Thank you to NetGalley,Berkley Publishing and Colleen Oakley for the ARC to review. This was the first Colleen Oakley book that I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story was great, not what I had first envisioned. I was captivated about the dreams Mia would have and her mystery man showing up. I was quite sure that she would leave her husband. However, I was totally taken back by the conclusion of this book. I was quite a surprise, I was simply stunned. Bravo! This is a good read, and I look forward to reading Colleen Oakley, again.

You Were There Too was such a wonderful story about love, fate, and destiny and I loved every minute of it! It’s tough to describe this book without giving a lot away, but it is about a woman who is living an idyllic life with her wonderful husband, yet continues having dreams about this mystery dreamy man. Then one day at the supermarket, she meets this dreamy man and her life becomes sooooo confusing! I loved that both of the men were truly good and it made the choices and conundrum so interesting. I was so sad when this one ended...it is so good!!!!

4.5 out of 5 stars for You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley.

I've heard a lot of great things about Colleen Oakley's books, but this is the first one I've read (she has two other ones, and I definitely need to read them this year). This one is absolutely amazing.

I'm one of those people who doesn't really dream (and yes, I know that I really do and that I just don't remember them) so the idea of Mia's recurring dreams about a stranger is already fascinating to me. But when we learn that he (his name is Oliver, as it happens) also dreams about her? And that they meet when she and her husband Harrison are in a slightly rough patch of their marriage?  YES PLEASE.

So first, you should know that this is a rare love triangle because Oliver and Harrison are both really good guys. And you should know that "love triangle" isn't really very accurate. It's more of a sort of "what if" question. 

I loved every page of this. And, like I said, I need to hit her backlist. Highly recommended.

Mia's life is a dream: a doctor husband, a new home in a new town... it's all going exactly as it should. But what about her actual dreams? For years, Mia has been dreaming about the same man. A man she's never met. So when she runs into the real-life version of him in her new town, she thinks it must be just a coincidence... right? But then, when she finds out that he's also been dreaming of her, she thinks there must be a reason... right?? This was a great read! I don't want to spoil anything by saying too much, so my advice is to read the book!

A really unique,emotional and unforgettable story.I don't know what to say with this one, I think you should go blind.It's a book that will make you have so many feelings, and also wondering for things.

I find the story brilliant, and realistic in the relationships.What I loved most about this story is that I couldn't decide how this story I wanted to end.This changed a lot through the end.I have different opinions.

I'm definitely going to read more books from this author!I love the writing and her story was compelling and captivating!

Mia has dreamt of the same man for most of her adult life. It’s not anyone she knows and he doesn’t appear every night - but frequently he appears in her dreams. She doesn’t think much of it - and even assumes at first this happens to everyone.

When Mia and her husband Harrison decide to move out of Philadelphia to the suburbs, her world is rocked when she runs into the dream man at the grocery store. His name is Oliver and he is a real person. Suddenly Mia needs to question if the dreams have meaning. Was she actually meant to be with Oliver?

I think it’s important to come into this book with the right expectations. It isn’t a light romance - it’s a compelling domestic fiction that takes on a lot of heavier topics. I think they were handled well and I was rooting for Mia throughout.

I also loved recognizing the town they moved to - a fictionalized version of a town near where I grew up. It always adds a little something to recognize the setting of a book I’m enjoying.

Thank you very much to Berkley and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

You Were There Too took me on a quest to understand coincidence, fate, dreams, premonition and circumstance. It’s an amazing premise and Oakley does a stellar job at bringing these life affirming ideas to the forefront. At its heart this book is a love story that will tear at your heart, but there is so much more. Two characters find themselves in each other’s dreams; Mia is happily married, hunky Oliver is not. The problem gets stickier when we learn her dreams are quite steamy and while his are not, they do cause concern for Mia.

The book tackles issues regarding soulmates, the power of dreams as well as the science behind them, the stress doctors are under, infertility, small town life, art, marriage and love. Oakley created a storyline that kept me turning the pages and every inkling I had of how things would turn out was wrong; the author got it perfectly done with unsuspected twists. I grew to really like Mia; she felt real and understandably confused. I appreciated her honesty in all things, no matter how hard they’d be to accept.

This is the first Oakley book I’ve read but it certainly won’t be my last. Her writing is concise, has great pace and she’s a good storyteller. Book clubs will find a lot to discuss.

