4.4
-
6,668 ratings
The drama, hilarity and tears of sisterhood are at the heart of the thoroughly captivating new novel by New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higginsa funny, frank and bittersweet look at marriage, forgiveness and moving on
Letting go of her ex-husband is harder than wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate expected especially since his new wife wants to be Jenny's new best friend. Sensing this isn't exactly helping her achieve closure, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll start her own business and bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life and maybe even find a little romance of her own with Leo, her downstairs neighbor, a guy who's utterly irresistible and annoyingly distant at the same time.
Rachel's idyllic marriage, however, is imploding after she discovers her husband sexting with a colleague. She always thought she'd walk away in this situation, but her triplet daughters have her reconsidering her stance on adultery, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' perfect marriage as a shining example of patience and forgiveness; but to protect her sister, Jenny may have to tarnish that memoryand their relationshipand reveal a family secret she's been keeping since childhood.
Both Rachel and Jenny will have to come to terms with the past and the present and find a way to get what they want most of all.
The drama, hilarity and tears of sisterhood are at the heart of the thoroughly captivating new novel by New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higginsa funny, frank and bittersweet look at marriage, forgiveness and moving on
Letting go of her ex-husband is harder than wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate expected especially since his new wife wants to be Jenny's new best friend. Sensing this isn't exactly helping her achieve closure, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll start her own business and bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life and maybe even find a little romance of her own with Leo, her downstairs neighbor, a guy who's utterly irresistible and annoyingly distant at the same time.
Rachel's idyllic marriage, however, is imploding after she discovers her husband sexting with a colleague. She always thought she'd walk away in this situation, but her triplet daughters have her reconsidering her stance on adultery, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' perfect marriage as a shining example of patience and forgiveness; but to protect her sister, Jenny may have to tarnish that memoryand their relationshipand reveal a family secret she's been keeping since childhood.
Both Rachel and Jenny will have to come to terms with the past and the present and find a way to get what they want most of all.
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ISBN-10
037378497X
ISBN-13
978-0373784974
Print length
411 pages
Language
English
Publisher
HQN
Publication date
August 24, 2015
Dimensions
5.49 x 1.08 x 8.22 inches
Item weight
12 ounces
ASIN :
B01G1EXO92
File size :
2715 KB
Text-to-speech :
Enabled
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Review
"Higginsis the queen of the summertime read with a little something more. Her witty characters who find, and sometimes lose, love will keep readers glued to her books for hours." - Library Journal starred review on If You Only Knew
"Higgins' trademark humor and charm are at full strength in her latest effort." - Aleksandra Walker, Booklist
About the Author
Kristan Higgins is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. Her books have been praised for their "genius level EQ, whippet-fast, funny dialogue and sweet plots with a deliciously tart edge" (USA TODAY). She lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband and two extremely advanced children, one shy little mutt and an occasionally affectionate cat.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Jenny
Today is one of those days when I realize that staying friends with my ex-husband was a huge mistake.
I'm at the baby shower for Ana-Sofia, Owen's wife and my replacement. Indeed, I'm sitting next to her, a place of honor in this circle of beaming well-wishers, and I'm probably beaming just as hard as everyone else. Harder, even, my "gosh, isn't it wonderful, she's so radiant" smile that I give at work quite often, especially as my brides get bitchier or their mothers get more critical or their maids of honor get more jealous. But this smile, the baby-shower smile this is superhuman, really.
I know that coming today is incredibly pathetic, don't worry. It's just that I didn't want to seem bitter by not showing upthough I'm pretty sure I am bitter, at least a little. After all, I'm the one who always wanted kids. Every time I brought it up, though, Owen said he wasn't sure the time was right, and he loved our life the way it was.
Yeah. So. That turned out not to be quite true, but we did stay friends. Coming today, though pathetic.
However, I woke up this morning utterly starving, and I knew the food would be amazing at the shower. Ana-Sofia inspires people. Plus, I'm moving out of the city, so for the past three weeks, I've been trying to eat or give away every morsel of food in my apartment. Let's also mention that I couldn't figure out an excuse that people would buy. Better to be an oddity here than Poor Jenny at home, scrounging through a box of Wheat Thins of indeterminate age.
