4 out of 5 stars

*SPOILER ALERT!*

I of course found out about Taylor Jenkins Reid after her book “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” was released and I’m pretty sure I devoured that book in two days, if not less.  I had no idea she had other books that had already came out so I of course had to read this one when I saw it.

While it wasn’t as good as the first book I read by her it wasn’t terrible either.  I love how her writing style seems to just draw me in and hook me immediately and make me not want to stop reading.  There was a couple of slow spots for me but not enough for me to put down the book completely and give up.

This book is about Emma who has been with her high school sweetheart Jesse for 9 years traveling the world and seeing some amazing places for their jobs.  When he proposes she thinks her life is complete and that all of their dreams are coming true.  Jesse unfortunately learns of a job opportunity the day before their 1 year anniversary that’s too good to pass up and Emma reluctantly lets him go.  The day of their 1st anniversary the helicopter carrying Jesse and three other passengers crashes and he’s never seen or heard from again.  After many years of grieving and moving back to her hometown, Emma reconnects with an old friend from high school and finds herself falling in love with him.  After they move in together and get engaged, Emma gets a phone call from Jesse, three years after the helicopter crash.  Emma is torn between the two loves of her life and must make a decision about who she really is and who she wants to be with for the rest of her life.

I personally liked the character of Emma Bette when she was with Sam versus when she was with Jesse.  I felt like she was trying to be someone she wasn’t when she was with Jesse to impress him or make it seem like she liked all of the things that he did.  When she was with Same she was a lot more relaxed and down to earth.  There was a few times in the book I was sitting and wondering to myself why she was thinking about staying with Jesse after some of the comments and things he did.  I’m very glad she ended up with Sam in the end because I feel like she was a better person and that he was a better guy for her.  He was more content to stay in their hometown close to her parents and let her run the family’s bookstore whereas Jesse still had to the urge to continue traveling the world and living in Los Angeles.

All in all not a bad book.  Did I absolutely love it?  No, but I did enjoy reading it and I do plan on reading more of her work.