I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Erin and Amanda are sisters, but polar opposites. They’ve never really gotten along, but rally together and grow closer when their mom needs some help and Amanda faces tough times.

Erin was my favorite and her story with Eli was great. I’m glad Amanda came into her own as she was quite annoying in the beginning of this book.

Overall, a riveting read that kept me hooked. I look forward to reading more in this series.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my first Jamie Beck book and it was amazing! Life can sometimes throw you a curve ball and if you don't watch out it will knock you to the ground. With exceptional, matter of fact story telling Beck drops you right into the mitts of these fabulous characters and how they handle their devastation. I highly recommend this book to everyone! Enjoy!

If You Must Know by Jamie Beck follows the Foster Family. Life turns upside down for sisters Amanda and Erin Foster who couldn't be any more different. Amanda is a pulled-together, part-time early childhood educator, expectant wife to her real-estate mogul husband Lyle. Erin is a struggling yoga-teaching, bath-bomb making free-spirit. ⁣
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The family's separate but happy lives are all twisted by lives. Then a scandal breaks out involving Amanda's husband and the family must come together, while also struggling with grief over the loss of their patriarch a year prior. ⁣
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The biggest strength of this book was its fleshed-out female characters. I enjoyed the sister-sister and mother-daughter dynamics as they were untraditional from what I've seen before. However, the writing of this book was lacking. It was very simplistic and it didn't have enough descriptive details. It is also a slow read. ⁣
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I'd market it as a contemporary novel rather than romance, as there was only a slow-burning, no steam romance included. If you are going to pick this up, I recommend it as a beach read or something lighter between more emotional books. ⁣
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There is a more detailed review available on my blog. The link is added to this submission.

4.5/ 5 stars

If You Must Know is the first book in the Potomac Point series. It can be read as a standalone.

I would categorize this book as Women's Fiction. The book is a family drama with some romance.

There are two female narrators who are sisters: Amanda and Erin (1st person POVs).

These sisters could not be any more different. Amanda is married and pregnant. She is a nursery school teacher. She likes everything tidy and organized. She thinks things through carefully.

Erin is a yoga teacher. And has an Etsy business. She is the complete opposite of her sister. She is carefree, spontaneous, disorganized and messy.

I found the beginning to be very strong. Each sister had an interesting story. I was equally invested in both narrators.

Honestly this book was not what I was expecting at all. For some reason I thought that this book was a contemporary romance. And that it would be sexy. It was nothing like that. This was an emotional and compelling read that focused on two sisters and their dynamic with their widowed mother.

There was a lot happening with this family. And I could not put this book down.

There were definitely a few things that happened to each sister that I saw coming. And there were a few reactions especially from Amanda and the mom that just made me roll my eyes. But other than that I really enjoyed this book a lot.

I'm not exactly sure if book two has any connection to this book (maybe just where the stories take place). But I did not recognize the name of the woman who is the narrator of book two.

This book does not end in a cliffhanger and can be read as a standalone.

I kind of went into this story blind. I sometimes prefer it. This time is one of those times. 

I loved watching the sisters relationship blossom. Meanwhile, the relationship between daughters and mother have changed from beginning to end and back again. 
I feel this book is an honest portrayal of family life and that made it easy to read. You can imagine yourself there. 

Overall it was a good book that was easy to follow. #netgalley #arc

Another very good Jamie Beck book.  The main characters  - Amanda, Erin and their mother all had issues,  Most of them were not their fault   Amanda was likeable but was too trusting.  Erin was still realing from the death of her father.  I felt for all of them, but the story was riveting.  I loved the confrontation with Amanda's husband.  All and all, I read until the middle of the night because I couldn't put it down.  Very good read

An entertaining and well written story of two sisters who lead entirely different lifestyles.  I enjoyed the plot.  I highly recommend this book.  I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

Amanda and Erin might seem very different but they are sisters and when push comes to shove......Amanda's life is upended when she discovers her husband is having an affair and to add to it, she's pregnant.  Erin has her own love life issues.  They both have a challenge in dealing with their mother, who besides having a health problem, isn't very nice.  Amanda and Erin find that once they spill their secrets, they will heal- and heal tougher together.  It's a classic dysfunctional family tale where the sisters make it back to one another. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.   Nicely written and good storytelling make it a good read.