4.5 stars

You Were There Too was a beautifully heartbreaking novel. I was fascinated by the blurb and thought the story would go one way, but it ended up zig zagging a few times and ending in a way that may upset some readers, but that I felt was appropriate and fitting for the story. I will say that I would not classify this book as a romance. It has romance and romantic elements, but I think it would be better labeled as women's fiction.

This story was so incredibly relatable. The excitement and exhilaration of new love. The comfort and happiness in the day to day. The struggle and heartache of loss and all the growing pains that go along with creating and maintaining a marriage and family. Harrison and Mia's story really resonated with me and made me reflect on my own marriage and journey to parenthood. My emotions were all over the place and there were times I had to put the book down and simply breathe. It was impacting me so profoundly that I even commented to my husband that the story felt almost too intense at times.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, so my review will be purposefully vague, but I will say that Colleen Oakley's writing completely blew me away. I highlighted so many passages and I was definitely reaching for the tissues by the end. The majority of the story is told from Mia's POV, but there are some point of view shifts that helped paint a clearer picture of the events, but that I also found a little distracting. I understand that the way this book concluded might not be for everyone, but for me it made sense. I think the greater message of carrying on is so important. We choose every day to fight or run, love or hate. I like the idea of fate and it's inescapable pull, but I think this quote says it best:

"That in the random chaos of life, you and I met somehow. And out of everyone else in the world that we know, we choose each other. Every day."

You Were There Too is a unique love story that is sure to take readers on an emotional ride.

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

The plot of this book was completely different than what I thought it was and I absolutely loved it! I found myself wondering what was going to happen next and couldn’t put it down for this reason!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mia is in love and married to a wonderful man when she literally meets the man of her dreams. In a twist, he also has dreams of her. I love the ending plot twist.

This book was very good. I couldn’t wait to see where it was going. I don’t want to say too much and spoil it but it was a fascinating book.

Mia Graydon and her husband Harrison decide to make a fresh start in the small town of Hope Springs. Leaving Philly was hard but Harrison, having finally finished his residency, is ready for a fresh start at a new hospital. Mia, on the other hand, is feeling a little lost. What started as an impulsive, exciting move has left Mia without a routine of any kind and her once passionate career as a painter is still packed away in the studio. Both grieving their separate losses, they are finding their relationship at odds for the first time in eight years. When Mia is introduced to Oliver, he takes her breath away. It feels like she has known him forever, yet they have never met. Oliver has been in her dreams since high school. And the most terrifying part - he has been dreaming of her too. After researching psychics, dream psychiatry, all aspects of coincidence and fate, Mia is forced to make a choice. Indecision slowly devours her every waking moment until destiny once again intervenes. Highly recommend this January 2020 release, a poignant, wholly original love story which will leave you dreaming of these characters long after the final page.

3.5 stars
Mia is happily married but has been dreaming of another man for years. To her surprise, she actually meets the man and finds out he's been dreaming about her, too, although his dreams about her do not have a happy ending. I initially didn't like this book, but as I kept reading, the story drew me in and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen.

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley is an intriguing look into dreams and their possibilities. Mia has been dreaming about a man she has never met for years. One day this man from her dreams walks into her grocery store. It's a small town and after bumping into each other a few times Mia discovers that Oliver also recognized her. He has been dreaming about her. What could this mean? Mia is happily married and finding these dreams very confusing. Together Mia and Oliver begin to research the possible meaning behind two people dreaming about each other even though they are complete strangers.

This book is beautiful and I absolutely loved it. Dreams and destiny are fascinating subjects. The characters are likable and realistic. I will be thinking about this thought provoking book for a while.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Romance
Women's Fiction
Release date: January 7, 2020

I read this shortly after finishing "In Five Years," which also features a main character who has a dream of a man that she then meets in real life. Both books come out in early 2020, and while they have that similar premise, the books are very different.

You Were There Too features Mia, who has recurring dreams that involve a man she discovers is Oliver (when they meet). Their paths have crossed at various points, including a number of times they should have been in the same place, but weren't, which is kind of cool. Mia is married although she is unhappy as her husband is not dealing with depression he has following the loss of a patient.

To her credit, Mia is honest with her husband about her dreams involving Oliver, which is appreciated. She and Oliver try to figure out what the dreams mean as Mia also needs to figure out what her heart and head want.

