April and Oliver by Tess Callahan

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub. Date: June 2009
ISBN-13: 9780446540599

Pages: 336

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: April and Oliver have been childhood best friends. As adults, they drifted but later reconnected after April's younger brother Buddy died. Oliver, now engaged, fights his attraction towards April who's vulnerable after being in relationships with abusive men. April, who believes she is incapable of finding love, also has feelings for Oliver. It's a story of love and loss. Will Oliver and April finally confront their feelings for each other, or will they live with the unspoken truth?

Review: When I saw this book while I was browsing through Books A Million, my first thought was: Hm. April and Oliver. Probably a love story about an old couple or a married couple and their obstacles through the years. I'm not really huge on romance or love stories, but there was something about this book that made me reach for it. I didn't know if it was the cover, but it was certainly pretty.

At first, I found myself annoyed with April. She was a beautiful young woman who chose to get involved with men who abused her physically and sexually. It was like a vicious cycle, and no matter how bad things got, she never asked for help. Drama surrounded her like a moth to a flame. I didn't like her because she didn't appear to have common sense. It went on like this throughout half of the book (maybe even more), and I thought this book should be titled April, not April and Oliver. When she realized that she still had hope to find herself and starting over, finally...finally, that's when I realized that she wasn't so bad. And...surprise! I actually started to respect her.

April's counterpart, Oliver, was a nice guy with a nice fiancee. Their life seemed so perfect, but Oliver has an attraction towards April. Her wild ways should have driven him away, and he afraid of her, yet he continues to try to help her and rescue her when needed. Still he had a fiancee to think about and he found the courage to "wash" his hands off April.

Of course, the story didn't end there. They reconciled but things between Oliver and his fiancee Bernadette were changing. Will they marry or not?

April's character went through more character development than Oliver's. I thought both of their characters should have been equally developed because they shared the title of the book. The ending surprised me, but I also thought it ended too soon. I didn't know if the author was in a rush to finish it or not, but it did feel that way. I wished there could have been more though.

Recommendation: Great book! I enjoyed this. Be prepared to sit down for awhile because it's a real page turner. You will end up getting pulled in and wanting more.