This is a Netgalley ARC review. All opinions are solely my own

If You Must Know by Jamie Beck is book one of her new series Potomac Point. This book is a departure from her previous series because it is more of a contemporary women’s fiction and there is not an overtly romantic plotline. This is something the author addresses in a post on her Goodreads page. For me it made no difference. This book was everything I wanted!!

“There ought to be a warning anytime you wake up on a day that will forever change your life.” This is the opening line of this book and I was immediately all in. This book really spoke to me as the older sister who is sometimes seen as the ‘unfun’ one. I could really relate to Amanda and Erin’s difficult sisterhood. Having lived a scene similar to the breakthrough in chapter 17, I can say that this book is a realistic portrayal of two very different sisters coming together as one. I was crying beautiful tears.

This book is written in a dual  point of view but it is done seamlessly. Erin and Amanda have very different voices and tones but they weren’t muddy when switching between chapters. The author’s technical research is evident.

Jamie Beck has written a beautiful story about a family that really bands together even when they don’t necessarily like each other. With sisters, we will always love each other even when we don’t like each other.

Had seen many reviews on this one and wasn't really sure what to make of it. I love it when character chapters are done well, these were so that's a great start. At first I felt that the story was a little too set-up and the oh-so perfect Lyle was of course never going to be so perfect.

I liked the sister angle and especially the whole family story too. I found the ending to seem a little rushed in places. But I did enjoy the story and how much had changed for the sisters from the start and from the end. A good summer read but just didn't quite have enough to get 5 stars for me.

This book is somewhat of a departure for the author.  It is not her typical HEA romance.  They are all wonderful (read them all) and my question about this change/surprise is what took so long?? This is a fantastic read. maybe the best thus far and I have truly loved all of her other books.   It’s about a complicated family, warts and all.  The story revolves around two sisters.  They are so very different that it is shocking that they are related.  They couldn’t be more different even if they put forth herculean effort.  Amanda what always been a rule follower.  When you follow the rules there are no surprises and people tend to like and accept you. Then there is Erin.  She lives a total bohemian free spirit existence and dances to her own tune even at her sisters expense. Their relationship has never been easy and has caused tension in the family forever, but that is mostly due to their mother. When their father dies they all must come together to support each other as well as deal with all of the other things going on in their collective lives. The writing is stellar, the character development wonderful and so much drama.  It brings out all kinds of feelings while reading. Much realistic, but the way things changed in one sentence with the mom left me scratching my head. No one would be so accepting nor should they be.  Go treat yourself to a copy of his book.  I am very much looking forward to the next in the series.

If You Must Know by Jamie Beck was my first book by her and not a typical romance book.  This was the author’s first foray into fiction. I will definitely read this author again as I enjoyed her writing style, characters and overall theme of the book.
At the heart of the book is the relationships involving the Turner Family. Sisters Amanda and Erin love each other, but do not see eye to eye on life and have not been as close as sisters can be.  Add in their relationships individually and with their parents, and dysfunction is apparent amongst them all. When an unfortunate event leaves Amanda pregnant and alone, family bonds will help them all to heal and rebuild a better life, a better family and show the strength that they each possess.
The book  tells the story of Amanda showing her “perfect” life, the cracks that she didn’t know were there and the image she wants everyone to see.  Erin is more carefree, living life on her terms and feeling at odds with her mother and sister. All feeling the loss of the patriarch of the family, they charter the waters in their own way to find a way to move on.
I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters, and how they learned to understand and accept each other in a different and better way. There was a growth amongst them all, and an acceptance for the other that they couldn’t see before. The story is told from both sisters point of view letting you get inside each’s head and know the whys of their decisions and actions. I also enjoyed the supporting characters in the book, and would love to see Eli and Erin’s story developed more.
I definitely recommend this book.

