The Life You've Imagined by Kristina Riggle

Title: The Life You've Imagined

Author: Kristina Riggle

Pages:352

Genre: Fiction

Source:  TLC Book Tours

In high school, Cami and Anna were as close as they could be...now, years later, both have returned to their hometown to face the people they had once left behind.

Anna must confront her mother, still distraught over the abandonment of her husband, and come to terms with choices she had made years before. While Cami returns home to stay with her alcoholic father, she must face a secret that she thought was long-since buried.

This is a novel that digs deep and touches the heart of the issues so many women face-the quest for perfection, the hope of love, the value of family and importance of always striving for your dream. [via GoodReads]

Anna is an attorney in Chicago, she's up for partner at her firm, everything is thriving and looking up for her.  But when her mentor dies she is forced to take time off from work and heads back to her hometown.  Cami has also returned back home.  Her and Anna were close friends in high school.  She's back to live with her father - who is none-too-thrilled to have her back.  She has no other place to go since her boyfriend found out of her gambling addiction and broke off their relationship.  Maeve is Anna's mother.   She's resided in Haven her whole life running the Nee Nance Convenience Store.  Her husband Robert disappeared 20 years ago leaving her to raise Anna on her own.  But with her store about to close and Robert's out-of-the-blue correspondence - she'll have to choose between the life she's lived on her own or a possible happily ever after.  Amy is about to marry into one of Haven's wealthiest families.  She used to be overweight while in high school but (thanks to running every morning) she has lost all that excess weight and now has the perfect body.  She has the everything she's ever dreamed of, but will it be enough to keep her happy?

Told in alternating chapters between the four women.  Each woman finds herself at a point in their lives where they question themselves and wonder if this is the life they've imagined.  They are all happy with the lives they've led and have struggled to reach their goals yet find that although they've reached those goals in life they still are not happy.   This is the main thread in The Life You've Imagined.  I found myself taken in by these four women.  Not only does Ms. Riggle create characters that you can easily relate to but I found a little bit of myself in each of them.  Their struggles are real - one is searching for perfection, one is dealing with addiction, one is overly conscious about her weight, while one continues to wait for someone else to bring her happiness instead of taking the reins and searching for her own joy. 

This story deals with friendship and family and the decisions that we make in life that lead us to wonder about the life we imagined.  A very touching and sweet story.

My Rating:

    

To learn more about author Kristina Riggle you can visit her at:
Website
Twitter: @krisriggle
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