Review: Bitter Truth

Bitter Truth by Meredith Wild
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bitter Truth. A story about new beginnings, family, and coming to terms with one's past. What happens when a promising romance novel fails to deliver on its tantalizing premise? As secrets loom large and complex backstories unravel, this novel promises an emotional rollercoaster but ultimately leaves readers hanging.

Bitter Truth follows Murphy's return to her family’s vineyard with her dreams in tatters, and the immediate connection she forms with Wes. In the beginning, we meet Murphy making her way home from LA, looking to heal and rebuild. Her misfortune takes her straight into the path of Wes, in more ways than one. The attraction is instant and the readers are promised a delight as it unfolds, except it doesn't.

Both main characters harbour significant secrets that the authors attempt to foreshadow. Initially, this adds intrigue, but by the midway point, there is barely an interaction with either character without them foreshadowing their ‘big secret’. It gets to a point where it's talked about so much, that it doesn't just fail to add to the story, you end up not caring. Then comes the big reveal! Without delving into spoilers, the secrets of the talented singer and the famous chef, so famous that he was hired just to attract people to the restaurant with his name alone, were disappointingly mundane. Both 'secrets' are things that are more commonplace for people in their chosen careers. But this is a romance novel so none of that matters, right? Oh well, onto the romance.

The romantic arc begins with an instant attraction that quickly evolves into a forbidden love/enemies-into-lovers/slow-burn dynamic. When Wes and Murphy finally come together, their chemistry diminishes. Wes vacillates between seeing Murphy as the love of his life and merely a sex object, making their relationship feel disjointed and awkward. There is some spice, but it feels very forced. Like cinnamon candy, some people will love it but in all honesty, it would be a better product without the spice. This book was written by two authors and you can tell. It comes across as disjointed and as though the authors had completely different ideas about what they wanted to do with the characters.

The main characters both have fascinating backgrounds. Murphy: A tragic childhood left her with trust and daddy issues as well as a fractured family. Wes: A fascinating family background that initially suggests a compelling 'damaged hero' backstory. His father’s story is so important to him that we learn early on that it is the sole reason he took the position and moved to the town. The book does a good job of building it up until… he gets distracted and then forgets all about it existing. So much groundwork is put in to state the importance of it and then, nothing. The reader is left hanging and the story line never finished. We see more of his mother and brother’s side, but it is a very complex backstory. It could be a whole book unto itself. It covers heavy topics such as addiction and abandonment, childhood trauma and the continued repercussions.

With only 268 pages to cover two detailed backstories, secrets and a love story the storylines feel flat, rushed and unrelatable. If anything the romance feels like an awkward addition to an already compressed storyline. While the characters exhibit decent chemistry when apart, their interactions together feel forced and overall the book feels like the weird feeling when families are forced together over holidays; It's just awkward.

Thank you NetGalley and Montlake Publishing for providing me with an e-arc - all opinions are my own

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