Ana-Sofia opens my gift, which is wrapped in Christmas paper, despite it being April. Liza, my host, glowers; the red-and-green cocoa-swilling Santas are an affront to the party vibe, which Liza noted on the invitations.
In an effort to create a beautiful and harmonious environment for Ana-Sofia, please adhere to the apricot-and-sage color scheme in your clothing and gift-wrapping choices.
Only in Manhattan, folks. I'm wearing a purple dress as a middle finger to Liza, who used to be my friend but now posts daily on Facebook that she's LOLing with her BFF, Ana-Sofia.
"Oh! This is so lovely! Thank you, Jenny! Everyone, look at this! It's beautiful!" Ana-Sofia holds up my gift, and there are gasps and murmurs and exclamations and a few glares that I have brought the best present. I cock an eyebrow at the haters. Suck it up, bitches. My gift was actually dashed off last night, as I kind of forgot to buy a present, but they don't have to know that.
It's a white satin baby blanket with leaves and trees and birds stitched into it. Hey. It only took me two hours. Nothing was hand-stitched. It wasn't that big a deal. I sew for a living. A wedding-dress designer. The irony is not lost on me.
"Couldn't you have just bought a stuffed animal like a normal person?" murmurs the person on my left. Andreasborn Andrewmy assistant, and the only man here. Gay, of coursedo straight men work in designer bridal wear? Also, he hates and fears children, which makes him the perfect date for me under the circumstances. I needed an ally.
Have I mentioned that the shower is being held in the apartment I once shared with Owen? Where, so far as I could tell, he and I were extremely happy? Yes. Liza is hosting, but the power went out in her apartment, thanks to the ham-fisted construction crew installing her new glass countertopsgranite being so very last decadeand so we're here instead. Liza is sweaty and loud, rightfully worried about being judged on her prowess as hostess. This is the Upper East Side, after all. We're all about judgment here.
The giftsincluding mineborder on the ridiculous. The shower invitationengraved from Crane'sasked, at the behest of the parents, for donations to the clean-well-water charity Ana-Sofia foundedGushing org, the name of which brings to mind a particularly bad menstrual period, but which raises funds for wells in Africa. Yeah. Therefore, everyone donated fat checks and tried to outdo each other with gifts. There's a Calder mobile. A 1918 edition of Mother Goose stories. A mohair Steiff teddy bear that costs about as much as the rent on my soon-to-be former apartment in the Village.
My gaze drifts across the now-tastefully furnished apartment. When I lived here, it was cozier and bohofat, comfortable furniture; dozens of pictures of my three nieces; the occasional wall hanging from Target, that bastion of color and joy for the middle class. Now the decor is incredibly tasteful, with African masks on the wall to remind us what Ana-Sofia does, and original paintings from around the globe. The walls are painted those boring neutral colors with sexy names October Fog, Birmingham Cream, Icicle.
There's their wedding photo. They eloped, so thank God I didn't have to go to thator, heaven forbid, make her gown, which I would've done if asked, because I'm still pretty pitiful where Owen is concerned and can't figure out how to divorce him out of my heart. Though the photo was taken by the justice of the peace in Maine, it's perfect. Both bride and groom are laughing, slightly turned away from the camera, Ana's hair blowing in the sea breeze. The New York Times featured the photo in the Sunday Vows section.
They really are the perfect couple. Once, it was Owen and me, and while I didn't expect perfection, I thought we were pretty great. We never fought. My mom felt that since Owen is half-Japanese, he was a better bet than "those simpletons" I datedall of whom I hoped to marry at one point or another, starting with Nico Stephanopolous in eighth grade. "The Japanese don't believe in divorce," Mom said the first time I introduced her. "Right, Owen?"
He agreed, and I can still see his omnipresent, sweet smile, the Dr. Perfect Smile, as I called it. It's his resting expression. Very reassuring to his patients, I'm sure. Owen is a plastic surgeon, the kind who fixes cleft palates and birthmarks and changes the lives of his patients. Ana-Sofia, who is from Peru and speaks five languages, met Owen eleven weeks after our divorce when he was doing his annual stint with Doctors Without Borders in the Sudan and she was digging wells.
And I make wedding dresses, as I believe I've already said. Listen, it's not as shallow as it sounds. I make women look the way they dreamed they would on one of the happiest days of their lives. I make them cry at their own reflections. I give them the dress they've spent years thinking about, the dress they'll be wearing when they pledge their hearts, the dress they'll pass on to their own daughters someday, the dress that signifies all their hopes and dreams for a happy, sparkling future.
