For What It's Worth by Karey White

For What It’s Worth

by Karey White

Twenty-four year old, Abby Benson has dreams of owning her own wedding cake shop.  An inheritance from her aunt gives her the ability to make those dreams come true.  She hires Dane, a handsome contractor, to help her get the bakery up and running and soon they’re moving toward their own happy ending.

Unsure what to charge for her cakes, Abby has a crazy idea to let the customer decide what they think their cake is worth.  This plan has its ups and downs, but the novelty of the idea makes her a local celebrity.  When she is interviewed on television about the unusual idea, business booms and Abby is swept up in a whirlwind that threatens everything she values.  With the challenges that face her, will she be able to determine what is worth the most?

REVIEW

I’m not going to say I love this book, but I will say I really really enjoyed it.  When I initially requested this book for review I missed the part about it being a romance novel with religious undertones.  I say the book has religious undertones because you don’t get to the religious elements until you are about 90% into the book.

Karey White is a relatively new author.  For What It’s Worth is only her second book.  Initially, I was put off a little bit by the book because it was written in first person.  Once I got further into the book, that wasn’t a big deal anymore.  This book is based on a girl who runs a wedding cake shop, so yeah you guessed it, there’s recipes in the book.  Not that my inner Martha Stewart is speaking to me and begging to get out, put the recipes look pretty good.

I found For What It’s Worth to be on the thought provoking side, once you stripped away the romance.  You’re left with a woman, Abby, who is finally fulfilling her lifelong dream of owning a wedding cake shop.  The shop is extremely popular and successful and Abby is making more money than she ever thought possible.  However, Abby is left to wonder if that success is WORTH her other dreams being sacrificed.

I’m a romance reader who likes to have the steamy moments spelled out or insinuated for me.  With that said, it took me a VERY VERY long time to realize Abby and Dane had a relationship, but I guess that could go back to the religious aspect of the book.  Even without all of that, this is a good book.

Abby and Dane, a contractor for his family’s construction company, are both loving and caring people.  They each believe that family is extremely important, as well as God (again, this is very subtle).  Dane meets Abby while he is converting a house left to Abby by her aunt into a facility capable of being able to house her business.  Subtly, they begin a relationship, one where Dane is very supportive of Abby and her business.  With all of Abby’s success, she starts to miss spending time with her family and Dane, because she is so busy with the shop.  Dane’s family voices their concern about her business and its success.  This leads to a big argument between Dane and Abby, since Dane never once tried to defend her or stand up for her.  The argument then leads to Dane breaking up with Abby and moving away.

Christmas brings Abby the realization that she put her value of worth in the wrong place.  She started looking at ALL the money the shop was bringing in and not really paying attention to the fact that she was alone and lonely.  Abby saw her siblings all having wonderful lives and she felt a little left out.  She realizes she had everything she wanted all within her reach, but lost it.  It’s at this point she realizes her business did in fact consume her.  Abby decides at that point that it’s time to make some changes to her life.

I love the way Dane, the quiet hero, and Abby are able to come back together and the way their issues are finally resolved.  Hmmmm, has anyone else ever heard of talking, saying what you want and risking everything for love?

If you’re looking for a nice, wholesome read that will make you feel good in the end, this is definitely the book for you.

Rating: 4 (I really liked it.)
   Be sure to check out the giveaway.

Release Date: December 11, 2012
Genre: Religion & Spirituality, Romance
Book Length: 240 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase through: Amazon
Author’s Website: Karey White