Just Finished:




Why I Read It: I got this after reading what Wena had to say about it over at Book Binge.

From the Back Cover: Sometimes you have to look at life in a whole new way . . .

From the bestselling author of PS, I Love You comes a delightfully enchanting novel about what happens when two people who are meant to be together just can't seem to get it right.

Rosie and Alex are destined for one another, and everyone seems to know it but them. Best friends since childhood, their relationship gets closer by the day, until Alex gets the news that his family is leaving Dublin and moving to Boston. At 17, Rosie and Alex have just started to see each other in a more romantic light.

Devastated, the two make plans for Rosie to apply to colleges in the U.S. She gets into Boston University, Alex gets into Harvard, and everything is falling into place, when on the eve of her departure, Rosie gets news that will change their lives forever: She's pregnant by a boy she'd gone out with while on the rebound from Alex. Her dreams for college, Alex, and a glamorous career dashed, Rosie stays in Dublin to become a single mother, while Alex pursues a medical career and a new love in Boston. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel, structured as a series of clever e-mails, letters, notes, and a trail of missed opportunities, Alex and Rosie find out that fate isn't done with them yet.

From the gifted author of PS, I Love You comes this charming, romantic, addictively page-turning novel that will keep readers laughing and guessing until the very last page.

My Thoughts: I loved the friendship between Alex and Rosie. The book starts off when they are 7 years old and spans close to 50 years through letters, emails, cards, and IMs. (I wished the letters had dates on them. It’s just my thing. But, it didn’t really take away from the story ~ it’s just my personal preference.) At some point Rosie realizes she has feeling for Alex, but he’s in a relationship with someone else; a few years later, Alex realizes he has feelings for Rosie, but she’s married to somebody else. And so it continues. The timing is just never right for them.

Those of you who’ve read the book know about what’s referred to as “The Silence”. I could go on and gush about this part. Has anyone else ever had one of these? Yes, it’s a fictional story and I admit to reading a lot of romance novels, but when Rosie and Alex had their brief moment of silence, I knew exactly what they were talking about. You lock eyes with someone who you’ve been friends with for years and in an instant, everything else fades away. All you see is this person who’s been there for you for years, and in that instant something changes. There’s something more. It is an amazing feeling.

Back to the book. It was an easy read, which I’m always thankful for. Something to curl up and just enjoy. Of course, there are the nitpicky things too. By the end of the book, Rosie and Alex are 50 years old, but yet they were emailing and IMing each other in school, during excel class? Of course, there are never any dates in the book whatsoever, but I consider them to be 50 years of age now, in the present ~ when they were in school, excel and IMs were not around. Then again, because there are no dates in the book maybe it’s supposed to be futuristic ~ but I don’t see that either. Again, that’s just me being nitpicky and it really didn’t detract from the story for me. I just chose to forgive it and move on.

In addition to Rosie and Alex, the reader is also introduced to a whole slew of side characters who are easily as loveable as the main characters. This just added to the enjoyment of the story for me.

I did make it all the way through the story without the good cry Wena promised me though. I laughed out loud, I did get misty a few times, and I had a few out loud "awwwww" moments. And then I read the last three pages. And I cried. The whole experience was a fun, whacky, emotional rollercoaster for me and I loved every minute of it. I’d say this was a Very Good read and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Labels: Cecelia Ahern, Contemporary Romance, Very Good