When PattyKates Says Read the Book…

This is the story of a book.

This was a book which I would never have found on my own, but our dynamic reviewing duo PattyKates located it in their literary travels and recommended, nay demanded, that we citizens of Romancelandia experience.

But alas, it was not available to me via library or Nook and I thought I would perhaps be left out of the reading and the discussion. But, our very own Prolixity Julien procured the book for me via Kindle and once more I was back in the game. Read over the course of thirty hours while I was fighting off a migraine, my thoughts are scattered and a bit fevered.

This book should not work. It simply should not be able to pull you in based on what happens in the first half of the story. Cheating is not something one expects to encounter in a book that purports to be a romance. There are some who have tried to read When Life Happened who could not get through it, and I cannot fault them. I wonder if the fact that I knew there was a twist kept me involved long enough that I was won over by the characters themselves, not their actions. I also wonder how much of my programming as a reader had me accepting things I would not otherwise. I was simply along for a story, and what if this one fell a little more along something that would be found in the regular literary fiction aisle, but with a romance feel?

With that feeling in mind, Jewel E. Ann (that has got to be someone named Julianne using a pen name, right?) weaves in larger philosophical discussion about the gray areas in life and desire versus love. Somehow, it all came together to form a story I enjoyed.

Some overview thoughts:

1. Even though I knew there was a twist coming I didn’t guess that was it. I actually backed up and read it again to be sure I read it correctly. This is not the first book I’ve read that employed this twist, so there was a moment of “oh, THIS” but I kept right on going.
2. I am struggling with not hating the cheating that happened in the first half of the book. This should have pissed me off. But the author did a darn good job of laying out the emotions and reservations and guilt all around. She didn’t make all parties likeable, but she did a decent job of laying in the emotional lives of her characters.
3. The female lead doesn’t have a job in the second half of the book, and it’s just a bit squicky given the other aspects of the plot.
4. There is ridiculous wealth, but the character with it is just as interesting as his counterpart, if not more so, and that was very important to my overall enjoyment of the book.
5. The plotting and timelines are intricate; this book could easily have been twice as long. I feel for this book’s editor.

I don’t know that I would suggest reading this to any of you, but there is an interesting perspective to be gained if you feel like giving it a chance.