In Every Life by Rea Frey
Product Details
Web ID: 19876180What If you Could Change Your Past???
This story was utterly amazing! Harper is living her life in Tennessee when her husband, Ben, is diagnosed with cancer right after their honeymoon. His wish for her is to find love again. Enter NYTimes journalist interested in writing a piece about Ben and Ben’s dying wish. Turns out this journalist is Harper’s one that got away. The story floats between Harper’s present and Harper’s past with what I call “rub the genie bottle and make a wish” moment. Can you go back in time and make a different decision or is your past just your past? Read this wonderful story and find out! 5 stars!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Loved it
Loved it!! (Well all but one part of it.) I started reading this not knowing the premise of the book, which I do for many books of authors I love. So I was a bit shocked about how soon Harper was going from wife to widow. The part that really got me was Ben's insistence that Haprper needs to find a new love before he dies. Honestly, it's such a jerk move. Ben's idea that Harper needs a man to make her happy is so wrong. Instead of putting your precious time together to find a new mate, spend it together. The whole thing reminded me of a Golden Girls episode, where a woman tried to set her husband up with Sophia. Of course it didn't end well. So you definitely need to suspend belief with how Harper keeps changing the trajectory of her life. I do enjoy magical realism, but I didn't love it with Harper. I really wanted Harper to go back to her original life with Ben nd for her to make the changes that she wanted. She ended up in the life she always wanted but didn't remember/know how she got there. It was like everything was handed to her because of the spells/magic. Harper lacked motivation and she always ran away from anything that was hard. She liked to make excuses. Harper and Liam only knew each other for a week. They acted like they were in a huge love affair that went on for months or years. They hardly knew each other. Why hide it from Ben? I would definitely be friends with Wren and Jenna. The main reason are their cats Pickles and Gremlin. ( I also have a Gremlin, but she has fur.) Definitely recommend the book. My review sounds like I didn't enjoy the book, but I really did. The story is emotional. It's hard to imagine having to go through such a tragedy. Getting married and finding out your husband has cancer in a a very short amount of time. I loved the story, writing style and characters. Look forward to reading more books by the author. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Muse through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beautiful Heartbreaker with Hope
This wasn't your normal romance. Right off the bat, you find out that Harper's husband, Ben has cancer. So, you know what you're going into. It's a brutal and tear ridden story but it's full of so much hope and some beautiful moments. Harper and Ben are newlyweds - - literally newly wed when he gets his cancer diagnosis. Their world is turned upside down and everything they had planned is suddenly out the window. But there is more to this story than the sadness. There is hope, triumph and determination. There is a little mysticism. And there is some drama when Harper's first love shows up. I often enjoy a good tearjerker and I definitely got it with this one. But I also got a really good story and I highly recommend it. I thought it was a creative plot and it doesn't necessarily go the way you expect it to. AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: This audio was well done with solid narration. I enjoyed listening to this and went between the book and audio as I was reading the story. 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the audiobook and ebook.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Great Read!
When newlyweds Harper and Ben discover Ben has terminal pancreatic cancer they must take stock of their lives and love for each other. Ben hatches a plan to find Harper a new husband before he passes so that she will be taken care of. Harper is not thrilled and fights the idea tooth and nail, she loves the husband she has already. But when a journalist arrives at their door to interview Ben and his plan to find his replacement Harper is shocked to find Liam, the only other man she ever loved is the journalist that will write the story. So begins this 'What If' reality tale about second chances for love, being true to yourself, following ones dream and trusting ones instincts. Harper has always run away from conflict out of fear, but this time she must stay for love. I loved the bits of magical realism throughout the story. It was fun, refreshing, unpredictable and added depth to this romance. I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator was excellent. Many thanks to Net Galley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for a chance to listen to an ARC version of this book. All opinions are my own 5 stars.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
What If?
