Book review: Be Your Everything, by Catherine Bybee

With impeccable writing and a multi-layered story, Be Your Everything wows us with the story of Chloe D’Angelo and Dante Mancuso.  In the first book, When It Falls Apart, we meet this wonderful Italian family and join Brooke as she meets and falls in love with Luca D’Angelo.  Now they’re traveling to Las Vegas for their bachelor & bachelorette party with Luca’s siblings, Chloe and Gio, and friends.  Dante is Luca and Gio’s best friend and Salena is Chloe’s best friend.  Brooke’s friends Carmen and Mayson briefly join them in Las Vegas.

We learn that Chloe has always had a crush on Dante, but he’s been labelled off limits by her over-protective brothers.  Plus, he’s a player and he’s been living in Italy for the past four years.  Even so, the attraction sparks again in both, and during the party night, there’s a drunken decision and they wake up married.  And of course, they decided to keep it a secret while they dealt with their feelings.  

Chloe is conflicted and scared, she wants to dissolve the union, Dante not so much.  He’s always had a thing for Chloe but he wants to please her.  

During the story, we’re treated to Chloe’s doubts and insecurities as she worries whether Dante will be a good husband and not break her heart.  I didn’t understand some of the decisions that Chloe made, and hated that she seemed to be putting Dante off.  I always saw Dante as wanting to make a go of their marriage.  I loved his devotion and respect, not just for her but for his mother and Chloe’s mother.  The poor guy had to work hard to please all these women!

There are other layers in this story that were interesting to read, like the fact that Dante’s father abandoned them years ago, and his mother stays stubbornly married to a guy she hasn’t seen in years.  Then there’s the brother code that Dante has broken and caused a rift with his friends.  Chloe wants to sort not just her relation with Dante but also her future.  As per Italian custom, she has to live with her mother until she marries and now she’s in a pickle, married in secret and living with her mother.  And she’s wanting her independence!

I love how the author meshes all the different plot lines into a story that is not only a love story but a family story.  There’s a lot of interaction between all the members of the family and also Salena, Chloe’s best friend, who can’t keep a secret to save her life and is the one who always gives out the information to move the plot forward.  It truly felt like a romp, fun and entertaining!