AUTHOR: Kellie Coates Gilbert
DATE: 2016
PUBLISHER: Revell
STARS: ***1/2
Leta Breckenridge is forced to drop out of college to care for her dementia-ridden mother. After learning a severely delinquent account may force her mother into a less desirable facility, Leta steps out of her comfort zone and lands a high-paying job at an Austin public relations firm. But her dream job turns into a nightmare when she learns the firm is a front for a political opposition machine--and that the research she's been collecting will be used against her new love interest, Nathan Emerson.
Nathan is a rising political star being pressured to run a bid to unseat the current governor of Texas. He's already in a relationship with a woman much better suited to be a politician's wife, but he's never met anyone like Leta. Could this feisty, challenging woman hold the key to his heart?
What Matters Most could be called Cinderella Goes to Washington, except that in this case, the goal is Austin, Texas. I wanted to love this story, and parts of it touched my heart. The heroine’s relationship with her mother—and the author’s description of this cruel disease—excelled.
However, I found the main subject matter distasteful, and that may be my own prejudices showing. I cannot stand the underside of politics, so I had trouble reading to the end. My other problem with this book is although it is billed as Christian Women’s Fiction, the only faint mention of faith were quotes from Leta’s mother about God making things right. Neither of the main characters showed any tendency toward Christianity, so I don’t understand why it was categorized as such.
Kellie Coates Gilbert’s writing impressed me, and that added a half star to a less-then-stellar verdict. What Matters Most earned three and a half stars from me.
Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.