But compared with what Owen and his second wife do, yeah, it's incredibly shallow.
In theory, I should hate them both. No, he didn't cheat with her. He's far too decent for that.
He loves her, though. Ostensibly, I could hate him for loving her and not me. Make no mistake. I was heartbroken. But I can't hate Owen, or Ana-Sofia. They're too damn nice, which is incredibly inconsiderate of them.
And being Owen's friend is better than being without Owen entirely.
The quilt has made the rounds of admiration and is passed back to Ana. She strokes it tenderly, then looks at me with tears in her eyes. "I don't have the words to tell you how much this means."
Oh, shut up, I want to say. I forgot to buy you a gift and dashed this off last night with some leftover Duchess satin. It's no big deal.
"Hey, no worries," I say. I'm often glib and stupid around Ana-Sofia. Andreas hands me another cream puff. I may have to give him a raise.
"I'm so excited about your new shop," Ana continues. "Owen and I were talking about how talented you are just last night."
Andreas gives me a significant look and rolls his eyes. He has no problem hating Ana-Sofia and Owen, which I appreciate. I smile and take another sip of my mimosa, which is made with blood oranges and really good champagne.
If I'm ever pregnant, though the chances of that are plummeting by the hour, I imagine I'll have the unenviable "I sat on an air hose" look that my sister had when she was percolating the triplets. There was no glow. There was acne. Stretch marks that made her look as if she'd been mauled by a Bengal tiger. She gnashed on Tums and burped constantly, but in true Rachel fashion, my sister never complained.
Ana-Sofia glows. Her perfect olive skin is without a blemish or, indeed, a visible pore. Her boobs look fantastic, and though she is eight and a half months pregnant, her baby bump is modest and perfectly round. She has no cankles. Life is so unfair.
"We just found out that our daughter's classmate is her half brother," says the taller woman in Lesbian Couple #1. One of them just became a partner in Owen's practice, but I don't remember her name. "Imagine if we hadn't known that! She could've ended up dating her half brother! Marrying him! The fertility clinic gave out fourteen samples of that donor's sperm. We're filing a lawsuit."
"It's better than adopting," says another woman. "My sister? She and her husband had to give back their son the fourth time he set fire to the living room."
"That's not so bad. My cousin adopted, and then the birth mother came out of rehab and the judge gave her custody of the baby. After two years, mind you."
On the other side of the circle, there seems to be a heated debate over whose labor and delivery was most grueling. "I almost died," one woman says proudly. "I looked at my husband and told him I loved him, and the next thing I knew, the crash cart was there "
"I was in labor for three days," another states. "I was like a wild animal, clawing at the sheets."
"Emergency cesarean eight weeks early, no anesthesia," someone else says proudly. "My daughter weighed two pounds. NICU, fifty-seven days."
And we have a winner! The other mothers shoot her resentful looks. Talk turns to food allergies, vaccines, family beds and the sad dearth of gifted and talented programs for preschoolers.
"This is fun," I murmur to Ana-Sofia.
"Oh, yes," she says. Irony is not one of her skills. "I'm so glad you are here, Jenny. Thank you for giving up your afternoon! You must be very busy with the move."
"You're moving?" one of her extremely beautiful and well-educated friends asks. "Where?"
"Cambry-on-Hudson," I answer. "I grew up there. My sister and her family are"
"Oh, my God, you're leaving Manhattan? Will you have to get a car? Are there any restaurants there? I couldn't live without Zenyasa Yoga."
"You still go to Zenyasa?" someone says. "I've moved on. It's Bikram Hot for me. I saw Neil Patrick Harris there last week."
"I don't do yoga anymore," a blonde woman says, studying a raspberry. "I joined a trampoline studio over on Amsterdam. Sarah Jessica Parker told me about it."
"What about brunch?" someone asks me, her brow wrinkling in concern. "What will you do for brunch if you leave the city?"
"I think brunch is illegal outside Manhattan," I answer gravely. No one laughs. They may think I'm telling the truth.
