Review: The Year We Turned Forty

 

Synopsis:

If you could repeat one year of your life, what would you do differently? This heartwarming and hilarious novel from the authors of The Status of All Things and Your Perfect Life features three best friends who get the chance to return to the year they turned forty—the year that altered all of their lives, in ways big and small—and also, get the opportunity to change their future.

Jessie loves her son Lucas more than anything, but it tears her up inside that he was conceived in an affair that ended her marriage to a man she still loves, a man who just told her he’s getting remarried. This time around, she’s determined to bury the secret of Lucas’ paternity, and to repair the fissures that sent her wandering the first time.

Gabriela regrets that she wasted her most fertile years in hot pursuit of a publishing career. Yes, she’s one of the biggest authors in the world, but maybe what she really wanted to create was a family. With a chance to do it again, she’s focused on convincing her husband, Colin, to give her the baby she desires.

Claire is the only one who has made peace with her past: her twenty-two-year-old daughter, Emily, is finally on track after the turmoil of adolescence, and she’s recently gotten engaged, with the two-carat diamond on her finger to prove it. But if she’s being honest, Claire still fantasizes about her own missed opportunities: a chance to bond with her mother before it was too late, and the possibility of preventing her daughter from years of anguish. Plus, there’s the man who got away—the man who may have been her one true love.

But it doesn’t take long for all three women to learn that re-living a life and making different decisions only leads to new problems and consequences—and that the mistakes they made may, in fact, have been the best choices of all…

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

The Year We Turned Forty by both Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is an intriguing and highly entertaining read. Readers will instantly connect with each of the three women inside this novel. Their journeys are realistic, quirky, and heart melting. Family, friendships, and love are the important themes inside this delightful new title. Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have beautifully created a women’s novel that will have readers looking at their lives a little bit differently than before. We may never be able to change our pasts, but we should count our blessings for what we have and where we have come…

This is the first novel that I have read by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Their writing creates an imagery that sets readers straight into the plot. It feels like we, the readers, have become each of the leading female characters. Everything they have done said,  felt or even thought becomes our own. Amazing in how the emotional journey of fictional women pops off the pages and completely surrounds us. Lives have been lived and created…going back can have drastic changes on our future and they may not come out exactly they way we thought they would…even the best-laid plans fail. The tight knit of the friends and how they support one another brilliant way of luring readers deeper into the story of three strong independent women. I loved reading this masterpiece and I look forward to reading more by these two talented writers. A novel that will move readers…is definitely worth picking up to read. Overall, I highly recommend The Year We Turned Forty to readers everywhere.