by Holly Peterson
Release date: April 1st, 2014
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Adult Contemporary Fiction
Format: Paperback, eBook
Format read: Paperback I received from publisher for an honest review.
Format read: Paperback I received from publisher for an honest review.
SUMMARY
Allie Crawford is a once aspiring screenwriter turned successful public relations executive, mother of two young children, and wife of a hotshot magazine editor whose power base spans the worlds of finance, fashion, culture, entertainment, and society. At 34, she finds herself at a crossroads: between the office and her home, her life has become an endless rotation of people pleasing-whether pulling rabbits out of hats for her mogul boss, entertaining advertisers and phony A-listers for her husband's magazine, or making elaborate costumes for children's school plays. At least, that is, until she meets a head turning, traffic stopping beauty at the bar of the famed Four Seasons Grill Room - where many of the novel's players regularly convene - and shortly thereafter finds the same woman and her husband in an apparently compromising position in her own apartment.
And so begins the story of two very different women bound by similar missions - to uncover the crimes and betrayals of various men in their lives and finally put their own interests front and center.
For Allie this ultimately means leaving a husband who is ideal in theory but not in practice, and deciding to risk security for self-fulfillment and a new life on her own. Like so many women, Allie fell for the man she married when she was in her twenties only to realize years later that it wasn't him she fell for as much as it was the idea of him - the idea of a savior who would protect and provide and ferry her from her past into the future. But the guy who seemed so right at the time turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy.
And so begins the story of two very different women bound by similar missions - to uncover the crimes and betrayals of various men in their lives and finally put their own interests front and center.
For Allie this ultimately means leaving a husband who is ideal in theory but not in practice, and deciding to risk security for self-fulfillment and a new life on her own. Like so many women, Allie fell for the man she married when she was in her twenties only to realize years later that it wasn't him she fell for as much as it was the idea of him - the idea of a savior who would protect and provide and ferry her from her past into the future. But the guy who seemed so right at the time turned out to be nothing more than a fantasy.
MY REVIEW
I have to admit, I assumed that this book was going to be your typical chick-lit book: clueless girl fell in love with the wrong guy, breaks-up, picks up the pieces and proceeds to have a happily-ever-after. I was so very wrong - and that is a good thing. This book was not what I expected at all, within the first few pages I knew that it was not going to be easy to put it down, the writing is exquisite; I really, really enjoyed its fast paced storyline, the unexpected twists and turns, the realistic characters and the harsh reality of denial...
Allie is a good mom, loyal wife and hard worker. Her world is everyone elses world, and she's been happy doing it all. Or so, she thinks she's happy doing it all. There's history, there have been signs, but she never pays attention to anything bad or negative for too long. For many years all she's done is run away from her past, her heartaches. And she's proud of herself for being able to push it all away and live a happy life... until she catches her husband in the laundry room with a gorgeous 20-something. What is she suppose to think? What do you think?.. You don't think something happened in there, do you? Something did happen in there... but its not entirely what you think, maybe a little...
The mystery, the needing to know who this gorgeous girl is! We soon find out that her name is Jackie, and she knows things - she knows everything about Allie, her family, her finances, mostly her husband. Allie's world is crumbling, but Jackie asks her to hold on for a bit longer, trust her and in the end, she'll be happy that she did. How is Allie suppose to trust someone who has had a relationship with her husband? Who knows things that they shouldn't know? Who is so vague with information but yet so smart and honest? Let the page-turning novel speak for itself - I couldn't read it fast enough!
I must say, as wonderful the story and writing is, it took me a few chapters to get used to these characters - but like in real life, sometimes you have to get to know people in order to understand them. Each character is extremely flawed - a few I completely understood why they were the way that they were. Allie's denial and wanting to stick up for her husband and all the men in her life was annoying at times - but she has her reasons and I could not hold that against her. The author did an outstanding job with letting us into her head with flashbacks and explanations. But, her husband Wade and her boss Murray where undeniably chauvinistic, mean, bossy and so much more. They annoyed me and I just wanted to scream. The author really goes in deep and shows the competitive side to business, and how that can control people's lives. She really outdid herself with the realism of it all! These people do exist and if a character gets under my skin that much, the author did her job! Especially depicting the NYC life, how busy and crass it can all be! There is a lot of swearing and sexual innuendos, you have been warned.
Holly Peterson really understands the difficulties within unique and intense relationships and explores it all in great detail, heart with a splash of humor. This is more than just a beach read - it's a must read!
Go enjoy it now!
Allie is a good mom, loyal wife and hard worker. Her world is everyone elses world, and she's been happy doing it all. Or so, she thinks she's happy doing it all. There's history, there have been signs, but she never pays attention to anything bad or negative for too long. For many years all she's done is run away from her past, her heartaches. And she's proud of herself for being able to push it all away and live a happy life... until she catches her husband in the laundry room with a gorgeous 20-something. What is she suppose to think? What do you think?.. You don't think something happened in there, do you? Something did happen in there... but its not entirely what you think, maybe a little...
The mystery, the needing to know who this gorgeous girl is! We soon find out that her name is Jackie, and she knows things - she knows everything about Allie, her family, her finances, mostly her husband. Allie's world is crumbling, but Jackie asks her to hold on for a bit longer, trust her and in the end, she'll be happy that she did. How is Allie suppose to trust someone who has had a relationship with her husband? Who knows things that they shouldn't know? Who is so vague with information but yet so smart and honest? Let the page-turning novel speak for itself - I couldn't read it fast enough!
I must say, as wonderful the story and writing is, it took me a few chapters to get used to these characters - but like in real life, sometimes you have to get to know people in order to understand them. Each character is extremely flawed - a few I completely understood why they were the way that they were. Allie's denial and wanting to stick up for her husband and all the men in her life was annoying at times - but she has her reasons and I could not hold that against her. The author did an outstanding job with letting us into her head with flashbacks and explanations. But, her husband Wade and her boss Murray where undeniably chauvinistic, mean, bossy and so much more. They annoyed me and I just wanted to scream. The author really goes in deep and shows the competitive side to business, and how that can control people's lives. She really outdid herself with the realism of it all! These people do exist and if a character gets under my skin that much, the author did her job! Especially depicting the NYC life, how busy and crass it can all be! There is a lot of swearing and sexual innuendos, you have been warned.
Holly Peterson really understands the difficulties within unique and intense relationships and explores it all in great detail, heart with a splash of humor. This is more than just a beach read - it's a must read!
Go enjoy it now!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Holly Peterson
Holly Peterson is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Manny and the upcoming The Idea of Him.
She was a Contributing Editor for Newsweek, an Editor-at-Large for Talk magazine and an Emmy Award–winning Producer for ABC News, where she spent more than a decade covering global politics. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, Talk, The Daily Beast, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and numerous other publications.
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