Now, granted, I love Manhattan. To paraphrase the song, if you make it here, the rest of the world is a cakewalk. And I have made it here. I've worked for the besteven Vera Wang, as a matter of fact. My work is sold at Kleinfeld Bridal and has supported me for fifteen years. I was named one of the Designers of the Year when I was at Parsons. I've been to not one, but two parties at Tim Gunn's place. He greeted me by nameand yes, he's as nice as he seems.
But while I love the city, its roar, its buildings and smells, its subways and skyline, in my heart of hearts, I want a yard. I want to see my nieces more often. I want the happily-ever-after that my sister nailed, that's unfolding for my ex-husband and his too-nice wife.
I hope I'm running to something, not away. The truth is work has felt a little flat lately.
Cambry-on-Hudson is a lovely little city about an hour north of Manhattan. It has several excellent restaurantssome even serve brunch, shockingly. The downtown has a movie theater, flowering trees, a park and a Williams-Sonoma. It's hardly a third-world country, no matter what these women think. And the latest shop is Bliss. Custom-made wedding gowns. My baby, in lieu of the human kind.
My phone beeps softly with a text. It's from Andreas, who has put in his earbuds in order to drown out the stories of blocked milk ducts and bleeding nipples.
Check out the nose on the great-aunt. I hope the baby inherits that.
I smile at him gratefully.
"Did you hear about the obstetrician who fathered fifty-nine babies?" someone asks.
"That was an episode on Law & Order"
"Ripped from the headlines," someone else murmurs. "Someone in my building was one of his patients."
"Oh. Oh, dear," Ana-Sofia says.
I turn to her. She looks a bit startled. "It's probably not true," I tell her.
"No I think It appears my water has broken."
There is a silence, followed by a collective roar.
I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that, despite there being a dozen women who've given birth all jockeying for position, my hand is the one Ana-Sofia clutches. "Oh, Jenny, it's happening," she says. "I feel something." Her beautiful brown eyes are wide and terrified, and then I'm easing her onto the floor and crouched between her still-slim thighsreally, it's like she's showing off. I slide off her thongshe's maintained her bikini wax, FYIand, holy Mother of God, I can see the head.
I fumble in my purse for the travel-size Purell (if you ride the subways on a daily basis, you carry Purell) and slather some on my hands. "Get some towels and quiet down!" I bark at the other shower guests. I'm kind of good in emergencies. Liza hands me a stack of towelsvery soft and about to be ruined by whatever comes out of a woman during childbirth.
"Let me help," Liza whines. Indeed, this would make a great Facebook post. Just delivered my BFF's baby, LOL!with Ana-Sofia Marquez-Takahashi.
"I need to push," Ana pants, and she does, once, twice, a third time, and a face appearsa baby! There's a baby coming into my hands! One more push, and I'm holding it, slimy and covered in white gunk and a little blood and incredibly beautiful.
Dark hair, huge eyes. A miracle.
I ease her out all the way and put her on Ana's chest. "It's a girl," I say, covering the baby with a towel.
It seems like just a few seconds later that FDNY clomps in, and I entertain a quick and deeply satisfying fantasyThe head firefighter is filled with admiration for my cleverness, checks me out and asks me to dinner in the cutest Brooklyn accent the world has ever heard. His biceps flex hypnotically, and at the end of the date, yes, he does pick me up to demonstrate just how easy it would be for him to save my life, and a few years later, we have three strong sons, twin daughters on the way. And a Dalmatian.
But no, their attention is quite taken with Ana-Sofiaas it should be, I guess, though it would be nice ifjust one of them checked me out. Someone cuts the cord, and Ana is weeping beautifully over her daughter, and Liza holds her phone to Ana's ear so my ex-husband can sob his love and admiration for his wife, who just set the land-speed record for laboi and delivery.
From down the hall, I can hear Andreas dry-heaving in the tastefully decorated powder room over the murmurs oi admiration from the shower guests and the brawny firefighters as they tell Ana how amazing she is, how beautiful hei daughter is.
Seems as if I'm leaving the city in the very nick of time.
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Kristan Higgins
Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, wKristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have sold millions of copies around the world. Kristan has been praised for her mix of “laugh-out-loud humor and tear-jerking pathos,” which the author attributes to a diet high in desserts and sugar-based mood swings.
