In a Nutshell Reviews

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Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino
Published by Atria Books on August 18, 2015
Age/Genres: Adult, Fiction

Goodreads

To the Green-eyed Lovebird:

We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.

You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.

Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…

I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.

After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?

M

I am on a roll with these second chance romances. Though I was a bit impatient when I had to travel back to when Matt and Grace fell in love, I ended up really enjoying the structure of this story.

It began in the present. Matt was still dealing with his divorce, and he saw her. Grace. The one that got away. It had been fifteen years since she disappeared from her life, but that flame still burned. GAH! I loved it.

Then, the story went back in time, and I got to see Grace and Matt as they became friends and then lovers. At the end of that "movement", their lives appeared to be moving in different directions, but I didn't have all the pieces until we jumped back to the present. It was great trying to find all those bits and fill in the holes. The switching back and forth between time periods was well utilized and had me eager to learn more. I did predict one thing major event, but there were still some big surprises. Lots and lots of delicious drama, too. I devoured this book, and want to kick myself for letting it sit on my kindle all these years.

Overall, this was a fantastic second-chance romance which pulled me in from the very beginning and had me shedding some happy tears at the end.

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Five Winters by Kitty Johnson
Published by Lake Union on January 1, 2023
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Goodreads

A bighearted novel about motherhood, friendship, moving on, and love of all kinds.

Ever since Beth Bailey was a girl, she’s been in love with her best friend’s older brother, Mark. She’s continued to hold out hope that maybe, someday, he’ll love her back. But now Beth is thirty-five years old, and on the day of Mark’s wedding to another woman, she finally accepts the wake-up call she needs to move on.

Beth’s dream of marrying her first love may be over, but her other biggest desire is still within becoming a mother. Having lost her own parents very young, there’s nothing Beth wants more in life, and nothing she’ll stop at to make her wish come true.

Over the course of five years, and with unexpected twists along the way, Beth will come to startling realisations about family, friendship, the meaning of love, and most importantly, herself on the winding path to happiness and, she hopes, to motherhood.

Beth was dealt a tough hand. Losing her parents at nine and her aunt/guardian at 13, she learned about grief and loss very early in life. But she was lucky enough to have the love and support of her best friends and her best friend's family. Though she was "part of the family", Beth had long loved Mark in a more-than-sisterly way.

In that first winter, I saw Beth's heart break as she watched Mark get married. Over four additional winters, Beth attempted to take steps to move past her love for Mark and make a life for herself. It was filled with ups and down, wins and losses. Beautifully told with a heartwarming climax, it was a pleasure spending these five winters with Beth.

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