#BookReview You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley @OakleyColleen @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA Title: You Were There Too

Author: Colleen Oakley

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 7, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

Acclaimed author Colleen Oakley delivers a heart-wrenching and unforgettable love story about a woman who must choose between the man she loves and the man fate has chosen for her in a novel that reminds us that the best life is one led by the heart.

Mia Graydon’s life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too — unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of them, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he’s been dreaming of her too.

Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?


Review:

Pensive, fresh, and absolutely heart-wrenching!

You Were There Too is a moving, mysterious tale that takes us into the life of Mia Graydon, a young, married woman struggling with the recent move to a small-town, a marriage strained by multiple miscarriages and stressful careers, secrets, depression, and the sudden real-life appearance of the man of her dreams.

The prose is heartfelt and immersive. The characters are flawed, troubled, and genuine. And the multi-layered, unpredictable plot is an absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, friendship, relationship dynamics, forgiveness, hope, happiness, and romance all interwoven with a thread of the paranormal.

Overall, You Were There Too is a compelling, heartbreaking, thought-provoking novel that reminds us that life is complicated and messy, the choices we make often have far-reaching consequences, and sometimes, perhaps, things are truly just destined to happen.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Colleen Oakley

Colleen Oakley’s novels BEFORE I GO and CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH have been named best books by People Magazine, Us Weekly, Library Journal, and Real Simple, and both were long-listed for the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Women’s Health & Fitness and senior editor of Marie Claire, her articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids and the world's biggest lapdog, Bailey. Her third novel YOU WERE THERE TOO will be published by Berkley/Penguin in January 2020.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.