Tag: single

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

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“You can’t just keep doing what you’re doing and wait for it to turn into something happy. You kind of have to look for the happy things along the way.”
― Annabel Monaghan, Summer Romance

When Ali Morris’s husband ask for a divorce a year after her mother dies, Ali is understandably distraught. Not because she particularly cares that her marriage is over, but the audacity of her husband to divorce her while she’s grieving instead of helping her through it. After they have been separated for a year, it shouldn’t be a surprise when he suggests they finalize their divorce, but yet again she’s caught off guard.

Ali’s day job as a professional organizer should mean that her home and her life are pretty put together, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Her life is a mess. Her friends and her three children are concerned about her lack of wearing hard pants and her increasing pattern of wearing the same dirty sweatpants out in public. When one day she decides to take off her wedding ring and put on a pair of overalls, her only plans are to take her dog to the dog park. Imagine her surprise when she meets someone. Well actually, her dog picks this stranger out of the crowd and marks him for her by peeing on him and soaking his shoe. Ethan and Ali immediately hit it off. He looks at her like she is brave, young, and has her life together. The more time they spend together, the more Ali works to find her spark. A summer romance may be just what she needs to get out of this rut. What harm can come from that?

This romance was exactly what I needed. What hooked me was that the characters were older, aka in their late 30s with established careers and families. The character growth portrayed by the main characters and some of the supporting characters was a breath of fresh air. I found myself laughing, crying, and cheering them on, the whole range of emotions throughout this book. I can’t wait to read to more by this author!

This title is also available in large print.

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

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I’m a sucker for a book with a gorgeous cover and a British audiobook narrator. The Cactus by Sarah Haywood had both of these and I knew I was a goner. I mean, look how gorgeous this cover is!

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood tells the story of Susan Green. Susan is very particular in how she wants her life to run. Everything around her is perfectly ordered. Anything out of the norm presented to her must be weighed carefully by Susan to assess the pros and cons before she decides to either add it to her life or banish it completely. Emotions are one part of daily life that Susan just doesn’t see the point of because they are unpredictable and don’t fit into her perfectly ordered existence. They’re messy. Susan doesn’t like messy.

Susan has the perfect flat for one, a job that lets her logical side run free, and a longstanding, as she calls it, ‘interpersonal arrangement’ that has been going on for 12 years. This arrangement provides Susan with all the cultural and more intimate personal relations she feels she needs. With all this perfection and order, something is bound to go awry. And sure enough, Susan is soon faced with changing circumstances she can not control.

Susan’s mother unexpectedly passes away. Her mother’s will leaves Susan angry and confused as it details that Susan’s lazy and spoiled brother is given the larger share of everything. Susan also learns that her ‘interpersonal arrangement’ with Richard has resulted in her becoming pregnant, a fact that knocks her off course.

Susan is losing control. Despite her best efforts to curtail her brother’s efforts and to deal with her pregnancy, nothing seems to go her way. As her due date looms closer, the circumstances with her brother seem to be getting more complicated and do not clear up the way that she had hoped. Soon everything comes to a head and Susan finds herself looking for help from the most unlikely of people in the oddest of ways. Susan discovers things about herself that she previously didn’t know. This self-discovery amidst her mother’s death and unexpected pregnancy allows Susan to find the strength to move forward and create a different life.

This book reminded me a lot of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, so much so that I had to consciously remind myself that these were two separate books. If I had read them back to back, my confusion would have been great! Both main characters seem to have Asperger’s Syndrome, have difficulty relating to others, and have complicated personal and professional lives. Definitely recommend them both.

The One & Only by Emily Giffin

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the one and onlyThe One & Only by Emily Giffin is a book about family, whether it be your biological family or the family that you are raised with. Shea Rigsby has lived in Walker, Texas her entire life. After graduating from college, she even decided to stay in town and work in the athletic department at her alma mater. The thought of leaving her beloved hometown never even occurred to her.

Her best friend Lucy’s father, Clive Carr, is the head coach of the Walker college football team, a legend within both the coaching and local communities. He and his wife served as a second set of parents to Shea after her own parents divorced and her mother had a breakdown. Tragedy hits the Carr family, leaving them all reeling and Shea wondering if she is really happy with the way her life is going.

Breaking up with her slacker boyfriend, Shea finds encouragement from Coach Carr and decides to look beyond Walker to expand her life. New relationships and old relationships weave a messy web all around Shea, forcing her to leave her comfort zone and do things she never thought she would do. This book is truly chick lit with some serious football lingo thrown in. If you are fans of Emily Giffin or enjoy chick lit, check this book out.