Jonetta's Reviews > Emergency Contact

the setup…
It’s a few days before Christmas in New York and everyone has either left town for the holidays or is making their way out. That is except Katherine, a successful and highly ambitious attorney who is the ultimate grinch about the holidays. She’s waiting for “the call” from her law firm’s senior partner, the one he makes around this time to announce the new partner. Katherine leaves work, intending to go home and ignore the holidays, then gets in a taxi that gets broadsided. She wakes in a hospital with a concussion and a wound on her back. She hears a voice that is all too familiar but one she hasn’t heard in almost four years…her ex-husband Tom! Turns out, she hadn’t changed her emergency contact. And, she can’t be left alone with a concussion. Her choice…stay in the hospital or go home with him to Chicago for the holidays with his family.

the heart of the story…
Katherine and Tom’s parting of ways was acrimonious to put it mildly. There was a lot of hurt underneath all those barbs they threw at each other. They’re witty, sometimes funny, but always meant to hit the target. From the moment they left the hospital, it was one calamity after another as they tried to get to Chicago, mostly caused by Katherine. Did I also mention a blizzard is descending on the city? But throughout their banter, I got a sense of who both of them are, what they really felt about each other and what broke them apart.

the narration…
Both narrators did a great job giving voice to their characters and handling all that fast-paced banter. I’m glad I chose to listen to the story as they made it even livelier.

the bottom line…
I had a lot of fun listening to this story, even when I wanted to throttle Katherine for her singleminded focus. But once I learned the reasons behind her behavior, my heart ached for her. I loved Tom and his infinite patience with this woman, hoping he’d find a way back to her. This was all I’d hoped it would be.

Posted on Blue Mood Café

(Thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)