When I saw that a Sariah Wilson book was listed as one of this month’s First Reads options, I knew I had to grab Hypnotized by Love. I figured you can’t go wrong with a Sariah Wilson book. This book is the story of Savannah Sinclair and Mason Beckett, who were high school best friends until he stood her up for a dance date. Soon after that, someone started a rumor about Savannah. She blames him for the rumor.
If You’ve Never Read a Sariah Wilson Book…
If you’ve never read a Sariah Wilson book, you should know that she somehow comes up with these unique characters, often with unusual jobs, or at least not jobs that are common for the female lead in a romance novel. I haven’t read all of her books, but some jobs that she’s hit on include a bridesmaid-for-hire, a chemist, a nanny (who faked her credentials), and a reality show PR specialist.
A unique job title for the main female character was the case with this one as well. Savannah is a hypnotist. I’ve never read a romance novel with a hypnotist as one of the main characters.
Character Background
Savannah’s and Mason’s mothers have been best friends for years. Because of that, Mason, Savannah, and Savannah’s twin sister, Sierra, grew up doing things together. Even from a young age, their parents would joke about Mason marrying one of the twins.
As they got a little older, Savannah and Mason started to participate in a lot of the same activities, so the marriage joking mostly involved those two. During their junior year of high school, Mason asks Savannah to a dance, but then he doesn’t show up to pick her up. Soon thereafter, a horrible rumor starts going around the school about Savannah. She blames Mason for the rumor and holds a grudge against him. After college, he moved to New York City, and she moved back to her small hometown in Florida. Now it’s been seven years since the rumor started, and Mason’s back in town.
My Disappointment
While I enjoyed the book, it’s not quite up to my expected Sariah Wilson standard. That’s not to say that it’s a bad book. I’m still giving it 4 stars. It’s just that every other Sariah Wilson book that I’ve read has been a 4.5-5-star book.
The biggest reason that this wasn’t a 5-star book for me was that it felt too much like once Savannah and Mason got together, their relationship was based too much on making out. They were childhood best friends whose friendship ended over Savannah’s belief that Mason started a horrible rumor about her. I really looked forward to this being a story of them reconnecting, forgiving, and developing that friendship into something more with their friendship as the foundation for their romantic relationship. That really didn’t happen. It was mostly just this physical attraction. There were moments of thinking back on their friendship, but I felt like that part of their relationship wasn’t developed as well as it could have been.
Reader Warnings
There’s no swearing. The closest thing to violence is one scene where Savannah thinks someone broke into the house, so she grabs an object, throws it at someone, and causes physical injury to that person. Still, there are a few things that may be offensive to some readers or hard for some readers to read. This book has some pretty intense make-out scenes. I’d put them at PG-13. Sariah Wilson often has pretty intense make-out scenes, but I wondered if these would go too far. Along with that, they feel more prevalent in this book than they are in her other books.
This book also discusses some pretty serious issues, which might be hard for some readers. If you don’t want to know about these topics, skip the rest of this paragraph. Inappropriate workplace behavior, lying to try to get someone in professional trouble, using someone for their famous connections, eating disorders, and trust issues because of former relationships are some of the issues discussed. This book also talks about a teacher who had an inappropriate relationship with at least one student. While this is not described in detail, it might be difficult for some readers. Overall, this book wasn’t as lighthearted as the other Sariah Wilson books that I’ve read.
Interesting Subtle Gospel Message?
With a name like Sariah, even if you didn’t know this already, you likely guessed that she’s a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Maybe, she’s done this in other books, but I haven’t noticed this before. In this book, she brings in gospel principles, but she presents them in a more temporal way.
It’s About the Timing
This book focuses a lot on how things happen at the right time for us. They don’t happen earlier or when we wish they’d happen. They happen exactly when we need them to happen. This made me think about how in the gospel we talk a lot about accepting God’s timing.
The first time I read this message, I laughed a little internally. The second time, I began to think that it was on purpose. By the third time, it was clear that Sariah was using gospel inspiration in her book. I don’t know if it was intentional or not.
Forgiveness After the Rumor
There’s also a message about the importance of forgiveness. Savannah has to forgive Mason as well as the person who actually started the rumor. He has to forgive her for assuming he started the rumor and for being mad at him for so long. At one point, one of the characters talks about how forgiveness is important and how it shouldn’t be viewed as a weakness. I see the gospel’s view on forgiveness throughout this whole message.
Final Thoughts
I’m kind of torn on how I feel about this book. I love the interactions between Savannah and Sierra. They are both super close as sisters and best friends. I really like the gospel messages thrown into the story. I love that Savannah is a hypnotist and that she does it because she wants to help people. This isn’t something that I’d expect from a cheesy romance novel. Yet, I don’t love Savannah and Mason’s relationship. They are far from my favorite Sariah Wilson couple. I would have enjoyed this book more if she had toned down the makeout scenes and upped the number of scenes where we could just learn about their shared history and friendship.
Overall, if you’re already a Sariah Wilson fan, it’s worth reading this book to get some of her signature style. If you’re not familiar with her writing, I’d suggest starting with another one of her books. I would recommend Roommaid. It’s my favorite.
