Beth Thomas has the perfect life. At thirty-five, she’s married to her college sweetheart, has two adorable kids, and teaches part time at the local university. But when a friend persuades Beth to go dancing on a rare night out, a chance meeting with twenty one year old Dave, one of her former students, changes the course of her life. Loud music, too much to drink, and the thrill of feeling young again lead to an unforgettable kiss that was never supposed to happen. As she tries to put the memory behind her, Dave’s pursuit leaves Beth torn between what her mind says is right and what her heart and body crave.
4 Big Realistic Stars!
Is This All There Is is a Woman’s Fiction/Chick Lit written byPatricia Mann. I read this as a R2R with Fifty Shades Support Group at Goodreads. As always, a special thank you to the mods and author for allowing me to participate.
The Review:
This book was so realistic it was painful to read. And I think that’s what I liked most about it…
When I first started reading Is This All There Is I wanted to put it down because the main character, Beth Thomas, is going through the daily monotony of a married mother of two small children. Her life is a revolving hamster wheel of lackluster events day in and day out. She gets up, takes care of her kids needs, takes care of her husband’s needs, gets chores and work done, helps the kids with homework, feeds kids, puts them to bed and is a roommate with a man who barely notices her and ignores the signs of unhappiness because he doesn’t know what to do about their abating marriage.
But Beth’s character was in a genuine and poignant place. As miserable as her situation was, I read on because I needed to find out if maybe her circumstances could end on a better note than it started.
Like so many of us, Beth had dreams and wanted more from her life. She wanted to feel more from her life. She has a hole inside her and she tries to fill it with her children, work and chores, reading and even binge eating. Unable to fill that hole she is susceptible to outside influences, including the attentions of a much younger man who is all too willing to give her what she thinks she’s missing. Passionate kisses, adoring attention, compliments, someone to notice her worth and tell her she’s more than just a nurse maid to those around her. He fulfills these wants and desires.
Beth is me. She is you. She is every woman who’s found herself in the rut of being a woman, a mom, a wife and a caretaker for everyone around her, except herself. This read was so familiar, it was real and like the character, I was filled with a longing to know if it could end differently.
The Wrap Up:
This book might have started out slow and you might have a reluctance to read it but it’s worth getting to the end because along with the emotional distress it also is filled with hope. And it gave me a different perspective on my own life.
I’ll definitely look for other works by this author.
Is This All There Is is a Woman’s Fiction/Chick Lit written byPatricia Mann. I read this as a R2R with Fifty Shades Support Group at Goodreads. As always, a special thank you to the mods and author for allowing me to participate.
The Review:
This book was so realistic it was painful to read. And I think that’s what I liked most about it…
When I first started reading Is This All There Is I wanted to put it down because the main character, Beth Thomas, is going through the daily monotony of a married mother of two small children. Her life is a revolving hamster wheel of lackluster events day in and day out. She gets up, takes care of her kids needs, takes care of her husband’s needs, gets chores and work done, helps the kids with homework, feeds kids, puts them to bed and is a roommate with a man who barely notices her and ignores the signs of unhappiness because he doesn’t know what to do about their abating marriage.
But Beth’s character was in a genuine and poignant place. As miserable as her situation was, I read on because I needed to find out if maybe her circumstances could end on a better note than it started.
Like so many of us, Beth had dreams and wanted more from her life. She wanted to feel more from her life. She has a hole inside her and she tries to fill it with her children, work and chores, reading and even binge eating. Unable to fill that hole she is susceptible to outside influences, including the attentions of a much younger man who is all too willing to give her what she thinks she’s missing. Passionate kisses, adoring attention, compliments, someone to notice her worth and tell her she’s more than just a nurse maid to those around her. He fulfills these wants and desires.
Beth is me. She is you. She is every woman who’s found herself in the rut of being a woman, a mom, a wife and a caretaker for everyone around her, except herself. This read was so familiar, it was real and like the character, I was filled with a longing to know if it could end differently.
The Wrap Up:
This book might have started out slow and you might have a reluctance to read it but it’s worth getting to the end because along with the emotional distress it also is filled with hope. And it gave me a different perspective on my own life.
I’ll definitely look for other works by this author.
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