Please, don’t judge me as I am about to write about the guilty pleasure that helps me escape school stress. “What is it?” you might wonder, well…here it comes. From time to time I like to read some good romance books, and Sarah Adams is definitely one of my go to writers for romance. The much awaited third book of the Walker siblings’ love stories has finally come out. “Beg, Borrow Or Steal” is the story of Emily Walker, a second grade teacher who loves to write, and falls in love with Jack, her “nemesis” who besides being a teacher is a famous mystery writer (sounds very cliché but I promise it works).
The entire series is placed in Rome, Kentucky, a small friendly town, and the siblings’ stories originate from their grandmother getting very ill. She was the only biological family these siblings had left after losing both of their parents when they were little, so her illness leads the Walker siblings to develop different coping mechanisms.
The first book tells the story of the older brother, Noah, who breaks his engagement because he needed to go back and take care of his grandmother (his fiancé did not want to do the same, so they broke up). He eventually ends up marrying a famous pop-star, Amelia (again, I know this sounds very cliché, but bear with me). The second book is about Annie, the youngest sister, who has always been taken care of and felt misunderstood by her siblings. She ends up dating Amelia’s bodyguard and finding herself through a journey of healing from a loss that she did not feel worthy of even feeling. I loved the character development in the second book.
This third book touches on many areas of life such as loneliness, and childhood traumas that leave open wounds. Emily is the oldest sister, so she feels responsible for her younger sisters and even her older brother’s happiness. Emily had some appearances in the previous two books, and it was noticeable that she is considered the family’s rock. She is strong and independent. The author did a great job by keeping these qualities of her personality, but also going deeper in how this lifestyle was actually affecting her mental well being.
Emily’s story begins when their beloved grandmother passed away, and she feels stuck in time as her siblings go on with their lives. She feels like she is no use to her family anymore and that she is hard to love as many guys who dumped her told her that she is too “tough”, or too “unlovable.” Her nemesis, Jack, moves to HER town , and what starts as a plan to get rid of him ends in a sweet friendship (which eventually of course becomes a love story, but that’s not the point). I loved the way Emily learns to be vulnerable with her siblings, and stops pretending to be fine all the time because that allows them to help her.
Likewise, Jack grew up in a manipulative environment so he has his own struggles through the book. He had also learned to build walls to protect himself from being rejected by always knowing how to act for every person and not allowing anyone to get to know the real him. Of course, Emily is the exception because she did not fall for Jack’s “charming” personality. Quite the opposite, she felt threatened because they both were competitive, and the people skills would sometimes play in Jack’s favor. After all that competition, they both ended in the same school, with the same salary, and the same grade…isn’t it funny how life works out sometimes?
Throughout the book different characters from the previous two books have appearances, where the reader gets to see the other two siblings’ love stories continue and hints of the next love story that still does not have a release date. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, and liked the sarcastic humor and life lessons that were spread throughout the reading. It was not as good as the second book in my personal opinion, but it is a solid 4.5/5 for me and would recommend it if you are into comedy/romance books.
