Leigh Himes

Who hasn't looked at their life at some point and wondered, what if...?

For Abbey Lahey, her "what if?" moment was triggered by seeing a picture of a guy she turned down years earlier in a spread in a swanky magazine. She's had a pretty frustrating day--week, month, even--and suddenly wonders if she hadn't said no to Alex van Holt all those years ago, wouldn't her life be a million times easier?

Okay, so you pretty much know from the synopsis and experience with the genre how things are going to end up--no huge surprises are in store for you when you read this book. You're in it for the journey, and fortunately the journey here is both fun and engaging. Abbey is a sympathetic if sometimes frustrating character, and it's easy to root for her from the very first page. The glimpses that Ms. Hines gives us throughout the book of Abbey's life with Jimmy were some of my favorite bits of the whole book, and kept me turning the pages to see when and how she would realize what she had and manage to get back to it.

The One That Got Away is a debut book from an author I'll definitely be looking for more from.

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.… (mer)

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher at BEA.*

When I was a couple of chapters into this, if you told me I’d end up liking it, I’d laugh in your face. But, wow, what a surprise! This turned out to be an enjoyable read! Basically, it starts out with Abbey feeling stressed and disappointed by how her life is turning out. Her husband’s business is failing, she hates her job, and she’s just so TIRED. She sees a guy she once turned down for a date in a magazine and wonders what would happen if she had said yes to that date and ended up marrying him instead. Then Poof! Freaky Friday/13 Going on 30-esque magic happens, and her wish comes true — she gets to live the life of rich Abbey married to a successful husband.

I had a very strong feeling about where this would go. She’d realize that all people have problems, learn her lesson, and be grateful for her regular, ordinary life. And it was kind of like that, but the journey there was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. It wasn’t the hokey over-the-top after school special that I thought, but much more human and aware than that. Abbey goes on a self-discovery tour and realizes that while rich Abbey may seem different, they are really the same person; just different versions of each other. This book is less about learning to not take what we have for granted, but more about that who we are is a culmination of the choices we make, and we make choices ALL THE TIME. Those choices — even the small ones like what food you decide to eat for breakfast, what you snack on, or even whether or not you allow yourself to snack — are what make you the person you are and shape the life you live.

And Abbey realizes that without a kind, generous person like the one she married in her own life, she doesn’t make very kind, generous choices. Her kids are bratty and her friends are bitchy; the nanny doesn’t even want to talk to her very much, because she doesn’t want to deal with her crap. I loved reading between the lines and learning along with Abbey how much of a horrible person she is in this new life of hers. And Himes does a great job in bringing in parallels so we can see just how different everything is, like how her friendships have changed and how she is the typical rich housewife she used to roll her eyes at and secretly be jealous of.

Overall, like I said, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. It’s a quick read and brings a bit of the author’s unique flair on a classic type of story. While I started off not liking Abbey very much in the beginning, reading about how she copes with her new life and her reflection on how/why things are different with this different husband actually helped me like her and in the end, I was rooting for her to succeed. If this book sounds even a little interesting to you, I recommend giving it a try: it’s surprisingly fun.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.… (mer)