After my review of another book, What I Left Behind, the author reached out with this one, and I was happy to read and review as I had really enjoyed the previous book. As it is my second book by this author I had high expectations, and was happy that they were met.

The Premise

Cecelia (CiCi) moves her mother Belle out of the assisted living facility to her home, where she lives with her 17-year-old daughter Erin. Erin is at the cusp of finishing school, and struggles to gain some independence from her mother’s strict rules as she comes out of her shell and begins dating boys. Meanwhile, her grandmother, still mourning the loss of her late husband, is intrigued by a new friendship that soon develops into something more.

While her mother and daughter both seem to be having more of a love life than her, CiCi gets herself into legal trouble after introducing a racy romance novel to the senior citizen’s book club she hosts — much to the horror and dismay of the adult children of its members. And now CiCi’s lawyer, a few years younger than her, is stirring up feelings she had long put behind her after her unhappy marriage and divorce.

Told from three points of view — daughter, mother, grandmother, the novel unfolds a women’s fiction narrative of women at different stages of their lives.

The Pros

This was a humorous women’s fiction novel that hits all the warm spots. Though told from multiple points of view, it was expertly balanced and each voice gets its fair share — not once did I question who was narrating, even when they are not explicitly named. The grandmother’s pieces are told via letters to her late husband, which was a nice touch, the mother’s chapters begin with her day planner entries, and the daughter’s with text messages or emails. The voices also shift in language as it jumps from character to character, and I enjoyed this way of storytelling with nuances.

The pacing was steady, and we got to see each story unfold in parallel. I loved how the past is interwoven with the present as we see glimpses of all of their relationships that came before, as well as the present one they are experiencing. The characters are all easy to connect to, and there were some funny laugh-out-loud moments. The annoying neighbour Cici tolerates was a nice touch, and I also loved reading about Cici’s depressed dog Max (who also gets his turn at love as well)!

The Cons

I really liked this book, so there are very few cons. If I want to get really picky… I guess I was perhaps wishing for a bit more of the moments when CiCi finally got a chance at a relationship (because she deserves it! Grandma’s already had her big love, and Daughter’s got most of her life still ahead!) but alas, it came and went so soon. But I did begrudgingly remind myself that this wasn’t a story about the men, or even the relationships; those were just in the background to enable the ladies to shine as it’s really about their experiences.

Conclusion

This was a really great novel that I highly recommend to other readers, particularly adult female readers. There is a lot of love here that transcends age, and the message is heartfelt. At any age or stage of our lives, we all deserve love. Just like the last book I reviewed from this author, it has a “Lifetime” movie feeling of stories made-for-women. While tamer than a blockbuster, there is so much heart and humour here… you can see that this author knows her audience well. I already have another of her books lined up on my Kindle to read, and I am looking forward to it!

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