Hello dear Readers,
This week my most anticipated book of the year coming out today. The Year We Turned Forty: A Novel by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke.
Title: The Year We Turned Forty: A Novel
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Genre: Women's Fiction
Author: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: April 26, 2016
Publication Date: April 26, 2016
Language: English
Book Description
If you could repeat one year of your life, what would you do differently? This heartwarming and hilarious novel from the authors of The Status of All Things and Your Perfect Life features three best friends who get the chance to return to the year they turned forty—the year that altered all of their lives, in ways big and small—and also get the opportunity to change their future.
Jessie loves her son Lucas more than anything, but it tears her up inside that he was conceived in an affair that ended her marriage to a man she still loves, a man who just told her he's getting remarried. This time around, she’s determined to bury the secret of Lucas’ paternity, and to repair the fissures that sent her wandering the first time.
Gabriela regrets that she wasted her most fertile years in hot pursuit of a publishing career. Yes, she’s one of the biggest authors in the world, but maybe what she really wanted to create was a family. With a chance to do it again, she’s focused on convincing her husband, Colin, to give her the baby she desires.
Claire is the only one who has made peace with her past: her twenty-two year old daughter, Emily, is finally on track after the turmoil of adolescence, and she's recently gotten engaged, with the two carat diamond on her finger to prove it. But if she’s being honest, Claire still fantasizes about her own missed opportunities: a chance to bond with her mother before it was too late, and the possibility of preventing her daughter from years of anguish. Plus, there’s the man who got away—the man who may have been her one true love.
But it doesn’t take long for all three women to learn that re-living a life and making different decisions only leads to new problems and consequences—and that the mistakes they made may, in fact, have been the best choices of all…
My Thoughts
What an emotional journey this book was. One that I'm willing to go through again just to re live the magic of love and the power of friendship.
The Year We Turned Forty is the story of three women, Claire, Gabriela and Jessie, mothers, daughters, a very successful Real Estate Agent, a Stay Home mom and a Best Selling Author, but most of all, three best friends, friends for almost a life time and how on Claire's 50th Birthday celebration they are given the opportunity to go back for one year to when they were Forty and change the path their lives followed, make different choices, undo past mistakes and is during this journey when they discover that as good as it sounds to have the chance to change the past it may not be a good idea, that sometimes trying to change what is already done can bring new situations, harder, more painful and more difficult to make the right decisions. Is it really worth it? Can we really change things without hurting other people along the way? Can we avoid the pain completely?
The Year We Turned Forty is a story about mistakes, pain, regrets, suffering, doubt, losing loved ones, unsaid words, hidden feelings but is also about love, family, forgiveness, happiness, second chances, new opportunities, and what is constant throughout the whole book, a story about true, pure, honest and real friendship. It was fascinating, magical, sweet, beautiful to see how Claire, Gabriela and Jessie even in their darkness moments had each other's back. Never read a book before where the way friendship is presented moved me as much as this one did. WOW.
I loved this book. The writing style beautiful, the dialogue, the interactions between the characters magnificent, the characters, real, human, believable, reliable, just the right pace, this wonderful touch of magic. I could not put it down, is inviting, one from the moment you start reading it consumes you, it is really hard to leave the pages. I felt part of the story, part of the character's lives, I felt like I was there, I felt part of it the whole time.
I discovered Liz and Lisa's books last year and they have easily became one of my favorite Authors. I immediately felt in love with their books, their stories, their characters. The moment I knew there was a new book coming out I knew I needed it, I knew I had to read it. And was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy. Many many thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The Year We Turned Forty. A book I totally recommend. A book that I'm certain everybody needs to read sometime in their lives.
My Favorite Quote
"As humans we often let our egos rule our decisions. We let fear stop us from reaching our true potential. We forget about love. But the heart? It never forgets. No matter what happens, no matter how hard things get, it always remembers".
***************************************************************************************************************
Coming out today also Water's Wrath, Book 5 in the Air Awakens Series by Author Elise Kova.
Author: Elise Kova
http://elisekova.com/
BUY LINKS
BOOK FOUR
Coming April 26, 2016
Librarian turned sorcerer. Sorcerer turned hero. Hero turned puppet.
The Solaris Empire found victory in the North and, at the cost of her heart and her innocence, Vhalla Yarl has earned her freedom. But the true fight is only beginning as the secret forces that have been lurking in the shadows, tugging at the strings of Vhalla’s fate, finally come to light. Nowhere is safe, and Vhalla must tread carefully or else she’ll fall into the waiting arms of her greatest foe. Or former lover.