How far would you go for someone you love? What would you sacrifice to heal them? Those are the issues that Harper must grapple with in this book. Harper marries Ben and all is well in their world, compatible in so many ways, and competitive! They met on an obstacle course and raced to the finish. Unexpectedly, on their honeymoon, Ben falls ill and is soon given a grim diagnosis. As Ben’s days are numbered, he starts to worry about what Harper will do after he’s gone. She’s an art teacher, but that’s not enough, he wants her to find another to love. He sets out to accomplish this in any way he can, including soliciting a story. Another surprise greets Harper when the reporter assigned to the story turns out to be the earlier love of her life (for one week) in New York. Harper tried to break into the art scene, but things don’t work out, leaving Liam and her dreams behind. So now Harper must deal with Liam and navigate Ben’s wishes. Luckily, Harper has great friends who also want to help, and with a tarot card reading and wishing on a full moon, Harper wakes up in a new reality. She must grapple with her feelings for Liam and Ben and her abandoned art career. Is there a way for her to have it all? Is there a way to heal Ben? I enjoyed thinking about the possibilities in this one, and I think the cover is spot on! I want to read more from this author. This was my first book of hers, but she’s written quite a few.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
What if? Beautiful, compelling, thought-provoking!
Book Doula, a favorite author and master storyteller, Rea Frey returns following The Other Year with her latest emotionally charged 'what if' story, IN EVERY LIFE. Beautiful, compelling, and inspiring —exploring dual realities —the what ifs—what happens when a husband's dying wish is for his wife to find a new love... before he's even gone? About... Harper and Ben are happily married, and she is an art teacher in Tennessee excited about her new life and their plans for a family. Then, the devastating news. Ben has late-stage cancer. However, Ben has a final wish before he dies. He wants to help Harper find a new partner. That is the last thing Harper wants. She wants no one but Ben and wants to spend precious limited time with him, not talking about a new love to replace him. When the New York Times sends a journalist for a feature story about Ben's life, Harper is front and center with Liam, her former lover who she never saw again—the man before Ben. Faced with the what-ifs. In a different universe, what if she had married Liam and never met Ben? Would her life have turned out differently? After making a wish, Harper wakes up to find herself in a parallel universe of what-ifs. My thoughts... Rea is a pro, and no one can spin a heartfelt intense story like the master storyteller. IN EVERY LIFE IS hopeful, magical, and heartbreaking with time travel. Her well-developed characters are faced with two profoundly different paths in this emotionally charged story of what ifs— infused with art, love, loss, grief, magic, forgiveness, healing, marriage, parenthood, loyalty, and second chances. Have you ever wondered about the what if? If you had taken a different path, where you would be? Thought-provoking, moving, and intriguing, I can't wait for you to meet Ben and Harper. Have some Kleenex handy. This is an ideal book club pick for further discussions. I have read all of Rea's books and have been a fan since her debut. Each one is unique, moving, and thoughtful. Audiobook... I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook narrated by the talented Jennifer Jill Araya who delivers an outstanding performance, making the characters come alive. Recs... This book is for readers who enjoyed Rea's previous book, The Other Year, Sarah Addison Allen, and Eileen Goudge's The Replacement Wife. It is for those who enjoy women's fiction, domestic suspense, love and emotional stories, time travel, and a touch of magical realism. #JDCMustReadBooks
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not Really Sure if I Agree with this Storyline
This was an interesting book and story. I'm still not quite sure how I would rate it! I really liked some parts of it but didn't like other parts. To me, the story had two storylines and I would have loved to have cut out the part I didn't like! However, I liked the lessons that the main character, Harper, learned by the end of the book. She is madly in love with her husband, Ben, when on their honeymoon he is diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and their lives are immediately changed forever. After treatment and as Ben struggles to come to terms with his looming future, he decides he wants his wife to find another man to love while he's still alive, so he knows she'll be ok after he dies. Harper is stunned and angry. When a journalist comes to interview Ben, who should he be but the man that Harper fell in love with before she knew Ben - Liam Hale. What a coincidence and talk about awkward! That would have been interesting and fine right there but then the story goes into "time travel and parallel universe" stuff. It's all a little "woo-woo" to me. I know some people enjoy that type of fiction, but it really isn't my thing. Harper is supposed to learn something from these different experiences in her trips to a parallel universe and help her make decisions. I just couldn't get into it. I did like the way it helped her make the hard decision at the end though. Personally, I didn't particularly like Ben's character. Harper didn't NEED a man to take care of her and he shouldn't have pushed that on her. I know that he was coming from a place of love but still - she could do what lots of other widows do and follow her own path of grief. I really liked Liam's character though. All in all, it was a good book, and I did rush through some parts to get to the "real" stuff!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com