About the Book:

When Candice’s in-laws died in a car accident eight months ago, she lost her husband Ian too. After only two years of marriage their guilt and pain have left them living together but apart. During Ian’s month-long trip overseas, Candice plans to decide if her marriage can be saved, but when the first man she ever loved is the new client at work, she wonders what she truly wants from life and love.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book, and a review that is unique because it holds the distinction of my beginning transition over to the new electronic age of books.  After a couple of years of consideration, and a lot of thought, research, and debate (all personal), I finally jumped into the 21st century and bought a NOOK.  And the poor sales man at Barnes and Noble must have thought he had a nut job on his hands.  Not only did I have to have him explain the entire system from the ground floor up, but I also made him give me all the pros and cons (and yes this was after all of my own debate and research) on having an e-reader, vs. the real thing.  And when all was said and done, apparently I am not the only reader out there that was having the struggle of trying to decide if I could really read a book — without holding a “book.”  However — I am proud to say that I have made the transition, and I not only love my new portable library, but it made quite a smash hit at my family Christmas party, where I just had to share!  Yes, it does take some adjusting.  I found myself constantly reaching for pages that weren’t there, and the heft of the book was slightly different.  But in the end, my NOOK had won over a new best friend!

Now — on to the book.  This was the first book that was on the free NOOK books.  And since I was still learning, I didn’t want to run the risk of getting into a book that I was going to hate, and be frustrated over a bad experience with the format, combined with a horrible book.  I am glad to say that I didn’t have that problem on either account!  This book was a fun, light read — with a story that I found enjoyable beginning to end.

What I liked.  Ms. Wardell has a real gift with characters.  But it was the ultra charged situations that made the characters — not simply the characters themselves.  A woman torn between the only two men she had ever loved in her life.  That has to be a difficult situation, under the best of times.  But this book didn’t turn into one of those heavy profanity and sexual prowess books, which I was afraid it would.  What it did turn into was a real soul searching type of book.  As Ms. Wardell does a great job of presenting many of the hang ups, and trouble spots that all women deal with, when it comes to fitting into a challenging, and very demanding world.  Everything from appearance, to friendships, to loyalty and devotion all made an appearance.  Not to mention the challenge of having to answer those tough questions such as what do we, as women really want out of life?  And what is reasonable for us to expect?  This book even takes on the question of the difficulties of living single in a married world — and the other extreme as well.  Candice is a great character for demonstrating the challenges that women have when it comes to balancing friendships, relationships, a professional career, and a private life, all while still trying to fit into everyone else’s opinion of what they should be (Even if there was a little more crying than I like.  It wasn’t dispositive to the story.)  If you have ever wondered why it is so hard to be a woman in the modern world — this book will really resonate with you.  And for those that just don’t understand the thought processes of women — this book is a great starting point.

One thing that I did find frustrating about this book is I kept feeling like there were a couple of areas that were being left out of the book.  Such as what it was that Candice’s husband had said that had cause their marriage to slide so far out of control.  (Eventually this one does come out — but it is quite a ways into the book.)  As well as several of the emails that, if it were me, I would have considered them important to not only the story — but also to explaining why Candice acted the way she did in several circumstances.  I felt like there were a couple of huge issues that just were left out of the story — and most of them were explanatory in nature.  Had they been included it would have made this a much fuller story, with an even greater impact.  However, having them left out didn’t really detract from the story line — it just weakened it a bit.

The book itself is a fun, light read.  One that I would consider as leaning towards the escapist type story.  But it is very insightful into women — and the challenges they face in the world today.

Tags: Clean Reads, Friendship, Love, Romance

Category: Clean Fiction, Fiction, Romance