Taylor Jenkins Reid

Blog Tour/Giveaway: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Mary Atria Books, Blog Tour, Giveaway, NetGalley, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, Women's Fiction
  • one-true-loves-9781476776903_hrTitle:  One True Loves
  • Author:  Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Genre:  Women’s Fiction
  • Pages:  352
  • Published:  June 2016 – Atria Books; Washington Square Press
  • Source:  Publisher; NetGalley

Description:  In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever. Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly? Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.  (publisher)

My take:  Be sure to read the description above. I wasn’t sure how much to reveal about the story so I went with the publisher’s summary. Sounds like an emotional read, right? It is and I liked it.

I’ve enjoyed all of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novels and her newest didn’t disappoint. What seemed like an improbable premise played out more believable than I initially thought it could. It’s a sweet (but not saccharine) story about the truth about love. I cared about Emma, Jesse and Sam and wondered how they would cope with the new reality each faced at the turning point of the novel. And wondered what I would do in their shoes.

I’ve come to expect that I’ll love reading one of Reid’s novels because I feel good when reading it – meaning I enjoy how she tells a story so much it doesn’t matter whether it’s heartbreaking or hilarious. One True Loves is all that and more and I enjoyed every page.

Recommended – especially to fans of the author and women’s fiction.

author pic TJRTaylor Jenkins Reid is an author and essayist from Acton, Massachusetts. She is the author of Forever, Interrupted, After I Do and Maybe In Another Life. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and her dog, Rabbit. You can follow her on Twitter @TJenkinsReid.

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5 SIGNED COPIES OF ONE TRUE LOVES

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Blog Tour: Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Mary Blog Tour, NetGalley, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press, Women's Fiction
  • maybe in another life (7:16 blogtour)Title:  Maybe in Another Life
  • Author:  Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Genre:  Women’s Fiction
  • Published:  July 2015 – Washington Square Press
  • Source:  Publisher

My take:  When twenty-nine year old Hannah Martin moves back to Los Angeles she finds the comfort of long-time friends who are like family to her. Her best friend Gabby and her husband take her out to meet up with old school friends. Hannah is excited to see the boyfriend who got away (or broke up with her when he went to college). When the night out ends Hannah decides to go home with Gabby and tells Ethan (the old boyfriend) they’ll get together again soon. With that decision, and on their way home, life changes for Hannah.

I don’t want to chance a spoiler so I’ll stop there. As I found with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s previous novels, Maybe in Another Life was difficult to stop reading once I read the first page. Her writing style is so engaging that I didn’t want to do anything but keep turning the pages. I love when that happens.

Maybe in Another Life is about destiny. Or coincidences. Do we all have a person we’re meant to be with or is it just dumb luck that we find the right person? The story is romantic, emotional, and even throws quantum mechanics into the mix. That got your attention, didn’t it? A good read any time of year but it’s also on my Summer Book recommendations list.

taylor-jenkins-reid-author-writer (1)ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author and essayist from Acton, Massachusetts. She is the author of Forever, Interrupted and After I Do. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and her dog, Rabbit.

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MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Atria Books/Washington Square Press Paperback | 352 pages | ISBN:  9781476776880 | July 7, 2015 | $16.00

eBook: Atria Books/Washington Square Press | 352 pages | ISBN: 9781476776897 | July 7, 2015 | $11.99

maybe in another life (7:16 blogtour)

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Blog Tour and US Giveaway: After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Mary 2014 Favorite, Blog Tour, BookSparks PR, Contemporary Fiction, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press

 

After-I-Do-Blog-Tour-Header copy

 

  • Title:  After I Do
  • Author:  Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
  • Published:  July 2014 – Washington Square Press
  • Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes. Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for? This is a love story about what happens when the love fades. It’s about staying in love, seizing love, forsaking love, and committing to love with everything you’ve got. And above all, After I Do is the story of a couple caught up in an old game—and searching for a new road to happily ever after. (publisher)

After I Do (July 1)

 

My take:  This gem of a novel explores what happens to a relationship when the shine wears off. Lauren and Ryan have gone from being completely gaga over each other to a resentment that you can almost taste. The author paced the unfolding of their story perfectly and it was impossible to not feel for these two. They took a bit of an unorthodox way of trying to figure things out and make a go of it. I pulled for them all the way and enjoyed every page of the book.

I loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s first novel Forever, Interrupted and wasn’t sure what to expect from After I Do. I loved it just as much as the first and have already thought of a few people I’ll buy it for. Do yourself a favor and read this book! You don’t have to be married to appreciate it. You can be married a long time (like me) and enjoy it. I think engaged and newlywed readers will learn from it. Highly recommended.

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Praise for the book: “Moving, gorgeous and, at times, heart-wrenching. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes with wit and true emotion that you can feel. Read it, savor it, share it.” – Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of The Violets of March

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About the author:

taylor-jenkins-reid-author-writer (1)

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author and essayist from Acton, Massachusetts. She graduated from Emerson College with a degree in Media Studies. Her first novel, Forever, Interrupted, was named one of the “11 Debuts We Love” by Kirkus Reviews. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and her dog, Rabbit.

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Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Mary Contemporary Fiction, NetGalley, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Washington Square Press

forever, interrupted

  • Title:  Forever, Interrupted
  • Author:  Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
  • Published:  July 2013 – Washington Square Press
  • Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met—and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending. (publisher)

My take:  This novel is a study of grief – the grief of a young woman when her husband dies suddenly and that of the young man’s mother, a widow herself. 

Elsie narrates the novel. She tells the story by shifting from six months earlier, where we learn how she fell in love with Ben, to the time after his death. It was impossible for me to read this novel without that pain in the chest one gets when feeling really sad. And this is a sad story. It’s also funny, charming and believable.

I don’t want you to get the impression that this novel is a big downer – it’s not. Case in point: Elsie is a librarian. There’s an elderly man who comes into the library every day. He and Elsie go from casual acquaintances to emotional confidants – their scenes were among my favorites in the novel. Truly touching.

I think Taylor Jenkins Reid was spot on in conveying the grief of Elsie and Susan. If you need a good cry, read this book. If you want to read a novel that leaves you uplifted and with a sense of hope, you should read Forever, Interrupted.