All We Knew (The Cabots #2)

This book was fascinating! It kept me riveted until the very end. All the feels are here, elation, despair, hope, anger and desire of revenge. In the previous book, I loved Hunter and Sara, so I was very happy to read their story. It was as angsty as the previous one, with the happy addition that the characters in this one are much nicer, and the general vibe is happier with a side of angst. Hunter and Sara have been married for fifteen years and have had a fantastic marriage. Hunter is very involved in his job as CFO of Cabot Tea and at the moment is dealing with a tense sellout attempt by his father and his second wife Jenna. A lot of his attention is diverted towards his effort to stop the sale, but at the same time, Sara is undergoing fertility treatments. She waited a long time to get pregnant because she and Hunter had decided to enjoy their marriage and when they decided to procreate, her body didn’t cooperate. For the past two years, Sara’s priority is to get pregnant. So from the get-go, we know there’s going to be conflict between these two. As the book progresses, Hunter’s and Sara’s communication deteriorates because each is pulling to their side, they each understand that their goal has a higher priority. Sara had always been able to pull Hunter away from work and force him to participate in family stuff, but since his father and stepmother are the ones pushing to sell, there’s an all out war that is pulling the family apart. Sara is such a beautiful character; considerate, funny, loving, generous, kind. Hunter knew he was lucky to have her. Hunter was intense, driven, and he loved his wife with all his being. I loved to read about how Sara was his world. In the middle of all the family strife, Colby, Hunter’s sister, is happy with Alec and their restaurant is enjoying success. As before, she is supporting to Hunter and sides with him in all Cabot Tea issues. She’s also very supportive to Sara and shares with her all her hopes and dreams. She’s very diplomatic and tries to help everyone. Gentry, the flighty and irresponsible younger half-sister, throws a wrench in the middle of the battle. All the issues go in a crescendo mode, where Sara feels abandoned by her husband in her quest, her failures and her new interests, Hunter feels harassed by everyone in his family who wants something from him and he’s too stressed and busy to satisfy any demands, and he feels sort of abandoned and betrayed by his wife, who looks at all the side and sees the pros and cons. Hunter has turned obsessive towards one goal in detriment to all the other goals they had as a couple. At one time, I thought they were both being too obsessed by their personal agendas and selfish and blind to the other’s needs and desires. It was a very tense and volatile period and I just wanted something to give because the pace of the book was relentless. I got a little tired of Hunter’s controlling manner too. I won’t comment on what happens because it would spoil the story but suffice to say that there are very intense and emotional moments. The family strife doesn’t let on for a lot of the book. Everyone had a lot of growing to do: Hunter, Sara, his father, Jenna, and Gentry. In a sudden moment of clarity, when Hunter was touching the bottom of despair, I loved how he allowed his emotion to clear the way towards Sara. I loved that throughout the whole book, the love and devotion that Hunter and Sara felt towards each other never flagged, there was never any doubt that they loved and were loved. They were just lost for a while. I totally loved this book, it was heartfelt and angsty and loving. This author writes great characters, with flaws and strengths and humanity. Can’t wait for Gentry’s book!

ALL WE KNEW is an incredibly emotional read! Jamie Beck pulls no punches in this second book of The Cabot Series. From beginning to end I was immersed in an authentic, real life, this could be my family journey. I felt the anxiety, fear, sorrow, mistrust, misunderstanding and love every character displayed for each other, but none more so than Sara and Hunter. My heart ached and completely broke for both of them as they navigated one misstep after another and drifted further and further apart in their marriage. I cried! I yelled! I cringed! I was angered! I despaired! I wanted to jump into the book and shake both Hunter and Sara, and scream wake-up! Wake-up! Wake-up before it\’s too late!!!! It\’s hard for me to understand how Sara and Hunter recover from the sorrow and heartache they experienced in ALL WE KNEW, but Jamie Beck did a tremendously fine job of bringing them to their new togetherness. Through love enduring, hard work, forgiveness, compromise and a willingness to accept responsibility for one\’s choices there is little which cannot be accomplished. Bravo and thank you to Jamie Beck for one of the most emotional books I have read. ALL WE KNEW, for me, is your best work! I truly loved it!

Hunter Cabot is the successful CFO of Cabot Tea. His wife Sara is home, having quit her job to follow through on fertility treatments which are unsuccessful. She\’s consumed by her infertility while Hunter is absorbed with his work and family feuds. They\’ve had a loving and successful marriage up until now, but the lines of communication are breaking down and neither knows what to do. Ms. Beck writes realistic stories on real-life themes. Sometimes they\’re a bit heavy, and this is one of those, though it is well-written and the characters interesting. It takes a while for Hunter and Sara to realize how lucky they really are, and there\’s a convenient ending. The secondary characters are more intriguing here than in the first book. Leslie, Hunter\’s mother, comes across as more nuanced and not as dippy as she seemed in the first book. Gentry, who underwent some redemption in the first book, loses all that and more here, acting much more like her mother who\’s a witch (I know this is a setup for the last book in the series, but she\’s very hard to like). While I feel bad for Jed\’s illness, his character weaknesses are on display here. It\’s a good read, even if I thought the ending a little too convenient. Now onto Gentry\’s story.

Another great installment in the Calbot\’s series. I appreciated that Jamie Beck captured the good and bad sides of both protagonists in a effective and believable way. Many times the males are usually too heroic or completely idiotic. In Jamie\’s book she portrays Hunter as a very complex man with wonderful, noble characteristics but is also flawed and many times lacks proper communication skills that keeps putting him in hot water with his relationships. I loved his character, even more so than Sara\’s – although I felt empathy towards her at times, especially in the end. Looking forward to her third book in the series this summer!

Having experienced infertility issues myself, I found the author\’s depiction of Sara\’s character to be very well written. Infertility makes you crazy and I found myself in Sara. Her irrational, desperate thinking along with an inability to see beyond her own pain turns her into someone she may not recognize. I loved Hunter\’s character. He reminded me a lot of my own husband. I was happy to see how love was able to overcome grief and pain. I\’m also happy to say that my infertility problems were resolved and I was able to have my beautiful son!

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