Goodreads

Release date: June 7, 2022

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis:

Lillie Silva knew life as an empty nester would be hard after her only child left for college, but when her husband abruptly dumps her for another woman just as her son leaves, her world comes crashing down. Besides the fact that this announcement is a complete surprise (to say the least), what shocks Lillie most is that she isn’t…heartbroken. She’s furious.

Lillie has loved her life on Cape Cod, but as a mother, wife and nurse-midwife, she’s used to caring for other people…not taking care of herself. Now, alone for the first time in her life, she finds herself going a little rogue. Is it over the top to crash her ex-husband’s wedding, dressed like the angel of death? Sure! Should she release a skunk into his perfect new home? Probably not! But it beats staying home and moping.

She finds an unexpected ally in her glamorous sister, with whom she’s had a tense relationship all these years. And an unexpected babysitter in of all people Ben Hallowell, the driver in a car accident that nearly killed Lillie 20 years ago. And then there’s Ophelia, her ex-husband’s oddly lost niece, who could really use a friend.

It’s the end of Lillie’s life as she knew it. But sometimes the perfect next chapter surprises you…out of the clear blue sky.

Review:

Normally I get bored when a book is over 400 pages but for one of my all time favorite authors I make an exception and I still didn’t want this one to end. I did my best to savor it and take my time but it was just so damn amazing it was difficult to slow it down. Most of you know I read a lot, I generally don’t remember specific details after a couple of weeks go by but KH books always stay with me. This is special for me as there are usually only a handful of books every year that leave a lasting impression and without fail, every single year one of her books lands a spot on this list. I don’t think there’s any one particular thing that makes her books such standouts for me, but rather a magical combination of things that culminates into such an incredible reading experience. Maybe the best part is her insightful, honest and humor takes on life in general. Lillie is a woman that’s the same age as me so we already had that at a starting common factor but her raw portrayal is where I really connected with her. Yes, she’s been literally screwed over in the worst way, and yes she’s humiliated, betrayed and so so a angry but dammit was it nice to see a woman deal with a major life upheaval in a truly relatable and believable way. Was she always full of grace? Absolutely not. Did she do things that were slightly crazy? Yes mam. Was I cheering her own and cackling like a loon myself? YES! So many of her observations were spot on and her general sense of humor was charming and oh so witty. I could probably sit her all day and talk about all the things I loved about this one but I’ll spare you and just finish by saying I adored it, I think it’s a must read and KH never, EVER disappoints.

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.