Kristan’s books have received dozens of awards and accolades, including starred reviews from People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, Kirkus, the New York Journal of Books, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, National Public Radio and Booklist. She personally responds to every reader letter she receives, even the mean ones.
Kristan is the mother of two ridiculously good-looking children and the grandmother of the world’s cutest baby. She lives in Connecticut and Cape Cod with her heroic firefighter husband, a rescue mutt and indifferent cat. In her spare time, Kristan enjoys gardening, easy yoga classes, mixology and pasta.
To sign up for Kristan's always entertaining newsletter, visit www.kristanhiggins.com.
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Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5
6,668 global ratings
alwaysbooking
5
Well done!! loved this new book!
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
Wow! This book it blew me out of the water. If you want a book that is going to tug at your heart and not let go this is it!! I'm pretty sure I will have a book hangover for days.. if not weeks. At one point my husband said he might take it away from me because my emotions were all over the place. I was happy crying and then sad crying... then there was the anger I felt at times. I'm so used to Kristan Higgins writing HEA novels and even though I knew this was not one of them I was blown away by how this writing style was so different. Way to go Mrs. Higgins I would like to see what other hidden gems you have up your sleeve!!!
Jenny is a wedding dress maker, she makes one of a kind exquisite dresses. She's moving out of the big city to the suburbs. This is a big life change for her, while she has designed dresses for other companies she's branching out on her own. Jenny will be leaving behind an ex husband, his new wife, oh and their new baby. She can't seem to find the motivation to hate them for being perfect. I fell in love with Jenny in the first chapter she's just struggling to make sense with what is going on in her life. When she moves to the burbs she meets Leo her super. He's a really horrible super, however he is the best eye candy she's had in a while. I love that he tells her to stop "eye f***ing him" kills me every time. They seemed destined to be just friends through the whole book. (while me as a reader is like please fall for each other!!) At one point they need to locate the fuse box so Jenny is going into his cellar to fix the blown fuse and this is part of their conversation. "You're surprisingly quiet," Leo says, clicking on a light. "I'm assessing the odds of you murdering me down here" "And?" "I hereby deem you harmless" "How emasculating," he says. "What are you looking for again?" Leo doesn't even know what a fuse box is.. hehe. He has such high walls built around him that you know Jenny will probably never break through.
Then there's Rachel the lovingly perfect sister. With the great triplets (girls) and wonderful husband. Until she see's that text nothing is wrong. Once it starts spiraling for Rachel it doesn't stop. You are so drawn into her tragedy that is taking place. I cried more for Rachel than I did for Jenny. Rachel is the normal mom who thinks everything of the home that they have built. I love her undying love for her children throughout the book. I love how it documents her changing outfits multiple times a day, dealing with pee, poop, and vomit. These are normal things that most novels gloss over. I was up and down about her relationship with Adam. Should she stay or should she go?? There's one point where she admires herself in the mirror and she says about how her stretch marks have faded into small silver marks. How she can barely see them but she can feel them. About how average she is. Don't all of us as mothers feel this way??
There are so many great secondary characters in this book. The girls mother who is very patronizing yet loving. The new friend who would do whatever just to get out of the house. The boutique assistant whom is writing the ever changing novel. The friends that are getting married. Leo whom really isn't secondary but I enjoyed him thoroughly.
This book did not end as I thought it was going to. It kept surprising me with each page I turned. I highly recommend it!!
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Jewels
5
A masterpiece of truth
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2015
Verified Purchase
It’s not often a book like this one comes along. One that makes you feel empowered. One that resonates with you and sticks with you long after you turn the final page. Jenny and Rachel grabbed me by the heartstrings from the get-go. They took me on a journey with them—of finding (and losing) love, friendship, and hope. Real life isn’t always pretty. It’s messy. People break your heart.
Shy, wonderfully sweet Rachel certainly felt the sting of that. Her struggle to stand by her man or flee the comfort and safety of the life and home they built together was so perfectly written. I could understand why she’d stay, having three adorable girls to think about, but I wanted desperately for her to go. And then I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I flip-flopped right along with her, right till the very end.
Jenny. Oh, how I adored her. I really saw so much of myself in her. And I envied her for the glamorous life she led—creating beautiful bridal gowns that suited her every bride to a tee. Bliss actually exists in my mind. In fact, when the big day comes for me (hopefully in the not-too-distant future), I’d like to think I’ll find my own personal Jenny. She wanted love, marriage, babies—the whole package. But when she gave her love first, without the need for reciprocation, and let go of the past, she finally found inner happiness.
