Reasons to Heal by Jenn Matthews
- Publisher: Ylva Publishing, 2020
- Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: eARC
- Length: 75,000 words
- My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)
Molly Blue has just started her police training when she is assaulted on duty. Sustaining multiple injuries, she has to put her career on hold for several weeks. When physiotherapist Kudzi Mufaro takes on her case, their interactions are awkward but flirty. Yet Kudzi is not ready to come out to her Zimbabwean parents, and Molly is unsure about her own future. What does it take for them to find their way to each other?
It took me half a day to decide on the rating. While I really enjoyed the slow-burn romance and all the wonderful subplots, I had to deduct about half a star instead of rounding up because of Molly.
Molly and Kudzi’s dates gave me all the right tingles inside. It is great that we get to go on all their dates and see their relationship build. The soothing narration throughout the whole book is a calming hum and that warmed me. I also love how approximately seven percent of this book is dedicated to a single sex scene. Yes, seven percent, and it includes the foreplay and everything.
With the inclusion of Deaf culture and Kudzi’s Zimbabwean heritage, I found myself enjoying almost everything in the story. I love that Molly’s Deaf sister Adele has chosen to not wear hearing aids and Kudzi’s strong Zimbabwean identity. With Kudzi learning British Sign Language (BSL) and Molly learning Shona to connect with each other’s families, it is a beautiful parallel. There are also a few wonderful supporting characters, such as Molly’s friend Lucy from the physio group, and Kudzi’s older sister and brother-in-law Cat and John.
The dealbreaker of this supposedly great story is, sadly, Molly. She has to be one of the least empathetic adult main characters I have read in a long time, and I think her relationship with Kudzi has gone too smoothly for her. While I could feel their chemistry and adorable tentativeness during dates, I cannot figure out what Molly has brought into the relationship. Kudzi is an all around nice if not amazing person, but Molly is naggy and pushy and definitely crosses the line at times. I understand that Molly’s imperfections make her more real, but since she has not done enough to acknowledge her inappropriateness and redeem herself, I had a hard time accepting their happy ending. Maybe it is because I identify more with Kudzi’s background, and that in turn makes me fail at liking Molly.
I totally recommend reading Reasons to Heal for the warmth Molly and Kudzi’s dates bring, and the wonderfully diverse cast of supporting characters. [22 Jun 2020]
I received an e-ARC from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
