Book Review: All You Need is Love

By Sara Steven

CJ Evans has worked hard to overcome many of the devastating challenges that life has thrown at her, and she has come a long way. Despite the aftermath of her broken engagement and the strained relationship with her mother, she has recently mended lost friendships and has become a successful entrepreneur of a business she is truly passionate about. But could all of this progress be lost when her mother presents her with a blindside she never would have expected?

CJ realizes she can no longer avoid her past, and she must finally face the heartbreak, inadequacy, and unresolved events to continue to move forward. This includes embarking on a new career path and opening her heart to a love she’s always been hoping for.

CJ’s journey is one of growth, trust, and taking risks. And in the end she may realize that to be truly happy—all you need is love. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Having read the first book in the "Love In The City" series, (On the Road to Love, reviewed here), I was excited to learn more about CJ. She was an integral character in the first book, but I didn’t know much about her backstory or what had ultimately made her the tough and at times formidable person she is. We learn that there have been a lot of unfortunate events she’s had to deal with, and sprinkled in are tense relationships with family members and even with the friendships she has recently mended. It makes for a character who has a very hard time with allowing herself to be vulnerable, or to let others get too close.

As noted by the synopsis, CJ's mother puts her into a very awkward situation, with nearly every moment bordering on cringe-worthy. While I’m sure there are people in real life who have had to go through something similar, I still can’t imagine anything like that happening. I’m not sure how I would be able to handle it. It seemed the more time that would pass for CJ, the more awkward it would get, which meant an enjoyable, tense-riddled read that proved hard to put down. I wanted to see how she’d handle every second of it.

While the title of the book insinuates that all we need is love, I felt that CJ discovered a lot more while attempting to find herself and what she really wants out of life. The woman who has put up as many barricades as possible in order to protect herself, ventures out and ends up doing a lot that pushes her outside comfortable limits. There are moments of achievements and failures, the highs and lows that can come from putting yourself out there, and it was really nice to see and witness, this character grow and change. While working hard to get what she wants, CJ discovers that it’s getting what you need that is the biggest achievement of all.

Thanks to Melissa Baldwin for the book in exchange for an honest review. All You Need is Love can be purchased here.

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