There’s one character in this story who I fell hopelessly and completely in love with: the delectable Leo. God love a man with curly hair. I laughed the most during his scenes with Jenny, how the two played off each other so well. Mr. "Recreation Only" stole my heart with every line he spoke and every note he played.
The relationships in this story were so raw and real. When I’d cry, I’d flip to the next page and find laughter again. Such is true with life. There are hurdles to jump and mountains to climb, but the more you fight for the life you want, the brighter things will be on the other side. This book is a masterpiece of truth. It’s human, it’s broken, and it’s beautiful. A must-read!
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Sheila M
5
Story About Love, Loss, Anger and Forgiveness
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2015
Verified Purchase
Jenny: “Today is one of those days when I realize that staying friends with my ex-husband was a huge mistake.”
Rachel: “I don’t want things to change. Please, God, don’t let Adam be cheating.”
FINAL DECISION: The story of two sisters confronting love, marriage, divorce, and personal identity in the modern world, IF YOU ONLY KNEW is heartbreaking and redeeming. Although it is not a traditional romance, this book investigates what it means to love – to love someone else and yourself.
THE STORY: IF YOU ONLY KNEW is the story of two sisters confronting difficulties in love and marriage. Jenny Tate, a wedding dress designer, struggles with her life after her marriage to the doctor that everyone loves fell apart. He has moved on and found a wonderful new wife and has a new baby. They are still friends but Jenny wonders what life has for her when she meets Leo Killian, a piano teacher.
Jenny’s sister Rachel is struggling with her own marriage. Rachel was finally happy with her life as a stay at home mom with three wonderful triple daughters when she finds out her husband has cheated on her. She loves her husband and her life but doesn’t know what to do with her anger at his infidelity.
The story of two sisters who help one another through their struggles, IF YOU ONLY KNEW is about love and forgiveness and the strength that comes from sisters who understand one another’s pain and joy.
OPINION: Honestly, when I read the description for this book, I didn’t expect to like it. I prefer traditional romance books and I was sad to realize that Higgins that turned toward “chick lit” or “women’s fiction” rather than writing a traditional romance as she has done in the past. Despite this, however, I decided to read this book and I am glad I did.
IF YOU ONLY KNEW is not a traditional romance with a focus on a romance and a happy ending but it is a thoughtful examination of the complexity of modern relationships. There are various relationships at issue here such as husband/wife, sister/sister, mother/daughter, friend/friend, ex-spouses.
This book thoughtfully examines the endings of relationships. Both sisters have to come to terms with what happens when trouble comes to relationships. Jenny still has feelings for her ex-husband and allows herself to be drawn into his new relationship in unhealthy ways because she is still clinging to the past. During the course of the book, she finally begins to recognize that her marriage was not perfect, that her ex-husband was not perfect and that she can move to build a new life. Rachel also has to confront an imperfect husband and has to decide whether her marriage is worth trying to save after his infidelity. Rachel has managed to devote herself to her marriage and her children to the detriment of her own identity. Her husband infidelity makes Rachel question who she really is and what her personal identity will be.
While some descriptions of this book depict it as a story of the relationship between these two sisters, I disagree. While the relationship between the sisters is certainly a part of the story, to me this story is really about what the meaning of love, fidelity and relationship is. Both Jenny and Rachel are struggling with their own identity in relation to marriage.
Told in first person by each of the sisters, the book alternates chapters between their viewpoints. The book delves deeply into the emotions of the sisters including bewilderment, anger, fear, affection and love. I loved the honesty and difficulties depicted in the book. It felt fresh and new and real.
For those romance fans, I assure you that there is romance in this book. Perhaps not in expected ways, but this is not a downer of a book. It ultimately has sadness and acceptance, but also joy and the possibility for more happiness.
WORTH MENTIONING: IF YOU ONLY KNEW is not a traditional romance book. It is women’s fiction and the focus is on the struggles of these two sisters and their relationship with one another. I did find the romance in this book satisfying in its own way.
CONNECTED BOOKS: IF YOU ONLY KNEW is a standalone book.
STAR RATING: I give this book 4.25 stars.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
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