The story is well-written and was hard to put down. I enjoyed the examination of the dreams and how this affected how Mia reacted to the people in her life. I think there were a few parts that could have been fleshed out a bit, and some characters that appeared and reappeared randomly, but I liked how the book was written.

It was primarily from Mia's perspective, but there were a handful of chapters from other characters as well. I think these were good, but either should have been expanded a bit or eliminated.

Overall, for a story that makes you feel all the feels, this is the book for you.

Absolutely loved this book! I have not read this author before, now I am looking for more of her books. My library owns a few and we have this one on order! Loved the story, the characters, the plot, everything! It was one of those that you think about after you read a little and can't wait to get back to!

This book had a really interesting premise for me. The story was ok, but not quite as gripping as I was hoping. The ending was a real roller coaster, and a bit of a shock. I felt the writing was well-done and the characters were ok, but the book just didn't appeal to me as much as I was hoping from the synopsis. I found myself really feeling for Mia's husband. The characters were all in a tough situation. The ending was a bit too abrupt - I would have liked to have seen more follow up. A fairly good book overall, but not my favorite.

Colleen Oakley's new book is her best yet, but reader, beware: you're going to want the box of tissues ready for this one. I was never sure how Colleen Oakley was going to end this book, and what choice Mia was going to make- and still the ending was not anything I had anticipated. Mia's husband, Harrison, seems almost saintly at times in his willingness to accept Mia's pursuit of answers as to why she's dreamed of their new acquaintance, Oliver, for years before actually meeting him (though perhaps it's because Harrison is dealing with a grief and fear of his own that are overshadowing any jealous tendency). And Oliver is an interesting character himself, and his dogged pursuit of answers, and the near misses he and Mia discover they've had throughout the years make for an intriguing story. I loved this story, and it broke my heart- for any reader who hasn't found Colleen Oakley yet, this is a great place to start.

First I must say I don't love books at this stage in my life that center around a marriage that isn't in a good place, it is just hard for me to read, so I had a few moments where I was really wondering where these characters were going to end up.

For me the reason that kept me reading was Mia. I was able to get extremely invested in her story and really care about where she would end up. I felt so much for her going through what she went through in hopes of starting a family and how much that can affect you emotionally and how hard that can be on a marriage. I wanted so much for them to find comfort in each other instead of in other things in this hard time.

I will not spoil this book, but I must say that the ending is the thing that saved this book for me. Without it ending the way it did, I wouldn't have liked it at all, but it made it into an okay book for me.

I am a Colleen Oakley fan and I would say that I will keep reading her after this one, but I sure hope I adore the next one!

I was pleased to recieve an ARC of Colleen Oakley's "You Were There Too." I read "Close Enough To Touch" last year and was totally enchanted by the characters and their lives. "You Were There Too" is equally absorbing. The story opens on Mia as she struggles out from under the limp body covering her to find someone she's been frantically searching for. Flashback to her unsuccessful interview at an art gallery in Hope Springs, Pennsylvania and her dejected return home to her husband, Harrison, and their gorgeous new farm house. Harrison is a surgeon, they met at a party and fell in love, were married and have been trying to have a baby. Mia has suffered through several miscarriages and is at loose ends. They obviously love eachother deeply, but Mia is continuously disturbed by her dreams of a devastatingly handsome man - not her husband. Soon after leaving the city for Hope Springs, Mia and Harrison are invited to dinner by one of Harrison's pregnant patients. Mia is shocked to meet the brother, Oliver, who is identical to the man in her dreams. As Mia struggles to find meaning in her life and in the dreams, she becomes closer to Oliver and obsessed with interpretting the dream relationship. She almost misses Harrison's descent into depression related to an incident at the hospital that happened more than a year earlier. Mia has a lot of choices to make and some difficult decisions as her relationship with Oliver grows stronger and her relationship with her husband declines. In spite of the gravity of the situations, Oakley has created very likeable characters and draws you into the story, making it very difficult to put the book down. The love and affection between Mia and Harrison is evident without being smarmy or cloying. The conclusion was not at all what I expected in the best way. I enjoyed reading "You were Therre Too" as will fans of Oakley's other books and anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction. Oakley also includes provocative discussion questions, making this an excellent book club selection.