Thirty-year-old Daisy DiStefano has two people she holds dear: the grandmother who raised her, and her three-year-old son, Elliott. But when Daisy’s grandmother is killed in a seemingly random act of violence, Daisy must take steps to protect herself and her child.Â
Despite a thriving career in San Francisco, thirty-six-year-old Brooks McClain has returned home to spend what little time his mother has left before she succumbs to the deadly disease that is ravaging her. The seasoned investigative reporter has taken a position with the local newspaper and been on the job less than twenty-four hours when he’s summoned to cover the death of Pauline Thorpe.Â
Brooks is all business, but the more time he spends with Daisy DiStefano, the more invested he becomes; there’s something about a single mother, a defenseless child, and an unsolved crime that has stirred Brooks’s protective instincts like nothing ever has before.Â
And when the unthinkable happens, Brooks will do whatever it takes to clear the name of the woman he’s fallen for and the child he’ll protect at any cost.Â
ABOUT TRACEY
Tracey Garvis-Graves is the author of On the Island, Uncharted, and Covet. She lives in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa with her husband, two children, and hyper dog Chloe. She blogs atwww.traceygarvisgraves.com using colorful language and a snarky sense of humor to write about pop culture, silly television shows, and her suburban neighborhood.
Jaime’s Thoughts
Every Time I Think of You by Tracey Garvis-Graves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to tell you guys… I love reading about characters that are in my age group. Characters who have lived a little bit and experienced things…. Characters that I can relate to on some level because we may have more in common than someone in their teens… Characters who feel so real and alive that I feel like I could open my door and look down the street and find them. Tracey Garvis-Graves writes characters just like that and with Every Time I Think of You, she’s done it again.
Daisy DiStefano hasn’t had an easy go of things lately. There are two people in her life that she worries and cares about most … her grandmother who raised her and her 3 year old son Elliott. Everyone else takes a back seat. But when the unthinkable happens, what appears to be a random break in, and her grandmother is murdered with Elliott hiding in the other room, Daisy has to figure out how to protect the only person left in her life that matters.
Brooks McClain is from the small town of Fenton, but as soon as he could he left and never looked back. Landing in San Francisco he’s got a thriving career working for the San Francisco Chronicle writing breaking news stories. He never thought he’d be going back to his hometown, but his mother’s diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease and her quick deterioration has him taking a leave of absence and returning to help his father in any way that he can. Taking a leave of absence from his job in San Francisco he gets brought on as an investigative reporter at the Desert News, and before he can even get settled he’s called in for his first assignment… find out what he can about the homicide at the Sunset Vista Apartment complex.
Brooks and Daisy have a slow build to their relationship… while there is some instant chemistry between them, they are both focused on other things at the beginning. Daisy’s focus falls on doing whatever she can to protect herself and her son, because no matter what, she doesn’t feel like her grandmother’s death was random… and neither does Brooks. For Daisy, besides moving into a new place, and reinforcing doors and windows, it also means purchasing a gun and getting educated about it. And I totally loved how Tracey worked this into the story. Not only was it an interesting aspect to the story, she portrayed Daisy as completely responsible while doing so. This wasn’t just some whim that the character felt, she educated herself about it and made sure she did everything legally and responsibly.
Brooks, while definitely feeling an attraction to Daisy, has other worries. His mother for sure, and even his father and the stress and sadness that his mother’s illness has caused for him but he’s also determined to get to the bottom of this story, because he knows that this wasn’t random.
As histories get revealed, both Daisy and Brooks build a friendship… one that they realize can go no further, because Brooks is going back to San Francisco and Daisy has someone who depends on her to make rational and reasonable decisions and that doesn’t include tying herself emotionally to a relationship that can’t go anywhere.
Garvis-Graves has done an amazing job with these characters. From Daisy to Elliott to Brooks and even to Pauline, the deceased grandmother, and Scott the ex-husband, I just feel like they could walk off the page and be fully developed people.
This story has an element of suspense to it as well, and I thought that it was really well done. Garvis-Graves did a great job of slowly revealing all the clues and reasons as to why this tragedy happens… but then she throws in an additional twist that will have you reeling in surprise. Something I definitely didn’t expect to happen.
The only complaint I truly had was this… for me, sometimes the dialogue felt a bit stilted and the interactions were a bit abrupt between Brooks and Daisy. Which was totally understandable when they were in the getting to know you phase, but as their feelings and relationship grew, I felt like that should have dissipated a bit but I didn’t really see that happen. The dialogue at times remained a bit stilted throughout, though not enough to keep me from reading and enjoying the story.
If you’re looking for something in the adult fiction genre… something that has suspense and romance… something that will keep you turning the pages to find out who did what and why, definitely consider picking What I Thought Was True up as soon as it’s released. You can’t go wrong with anything from Tracey Garvis-Graves! I promise! I honestly can’t wait to see what Tracey has coming for us readers next!
Thank you to the author for providing an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts!
Erin’s Thoughts
Every Time I Think of You by Tracey Garvis-Graves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of my favorite things about books by Tracey Garvis-Graves is the way she creates characters. She makes them so real and believable that I find myself pulled into her stories almost immediately. Every Time I Think of You was no different. I found Daisy and Brooks to be characters that brought this book to life and kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next.
Daisy hasn’t had an easy life but the two things in her life she cares about more than anything else are her son, Elliott and her grandmother, the woman who raised her. When Daisy’s grandmother is killed in what seems like a random act of violence, Daisy decides she needs to do whatever she needs to in order to keep Elliott safe. Garvis-Graves did a great job of integrating the things revolving around self-defense and protection without it being distracting. I love that Daisy didn’t make the decisions she did lightly. She knew she had to protect herself and her son but she also had to consider all of the potential issues and consequences that would occur. She went through the right steps before making any decisions and I liked that about her.
Brooks has moved back to the town he grew up in from San Francisco to help his father care for his dying mother. He isn’t planning on staying but to keep himself busy, he decided to get a job with the local paper. When Brooks get his first assignment, the story of the murder of Pauline Thorpe, he is introduced to Daisy and is immediately drawn to her.
I loved seeing the relationship develop between these two characters. It was clear that Brooks felt a bit protective of both Daisy and Elliott and I loved that about him. I will say I felt like some of the dialogue between these two was choppy and awkward, which made sense at first but as their relationship progressed, the choppiness was still there. With that said, it didn’t hurt the story for me as in typical fashion; Garvis-Graves does an excellent job of creating a story that kept me turning the pages.
As the story moves forward, we find out more about Daisy’s background and what she has really gone through over the last few years. I’m not going to say what – because I don’t want to give anything away but these are the things that have Daisy and Brooks thinking that perhaps her grandmother’s death was as random as some might think. Garvis-Graves creates a level of tension and mystery in this story that had me questioning what was going to happen next and just when I think I had an idea of where she was going to take the story, BOOM….something unexpected happens.
Don’t hate me but I’m not going to tell you what it is…you need to read to find out.
This book has a bit of everything. If you are looking for a story that includes a mystery with a nice romance included, definitely check this one out. I always love the stories that Tracey Garvis-Graves gives us and this one makes me excited to see what else she has in store for us readers.
Thank you to the author for providing a copy of the e-book for an honest review.
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