch. They've always maintained a professional distance. In the middle of the night, when she can't sleep and starts trying to clean out Max' closet, Elliot tries to stop her, to help her. To let her cry. And instead, they make love. He thinks she finally sees his heart. Instead she thinks that sex may have ruined their friendship.
  
  Deb and Elliot spend a lot of time trying to find a way back to each other, misunderstanding each other and trying to interpret each other's feelings. They've known each other so long, and yet they haven't known the fundamental truths about each other. In the process, they nearly lose everything.
  
  Escape Rating B: This was a good friends-into-lovers romance. The story that Deb doesn't want to see that Elliot is in love with her reminded me of the story line in the TV show Bones (we just finished watching season 5). Deb needs Elliot's friendship too much to upset the applecart by seeing something she doesn't want to see.
  
  When Max dies, the blinders come off. I was reminded of a quote from science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, "There is only one way to console a widow. But remember the risk." Elliot stayed knowing what was probably going to happen, hoping for it. It's the results that cause so much trouble for the rest of the story.
  
  I felt like they tortured each other a bit too much. The budget fiasco and how the characters treated each other over it, was one tragedy, or at least melodrama, too far for me. I was ready for the happy ending by then. I'm glad they got there. They both suffered enough grief.
  
  About the enhanced part of the ebook...This is an interesting idea, and I can see, or rather hear, how this might work in the future. The neat thing about having an iPad is that I can just touch a link and off I go to the video of the song. And some of the songs were very evocative of the mood of the chapter. I can't get If I Could Turn Back Time out of my head. There is an issue with mobile rights. I read the book on my iPad. A significant number of the videos did not have mobile rights available, although they work fine on my PC. This is an issue that should be tested before publication as most readers will be using either a reader or a tablet. But it's a neat concept. The additions to my playlist were great ones.
• 
  Shelleyrae at Book'd Out

  When A Man Loves A Woman is a character driven novel about the complicated relationship between De James Elliot and Dr Deborah Brody.
  Best friends since med school, the pair have been always close but the relationship has remained strictly platonic for more than twenty years because Deborah was already married. When Max dies suddenly, Elliot is the one Deborah turns to for comfort but their repressed desire spirals out of control and they make love the night of Max's funeral. In the aftermath, Deborah feels horribly guilty at betraying her husband's memory while Elliot is devastated the love of his life views their night together as a mistake and a wedge is driven between them. With their friendship in tatters, Elliot and Deborah risk losing one another forever.
  
  When A Man Loves A Woman is all about emotion - friendship, grief, love, trust, betrayal and desire. The relationship between Elliot and Deborah is messy and complicated like many real life relationships and I think the author does a fine job of exploring the emotions and issues in such tangled circumstances.
  I wasn't very fond of Deborah but I think Adams worked hard to create a believable protagonist. I empathised with her sense of guilt over her relationship with Max and understood her desperate need to ensure his memory remained untarnished but I also found her self indulgent and petulant.
  I had to admire Elliot's restraint from declaring his attraction for Deborah for twenty years and I understood his frustration and hurt at Deborah's actions, especially surrounding the hospital funding drama. I think his character could have been a little stronger though, he is too centered on Deborah to be much more than a prop.
  While in broad terms I think the storyline had merit, unfortunately I did find my attention wavered, especially mid book. For my tastes, there was too much introspection and not enough action. The plot is thin, relying on the protracted back and forth nature of the relationship to sustain interest and much of the conflict is internal angst which becomes repetitive.
  
  Interestingly, When A Man Loves A Woman is an enhanced e-book, each chapter title links to a song that encapsulates the emotions of the characters or general mood of the chapter. I can't read the title of this novel without singing it in the tune of the song sung by Michael Bolton (originally by Percy Sledge) and I do quite like the concept, many authors publish playlists of songs that inspired them during the writing process and this is a clever extension of that idea. Just a note though, I read this ebook on my Kindle Touch and had trouble getting some of the clips to play but I was familiar with most of the songs so it wasn't a major issue.
  
