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In the aftermath of her financier husband's suicide, Emma Shay Compton's dream life is shattered. Richard Compton stole his clients' life savings to fund a lavish life in New York City and, although she was never involved in the business, Emma bears the burden of her husband's crimes. She is left with nothing. Only one friend stands by her, a friend she's known since high school, who encourages her to come home to Sonoma County. But starting over isn't easy, and Sonoma is full of unhappy memories, too. And people she'd rather not face, especially Riley Kerrigan. Riley and Emma were like sisters—until Riley betrayed Emma, ending their friendship. Emma left town, planning to never look back. Now, trying to stand on her own two feet, Emma can't escape her husband's reputation and is forced to turn to the last person she thought she'd ever ask for help—her former best friend. It's an uneasy reunion as both women face the mistakes they've made over the years. Only if they find a way to forgive each other—and themselves—can each of them find the life she wants.
Publication Year: 2016
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I am a huge fan of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River and Thunder Point series. I have found with her stand-alone books I find her storytelling more hit and miss. This wasn’t a favorite of mine. It is an interesting story but I just didn’t connect with the characters.
There is so much bitterness between Emma and Riley. Where I understand that their “feud” has more to do with hurt feelings than anything else, I find it hard to believe all of their loved ones don’t realize that fact. Why would Emma still be hung up on Jock 16 years later? Of course she was more hurt by Riley’s actions than anything else. It got to the point of being annoying.
Riley was not a pleasant woman. She went through some stuff when she was just becoming an adult but it was far past time for her to get over her issues. She is so self-centered she doesn’t realize how her attitude is affecting all those she loves. She’s not a bad person. Riley does many great things for a lot of people. But when it comes to her more personal issues she is not flexible at all. Thankfully she is called out on this late in the book and does start to change a bit. Unfortunately it was a bit late for me. I just couldn’t root for her.
There is a totally throw away character that seems like he’ll be an interesting addition to the story but his story line just seems to fizzle out. He has some important things to contribute, but we didn’t really need to get to know this character in order for him to do his job in regards to the story. It was confusing to me in the sense that I kept waiting for something more to happen with him.
I highly recommend most of this author’s books. Like I said, I adore her Virgin River and Thunder Point series so it pains me to rate this one so low. This one just didn’t do it for me.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/the-life-she-wants-book-review/
0Enjoyed this as I had not enjoyed many of Carr's books lately. I think because it's more about two female friends trying to repair an old breach. Carr makes all the characters very likeable and everything turns out HEA so that's great too.
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