Book Review: If You're not the One

by: Jemma Forte

I've had this one on my TBR list for awhile. Amazon and my library keep placing it in front of me by way of recommendation. Booksparks obliged by asking me to review it this summer.

My last book dealt with the outcomes of one choice. First one way and then the other. I was pleasantly surprised to see this one had a similar idea. The main character, Jennifer is looking over where she is in her life. Her husband is pulling away and lord knows her reaction isn't helping. She feels trapped and that induces a certain amount of panic. I can understand that. It is scary to attach yourself to someone and trust that they will keep your best interests at heart. Instead he slowly loses respect for her. Jennifer is mostly a stay at home mom, recently working part time while the girls are in school. She finally has a little time to breath and look over her marriage. She really doesn't like what she sees, but is it too late to turn things around?

For some reason, not made clear until much later, she runs out of her house and is hit by a car. While in a coma, her brain takes her to her 3 most important relationships that could easily have ended in marriage. What would have happened? She goes through door #1, #2 and #3. While jumping around those possibilities, we are caught up on what has been going on between her and Max. She had a hot Australian, Aiden. In college she was with a wicked smart but not very demonstrative man named Tim. And immediately before Max, she was seeing Steve.

I expected a lighter story, but this deals with real mistakes and consequences in this woman's life. And we get a clue that Jennifer is truly battling depression. It never comes out with that, but the always present line of dissatisfaction that Jennifer feels is a not-so-subtle hint.

While it does jump around in time and stories, I felt it was pretty easy to follow. No harder than The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Yes it goes forward and backward, changing complete storylines. But the story also has an easy flow, it really isn't hard to follow. It is unique and quite exciting to read. I really enjoyed my time with this book and recommend to anyone who enjoys women's fiction.

I am adding Jemma Forte to my favorite author list to see what she comes out with next. Oh happy day! She has other books out already.

Book Review: Maybe in Another Life

by: Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is a neat little book about Hannah, who feels she has fully messed up her life and moves home to Los Angeles. She is staying with her best friend and they go out her second night back. She meets up with her old high school boyfriend. There are two choices presented, stay out with Ethan or go home with Gabby. The rest of the book jumps back and forth on two distinct timelines. One, she goes home with Gabby and Ethan hooks up with one of Gabby's friends. Hannah is hit by a car and must work on recovery. In the other one she goes home with Ethan and they begin an intense love affair until she finds out she is pregnant by the married man she had been dating previously. Will Ethan stay or run? Either way, Hannah is having the baby.

It was interesting the things that stayed the same and the things that changed. Because each chapter jumps back and forth, you really have to pay attention. If there's one thing people might dislike about this book, it's that. Personally, I loved it. It has a predictable flow, and it's easy enough to keep track of.

This book surprised me. I thought I had an idea on what was going to happen, but nope...I was wrong. I was pleasantly surprised on both storylines, and appreciated what Hannah went through in both. Gabby had her own issues, and that was an interesting thing to watch as well. Hannah's one choice leads to other choices, and has effects on everyone around her. Her story changes everyone's story, too.

Book Review: Beautiful Girl

by: Fleur Philips

Melanie is 17 years old, but has already lived a full career in the modeling/acting world of Los Angeles. Her mother has been dragging her to auditions and jobs since she was 4 years old. Her mother had her own aspirations, until she became a single mother. She passed, or forced, those dreams onto her daughter. Melanie doesn't have the guts to stand up to her mother, but she hates it. She hates the fake friends, the teenage life she has given up.

One day, driving home from visiting her only friend (who isn't much of a friend, btw), she gets in an accident. Her face is ruined. Melanie isn't sure how she feels about it. Her mother acts like she can't be seen, which just makes her feel worse. Plastic surgery is scheduled, and in the meantime they hide away in Montana.

And this is really where Melanie's life changes. She meets a boy and falls in love. Things come to a head with her mother. Melanie will never go back to the way things were before.

This book was very fast paced and hard to put down. The romance was so sweet, innocent. The stories within the story.

I was at a wedding reception when I finished this, and I had a bit of a book hangover. lol