Skip to main content

Book Review: The Arrangement

Shout out to the first book to make me cry in a long long time. I love when that happens. It's not that I actually enjoy crying  but sometimes, it helps to let it out, doesn't it? It was towards the the end and whenever a book or movie fast forwards to the end and shows you how the characters have moved on, it always makes me feel the feels. For example- the last episode of Parenthood? I can't even talk about it without getting choked up. And this had that beautifully tied together ending that I love so much.



I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book. It is a story that needs to be told because I think everyone has a little voice in their heart that asks "What if?" of the path they didn't take, the person they didn't choose.

When Lucy and Owen decided on the "Arrangement" I thought there was no way that both of them were going to go thru with it. They are married and have a "nice" life. Why fix what's not broken, right? But what if it could be better? So they set some rules and try something new. Each one would get six months to sleep with other people. No questions asked, no jealously, no details. And then it's over. That's the plan. After getting to know the characters, I certainly didn't think the one who actually broke the rules would be the one to fall.  But then again, that's why I loved the story- the elements of surprise, how things came full circle at the end- I don't want to give anything away but it has to be said- this book isn't just a frilly romance. It's complex, it's thoughtful and it has depth. I loved every minute of it.

The multiple story lines, the evolution of the characters, the setting (I want to move to Beekman!) These elements made sure that the story was never  boring. I really got caught up in the raising of the kids, especially the main characters' son, who has autism. I revel in learning about other's parenting experiences and Dunn really nailed the ups and downs of parenthood. You know, wanting to scream and kick in frustration while also scooping up and cover their faces in kisses at the same time?

Another thing- this book is funny. There is a little bit of a shock factor, a crazy lazy with a home repair obsession and a bunch of chickens all named after poultry entrees.

Have you read it? Tell what me what you thought. And if not, at it to your TBR!

I received this book thru NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware always delivers when it comes to interesting and layered characters. The Turn of the Key is a thrilling account of Rowan Caine's experience as a live-in nanny in a luxurious smart home unlike anything she has ever seen. This mystery is the epitome of the saying "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" because even though moving into the home of the Elincourts is an upgrade from her tiny apartment and dead-end job, it comes at a steep price. Every chapter, there is something suspicious that kept me wondering if anyone in this suspenseful book was telling the truth. Which, is obvious in the first page because Rowan is writing a letter to a lawyer, from jail, because she's being held for murder. Who is Rowan? Did she come into the Elincourt's lives for a reason? She should have known something was wrong on the day she interviewed, when one of the children warned her to never come back. With a house full of surveillance cameras and parents who ar

Historical Fiction Recommendations

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer 📚 (@thats_what_she_read) on Jul 12, 2019 at 4:01pm PDT Raise your hand if you’re in the mood for a great  #historicalfiction  ! ⁣ randomhouse   #partner ⁣ } ⁣ The last HF I read was  # Montauk  by Nicola Harrison. It was a nice vacation! ⁣ ⁣ Here are the next two that are on my list: ⁣ TIME AFTER TIME By Lisa Grunwald (out now)⁣ A magical love story, inspired by the legend of a woman who vanished from Grand Central Terminal, sweeps readers from the 1920s to World War II and beyond. ⁣ On a clear December morning in 1937, at the famous gold clock in Grand Central Terminal, Joe Reynolds, a hardworking railroad man from Queens, meets a vibrant young woman who seems mysteriously out of place. Nora Lansing is a Manhattan socialite whose flapper clothing, pearl earrings, and talk of the Roaring Twenties don’t seem to match the bleak mood of Depression-era New York

Book Review: Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

One of my most favorite book of the summer so far!  Buy it here!  When Elin comes out with a new book, it's a must. Like a don't-even-read-the-synopsis no-brainer. Just as she delivered a multi-dimensional page turner with The Perfect Summer, Summer of '69 is just as much a treat- but with historical fiction at its core, which is a genre Elin hasn't presented before.  The story lines of several members of the Foley/Levin families intertwine as their lives during the summer of 1969 unfurl (or in some cases, unravel). There's 13-year-old Jessie, her mother Kate, and Kate's other three children, Tiger, a soldier serving in Vietnam, Kirby- a flower child with a rebellious streak and a past she's trying to run from, and Blair, who is about to give birth to twins and just made the biggest mistake of her life. At the top of the family tree is the matriarch, grandmother Exalta, who floats through the rooms of the family's sprawling Nantucket