Book Review: You Make Me Tremble by Karis Walsh

You Make Me Tremble by Karis Walsh is a contemporary romance. Animal rescue worker Iris Mallery thinks she has created a stable and secure home for herself, but when her small town is battered by an earthquake, Iris needs to rebuild not only her own life, but the lives of the displaced dogs and cats now filling her shelter. The quake’s effects are personal for Iris, but not for seismologist Casey Radnor. Casey is a scientist above all else, logical and disconnected from the natural disasters she studies. When she rescues a stray dog from some rubble, she finds herself caught up in the lives of Iris and the others affected by the quake, despite her best efforts to remain professional. The beautiful San Juan Islands in Washington State become the epicenter of both the earthquake and the collision of Iris and Casey’s hearts. Can love bind the shattered fragments together again?

You Make Me Tremble is a book with lots of promise. Iris and Casey think they are so very different, but I found that at the center they are very much the same. Both have less than perfect childhoods and spend most of their time either trying to deal with or avoid the issues that that have as a result. I liked the honesty and maturity that they show in actually discussing their problems for the most part. I loved the emotional growth and the role the animals and secondary characters on the island play. However, I felt like at one point Iris and Casey went from zero to sixty with very little warning, and then back again. I will say that the backing off was completely expected and fit with the character's personalities perfectly- as did the reactions and actions there after. I am not sure what it was, but despite the solid characters, I just never really connected with them or felt all that invested in the story. I think that was more about me than the book though, since I cannot point out any fault in the writing or story that prevented that connection.

You Make Me Tremble is a book that I was very excited to read. The premise and characters promised a great read. While it was well done, I just never really connected with the characters and felt I was told rather than shown the issues and conflicts they had. Perhaps I was just not in the right headspace to read it, which sometimes happens. I liked the book, but it did not rock (ha!) my world like I expected.