All We Knew: Cabot, Book 2

Family tenderness and conflict are vividly portrayed in Beck’s second Cabot contemporary (after Before I Knew). Sara Cabot marries and moves from Sacramento, Calif., to Portland, Ore., but she soon discovers that life is not what she hoped it would be. Beck effectively captures hope and disillusionment as 30-something Sara and her husband, Hunter, struggle to conceive a child. Their disappointments shake a marriage that is already strained by their basic differences in family history and personality. Beck imbues the challenges of married life with heartfelt emotions as Sara and Hunter try to reconcile their differences in managing their grief and their confusing and rocky connection with each other. Beck creates authentic protagonists and cleverly sets up the conflicts between them. The complexity of loyalties within blended families is credibly conveyed as Hunter navigates his tense relationships with his father, stepmother, and half-sister in a fight over the family business. Beck does not rush to resolve issues, allowing the dramas to play out naturally while the characters fully develop. This is a moving story about the flux of life and the steadfastness of family. (Feb.)