The Cactus
by Sarah Haywood
3 Stars
Susan doesn't like the unexpected and has her life in London perfectly planned out and scheduled. But with the death of her mother, and the end of a long term relationship type arrangement Susan finds herself dealing with the unexpected more and more every day. She also finds herself pregnant and grappling with being a new and single mother. She never really got along with her Brother, and their mother's will essentially leaving the house to her Brother when she most needs her inheritance causes the divide between them to grow larger. His friend Rob is well meaning and trying to keep civility between the two. Him and Susan grow closer much to the chagrin of her brother and romance ensues.
I did overall appreciate the book and listened to it all in one day. If I didn't listen to the audiobook though I might have abandoned it mid-way through. It worked well as an audiobook with a good narrative who had good pacing and inflection. In regards to the plot itself, there were things I loved and things I didn't really appreciate.
The romance between the leads wasn't 100% convincing and felt more like the author giving a single mother someone to love her so she won't be alone. They seemed to have a connection but the jump from friends who may be more to love was instantaneous.
Susan herself as a character was annoying and rude and to me felt like she had some issues with being social in general. This could be attributed to her somewhat prickly personality and straight to the point attitude but it often felt more like she just didn't care about anyone else.
The whole adoption plot seemed to be thrown in just to highlight how "different" Susan was from her brother without adding much to the story. It may have just been in there to highlight the different path's to motherhood but it seemed to be thrown in towards the end without much lead up.
I did like the relationship dynamic with Susan and her Brother and how she grew to accept him as a person throughout the story. Even though they hated each other and resented the other their relationship developed in a believable way.
Overall with the slight instant love and the slightly unlikable main character it was a read I would recommend to someone who wanted to a good car read. Other than that it's just another romance novel without anything particularly unique about it.