  The strength of When A Man Loves A Woman likes in its heartfelt emotion. I would recommend it to true romantics as there is nothing to distract from the emotional journey of its protagonists towards a loving relationship.
• 
  Crista

  I write this review with such mixed emotions. I really wanted to love this book, but there were just too many thing that made that impossible. I won't rehash the plot, but I'll give you my 2 cents!
  
  What worked:
  1. Alina Adam's writing. Her writing is addicting. It's so down to earth, filled with emotion, and realistic, that you feel like you're watching a movie instead of reading a book.
  2. James Elliot's love for Deb Brody. It really is amazing in it's intensity and staying power.
  3. The "medical" backdrop to the story. With Grey's Anatomy being so popular, I felt like the medical theme worked well to showcase a love story.
  
  What Didn't Work:
  1. Deb Brody. I really had very little respect for her. She was a self centered coward who lacked the integrity to be "emotionally faithful" to her husband and also lacked the courage to be "physically unfaithful" to her husband. I found it repulsive how much she played both her husband and Elliot. She wanted both men, but she couldn't really commit to either of them. In my mind she didn't deserve either of them!
  2. The back and forth drama...He pursues her/she retreats....She pursues him/he retreats. It just got old and tiresome.
  
  I wish this story could've been more like "When Harry Met Sally", a true look at the age old question "Can men and women be fiends?" At least with that movie, you didn't have to deal with the infidelity that one has to deal with when reading this book.
• 
  Star

  Review is for the Multimedia Enhanced E-book:
  
  Drs. Brody and Elliot have been best friends for over twenty years, from the time they met in med school, when the unthinkable happens to Brody – her husband passes away. She needs to lean on her best friend, Elliot, but is afraid of losing him as she lost her husband. What Brody doesn’t know is that Elliot has loved her for the last twenty years. When something unexpected happens, Brody isn’t sure what to do except make sure that her friendship with Elliot stays intact – just as it had been out of respect for her recently dead husband. But can things ever be the same?
  
  Have you ever fallen in love with your best friend? Can you overcome the biggest hurt and betrayal of your life to trust again? Ms. Adams tackles all of these questions with a deft hand and compelling characters. I thought it was good to be able to meet and get to know intimately the main characters. I’ve know a few sets of friends like this before and it’s amazing to watch the dynamics change and the music to the dance speed up or slow down. Well-crafted with people and events which worm their way into your heart, this book is compelling. Add the music from the enhanced e-book and it makes it a rich and multi-layered experience to pick up When a Man Loves a Woman.
• 
  Amy

  I haven't read a book for my own personal enjoyment since this summer because of how busy college has been. It's fall break, and though I have a lot on my mind and things to do, I ended up reading this free book on my kindle. It gave me time to just relax and think (about life). I can't believe it, but it's been awhile since I've flown through a book this quickly-less than 24 hours. I started last night and ended this afternoon.
  
  I can't say it was a super exciting read, but because where I am right now in life, I quite enjoyed it. Plus, I read it so fast that I think it definitely deserves five out of five stars. Yes, it's fiction, but there's something nice about the future and looking back on it. There are the little things we shouldn't worry about, but there are also the little things we shouldn't miss in life. The love between Brody and Elliot was sweet, and I was swept away by these two doctors' lives.
• 
  Linda

  For being an intelligent, successful doctor, Dr. Brody is needy, selfish and a whiner. If Dr. Elliott could pine for her for 20 years then he must be the saint.
  
  I loved the premise of the story and enjoyed reading it except for getting irritated with Dr. Brody. But, if a book can inspire emotions, then I believe it accomplished what the author intended. However, the irritation is the reason I am only giving it 3 stars - if I could do a half, then it would have been 3 and a half.
  
  The unresolved conflict dragged on for a little too long, but at least it had a happy ending.
• 
  Wanda

  James and Deborah. Doctors and lifetime friends become more.
  
• 
  Nefret

  Eine süße Geschichte, auch wenn sie in der Mitte einen kleinen Durchhänger hat.