If You Must Know by Jamie Beck - 2.5 stars - Amazon Publishing
A special thanks for @amazonpublishing sending me this ARC in the mail. Sisters Amanda and Erin have never gotten along. They live extremely different lives and don’t seem to have much in common. Their father passes away suddenly after a stroke, leaving them to sort out their new family dynamic without him. In the midst of their grief, they come together to support each other and their mother. Amanda’s perfect marriage is upended when she discovers her husband hasn’t been being honest with her about basically anything. Erin tries to help Amanda as she navigates being pregnant and restarting her life while dealing with her own issues. There is still a secret left between them and Erin is terrified of the damage that could occur to their relationship if Amanda finds out.

I don’t usually read this genre so that may be part of the reason why I didn’t enjoy this novel. In fact, I would love to hear from other people who read it. Amanda and Erin’s personalities are clearly described and the tone of the writing is very casual, making it an easy read. However, I found the climax to be unrealistic as well as the resolution to the problem. It was also dragging a bit at the end and I found myself skimming the pages. If it was a little bit shorter with more action in between, I think I would have enjoyed it more. The complexity of relationships within families was definitely the main theme in this novel and I just needed to be portrayed with a little bit more of a deeper significance.

4 Stars 

This is my first book Jamie Beck that I have read and it was a good read. I like books about family relationships.  

Two sisters, Amanda and Erin. The sisters were total opposites of each other, who had totally different lives, Amanda married and Erin a kind of free spirit who lives life on the edge , but when push comes to shove the sisters come together and do what they can to look after their mother and help each other when Amanda who is pregnant and whose husband has left her for another women. The sister’s show each other just how strong their love for each other is and what they can forget and forgive each other to build a stronger and healthier and loving relationship where they have to learn to trust each other.   

I like the dynamic of families, growing up without a sister, I am always fascinated by the relationship of sisters, I have seen other sisters in my family and how they respond to each and I think Jamie Beck did a  wonderful job of expressing the feeling of these two sisters and also their relationship with their mother. That is something I do know about. So, this dynamic was very relatable for me.  

Thank you, Jamie Beck, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book and I look forward to my next book by Jamie to reach my TBR shelf.

I have mixed feelings about this book. This is a novel about relationships....family relationships. Two sisters who are as opposite as they can be. Then a mom who has very different relationships with both her daughters. The family is still healing from the sudden death of their beloved dad/husband. If that’s not enough one of the sisters finds out her husband is anything but the man she thought she married. I must say that I felt really angry for half of this book. It was hard to like these characters but then I also understood that that’s what the book is about too.....accepting differences about one another. Amanda is the perfect sister. She’s married and pregnant with their first child. Erin is the black sheep of the family and also the baby. Erin was closest to her father and had a special bond with him. Now they are all trying to navigate through their new life while dealing with the mess of Amanda’s husband that he has brought to them. I honestly had so much anger towards Amanda and her mom. I understood where they come from but their need to worry more about what others think of them was so exhausting. I felt so bad for Erin the most. Sure she had her flaws to but I just gravitated towards her character more. I felt she had the most growth. Despite all the emotions I was experiencing I did enjoy this book. I’m excited for the next one.

The Turner women are at different turning points in their lives. All 3 have their own relationships with each other that plays a part in their futures together and with those around them.

Amanda and Erin are struggling with being true to themselves while their mothers has her own insecurities. Throughout "If You Must Know" each character forms a new, stronger bond with the others, coming to learn that family runs deep, but may require more work than you'd expect.

This was my first time reading Beck but I am sure I will be reading more. This novel had me feelings all the emotions while reading. 

