If You Must Know

A Novel (Potomac Point)

By: Jamie Beck

Narrated by: Susannah Jones, Therese Plummer

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Life turns upside down for two sisters in Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jamie Beck’s emotional novel about how secrets and differences can break - or bind - a family.

Sisters Amanda Foster and Erin Turner have little in common except the childhood bedroom they once shared and the certainty each feels that her way of life is best. Amanda follows the rules - at the school where she works; in her community; and as a picture-perfect daughter, wife, and mother-to-be. Erin follows her heart - in love and otherwise - living a bohemian lifestyle on a shoestring budget and honoring her late father’s memory with a passion for music and her fledgling bath-products business.

The sisters are content leading separate but happy lives in their hometown of Potomac Point until everything is upended by lies that force them to confront unsettling truths about their family, themselves, and each other. For sisters as different as these two, building trust doesn’t come easily - especially with one secret still between them - but it may be the only way to save their family.

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Relatable and enjoyable

The two main characters were so relatable in this story. I loved how the narration went back and forth between these two sisters. I’m not typically a fan of fictional family stories but this one caught my interest immediately and held it until this end. Definitely recommend this series.

Good read... interesting story line.

Love it... good read. Kept me interested throughout.
I plan to read anything she writes .

Tiring

I struggled to finish because there was too much back and forth. Also the thought process of each character each time a decision needed to be made was tiring. Too much back and forth.

If You Must Know

This is an emotional book predominantly about 3 women, 2 sisters and their mother, who are all going through different issues after the death of their father and husband. Now Amanda has found out her husband is having an affair and left her while she is pregnant and after "borrowing" a significant amount of money from her mother and then disappeared. Erin is barely hanging on and finally kicks out her loser boyfriend who steals her dad's albums he left her. She tracks them down and in the process meets Eli, a widower, another story line, and gets them back. In the meantime, mom is slowly destructing and to keep an eye on her Erin moves home. That is a basic premise to the story, so much happens and this truly dysfunctional family had me spinning and wanting to put the book down more than once but at the same time I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. I wavered between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one but ultimately would recommend it.

Pleasantly surprised

I really enjoyed the story. The characters were relatable and interesting. I liked that perspective switch from sister to sister. I enjoy the performance from the audible readers, was very pleased with his buffed, and the ending was suggest that for anyone that’s teetering on the fence about it don’t listen to the haters you’ll be glad that you read it.

Sisterly Love

What a emotional read. Heartbreak, growing, learning about yourself, self worth, family. So many emotions in this book. Amanda has been betrayed and Erin needs to find her path in life. When the unthinkable happens to Amanda , Erin really comes in to support her sister. The love they all have for each other but always have hid their true feelings. Their mom also has been handling grief very hard after losing her husband. Just the love and loyalty to each other alone makes this a amazing book.
Highly recommend this book and Author.

A little Pollyanna ish

The story was enjoyable but not very believable. The whole plot had serious holes but it’s a story. Not real life.

Must read!

Such a great read! Beautiful storyline. Great character development. Heart-wrenching, raw moments. A book many can relate to.

Above and Beyond for this genre.

Normally I go to Audible escaped for a brain free story while I'm breastfeeding in the middle of the night. This one was surpassingly good! Good characters, good story, good development and not cheesy.
I'd recommend.

Loved it

This book is somewhat of a departure for the author and it was fantastic. A wonderfully crafted story about a complicated family, warts and all. The story revolves around two sisters. They are so very different that it is shocking that they are related. They couldn’t be more different even if they put forth herculean effort. Amanda what always been a rule follower. When you follow the rules there are no surprises and people tend to like and accept you. Then there is Erin. She lives a total bohemian free spirit existence and dances to her own tune even at her sisters expense. Their relationship has never been easy and has caused tension in the family forever, but that is mostly due to their mother. When their father dies they all must come together to support each other as well as deal with all of the other things going on in their collective lives. The writing is stellar, the character development wonderful and so much drama. It brings out all kinds of feelings while reading. Very realistic, but the way things changed in one sentence with the mom left me scratching my head. No one would be so accepting nor should they be. Go treat yourself to a copy of his book. I am very much looking forward to the next in the series.