If I Only Knew by Corinne Michaels

Narrated by Shane East and Sophie Eastlake

4th Related Standalone. Contemporary Romance.

If I Only Knew was my first solo Corinne Michaels book. I grabbed it because I had a giveaway scheduled for kindle release day, and saw it was audio first, free in the romance package, so I grabbed it. Though the cover looked familiar, it wasn’t listed as a series anywhere, so I figured it stood alone, and it did, very well, though now I want to start the series from the beginning because I loved all the side characters that were in previous books.

“Sometimes the plan we have isn’t the one we’re meant to follow.”

Danielle lost her husband to murder. It left her a widow with two kids to raise, including a very difficult and angry teen girl and a sweet young boy. She has been working part-time for her friend’s British husband and doing a great job of it, and she is offered a VP job. The job was originally the President’s brother Milo’s, but he has been galavanting around Europe instead of settling to work in America.

As soon as Danielle begins her new position, Milo shows up to claim his former job. He comes off as a spoiled playboy asshole at first, but he totally grows on you. Since his VP position is filled, he is assigned to work as Danielle’s assistant. The assistant to the job he used to do. I loved the adversarial push and pull and banter between these two people who are both fighting for the same job. But that banter gets heated.

“Last chance. I’m going to ruin you for any other man.”
“Do your best.”

Danielle is going through a lot. She is still grieving, has a troublesome teen, a new job and now the trial of her husband’s murderer. It’s all pretty overwhelming, but her new assistant is there to lend a hand (or some lips).

“I’ve been kissed, but never like this. Never have I felt weightless and yet aware at the same time. No one has ever made my head swim or heart race like this. I crave more. This is a kiss that women dream of.”

There are ups and downs, funny times, heartbreaking times, realistic times and a good chunk of angst. It was a slower burn but completely addictive.

“Give me your heart.”
“You have it,” I reply.

Likes:

I never really felt like I missed the previous stories.
The friendships between the women.
Oh, the banter!
Sexy English accent!
Made me laugh and cry.
Slow burn with great build-up.
Just the right amount of angst.
Never felt rushed.
The epilogue.

Dislikes:

At the beginning, her feelings toward her daughter were a bit of a turn-off even while knowing how realistic they were.
It was almost impossible to find the reading order of related books. While this stands alone, I wish I listened to them in order. (I included the order below).

The Narration:

The Audible was amazing. Shane East nailed the British Playboy and Sophie Eastlake was fantastic as Danielle, even when she did Milo’s voice. The narration absolutely added to the experience.

The Down & Dirty:

I absolutely loved If I Only Knew by Corinne Michaels. It had so many of my favorite things. An older heroine, a single mom, kids, hate-to-love, banter, great friendships, funny moments and emotional moments. I think if I had read the previous 3 related books this would have easily been a 5-star read for me, but it came pretty close anyway. Though it stands alone perfectly, I do wish I had read the other books first, but it was next to impossible to find out that they were even related. The audible and Shane East’s sexy British accent added the perfect wow factor to make If I Only Knew a phenomenal audiobook that I highly recommend.