Thank you to Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Will appear soon at Romance Reviews Today. http://romrevtoday.com/

IF YOU MUST KNOW – Jamie Beck
A Potomac Point Novel
Montlake Romance
ISBN: 978-1542008716
June 2020
Contemporary Fiction
 
Potomac Point, Maryland – Present Day
 
Even though Amanda Foster and Erin Turner are sisters, they are not particularly close despite still living in the same town. Amanda is married and several months pregnant. Erin is single and living with Max, her boyfriend of two years. As IF YOU MUST KNOW opens, Amanda is wondering why her husband, Lyle, hasn’t returned her calls while he’s on a business trip to Florida.  For Amanda, everything in her life is perfect, even if she misses her father who died several months ago. Erin and Amanda’s mother still lives in the family home. Erin is dealing with her lazy boyfriend and finally decides to ask him to move out while she’s away on a yoga retreat. Amanda still hasn’t heard from Lyle, but then her world comes crashing down when she receives a letter from him telling her that he’s no longer in love with her—and wants a separation.
 
In IF YOU MUST KNOW, Amanda discovers that Lyle isn’t the man she thought she married. He’s been carrying on an affair with one of his former co-workers and secretly planning a life that doesn’t include Amanda or their child. He recently borrowed a large sum of money from Amanda and Erin’s mother—money that was part of the estate and expected to support their mother. It soon becomes clear that getting the money back won’t be easy. They are a proud and respectable family, but that could all change if people in town learn that they’ve been duped.
 
Erin returns from her yoga retreat to learn that Max did move out, but he also took a prized album collection that she received from her father’s estate. With the help of a cop friend, she tracks it down to a new man in town, Leo, who agrees to return it to her even though he’s out the money that he paid. Sparks fly between Leo and Erin, but he’s a man haunted by the death of his wife and unborn child. Could it be that he’s not yet ready for a romantic relationship?
 
Things seem to go from bad to worse for Amanda and Erin in IF YOU MUST KNOW. Amid everything going on, they have to deal with their mother’s failing mental health. Is it just stress or something else that is causing it? For financial reasons, Erin moves in with their mother. Quite a change when you’ve been on your own for years. Their relationship is rocky at first, but soon they’re getting along. Will things work out for their mother? For Amanda, her first priority is her unborn child, but every day turns out to be a new challenge for her as she learns even more bad news about Lyle. He has apparently taken off to the Caribbean with his mistress. Will Amanda find him and be able to right the things he did?
 
All through IF YOU MUST KNOW, Amanda and Erin not only learn a lot about themselves, but more about each other. They were never close before, but it takes these challenging times to finally bring them together. Will Amanda and Erin get closure on all their problems and find happiness? An engaging and uplifting tale, don’t miss IF YOU MUST KNOW.
 
Patti Fischer

I very much reading enjoyed If You Must Know. This novel is a unique story with a cast of relatable and genuine characters. If You Must Know is an engaging story of how a woman and her three grown children go through changes and deal with life's obstacles after the husband/father passes away. 

I love the authenticity of the family relationships. Author, Jamie Beck brings us a fictional story about a fictional family. Yet, I am total engrossed in reading If You Must Know. It's all here: love, marriage, loss, betrayal, money, and more.

Jamie Beck has created a compelling, page-turning story full of complicated sibling rivalries, love, respect, lies, and secrets. Yet, the characters and the story have a genuineness that rings true throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have long loved Jamie Beck's novels and If You must Know is no exception. This fantastic story has it all - love, family and betrayal. I'm excited to see that this is a first book in an upcoming series. I can't wait to read more about these wonderful characters! I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoy's women's fiction!

If You Must Know is a great novel that follows the story of sisters Amanda and Erin, along with their mother as they navigate life in their hometown of Potomac Point.

Amanda and Erin have never been close, as they are very different people. They are the middle and youngest respectively out of the three kids, with Kevin their older brother. While they both still live in Potomac Point, they don't spend much time together and there isn't a whole lot of trust between them. Amanda is a rule follower who is married and expecting her first child. Erin is much more of a free spirit who wants to do what makes her happy versus being so black and white.

Loss, betrayals and family secrets may just be the thing that brings these two very different sisters together. While they have so many differences, there are things that show them that they are more similar than either one ever guessed. They realize that now is the time to come together versus continuing to stay apart.

This book was emotional, had plenty of angst and really showcased how family can either come together or be split apart. While I'm more of a romance reader, this was a good change for me and one that I would recommend. 

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher**