Review: The Benefits of Line Dancing by Edward Shull

From Goodreads:

Jim Morgan is living the life he always wanted. He's a promising young entertainment lawyer, on the verge of representing the Hollywood elite, and engaged to Emily, a beautiful, smart lawyer at his firm. He's so happy, he almost doesn't think about Amanda, the girl who ripped his heart out 8 years ago.

But one phone call changes all that, taking Jim from the glitz of Los Angeles to the small town of Ashford, Alabama, to save Amanda from going to prison. Jim knows he'll need help, so he's bringing the best criminal defense lawyer he knows: Emily, his fiancee.

Jim and Amanda's last chapter has yet to be written. And with Emily in the mix, how can this possibly end well?

My Review:

 Edward Shull, the author, kindly sent me a copy of this novel after I entered a Goodreads contest.  This is my honest review.  I read this novel a few weeks ago, but wasn't quite sure how I felt about it.  Really!  It's not often that I put a book down and don't know what to say, but this was one of those times. 

I really had a hard time getting past the first few chapters - I picked it up and put it down and read a few titles in between.  Knowing that I owed Mr. Shull an honest review however, I made a point of getting through those first few chapters - not that they were ill-written, but because I just wasn't in the mood for this style or genre.   Once I got into it however, I wanted to see how it all panned out. 

Let me tell you that there are many of my friends & acquaintances who will find this novel offensive.  It has a lot of mature themes that will not be comfortable read-through for those who stick to squeaky clean novels.   Skip this one, ladies.  

That said, I did find myself intrigued.  First love, trust issues, commitment issues, drama, conflict, small towns, illness, secrets, Hollywood and lawyers.   This had it all.  The characters were well written and wanting to see the resolution kept me hanging on.  Amanda was a mess.  Emily had a broken confidence.  And, Jim, well I don't know what to say about Jim.  I loved them. I hated them.  I wanted to give them all hugs and sometimes slap them up the head.   The content and some of the elements might not be my exact cup of tea, but there's no denying that Edward Shull is a talented writer and the quirky humour and interesting characters draw you in.