Happy pub day to @laurenkdentonbooks and The One You’re With!! This was my first book by Denton and I’m so excited to read her backlist!

It’s southern fiction at it’s finest! I loved her characters and the setting. I’d classify this one as a family drama. I loved the look into the struggles of an established marriage and how we can choose whether the pitfalls of life will break us down as a couple or help us grow closer. Edie and Mac are both flawed and refreshingly human.

Funny story- Mac turns 40 in the book and I was like it’s about a middle aged couple…until I realized my husband is 40 and I’m in the same stage of life as Mac and Edie

@thereadingwelsh and @sincerelyreading both told me I have to read Glory Road by Denton so that will be my next book by her!

If you’re a fan of Kristy Woodson Harvey or The Most Fun We Ever Had I think you’d enjoy this one!

A very well written southern drama. A fantastic plot with believable characters and a beautiful southern Alabama setting. I love this author’s books. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

If you love the work of Lauren K Denton like I do, you will likely love her new book The One You're With. It was a satisfying read that wasn't straight forward. It taught the lesson that marriage is a commitment and a lot of hard work.

I really love the message of this book. It talked of making your choices, standing behind them, working through problems and not giving up. I have to hand it to the characters in this book because they all lived with their choices. Your choices are not always right and sometimes the consequences of those choices are hard to live with. These characters are so rich in depth and love. They are tested many times over the years.

From my point of view, one of the characters is taking what she considers a betrayal and a couple of lies and blowing them out of shape. It takes her a while to settle in her mind a couple situations and to decide on the direction of her life. This character was my main reason for the one star deduction. Otherwise, I loved the book and the lesson it was trying to teach.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher/#Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you!

THE ONE YOUR WITH By Lauren K Denton
Contemporary fiction
368 pages

A couple together for 20 + years who have settled into a routine are now each silently pondering their life choices. They've been together since high school. They were friends for their whole childhood along with a third boy Graham. Edie and Mac always Knew they'd end up together but then after high school they spend the summer apart. That summer changed everything for him. Even if at the time neither one knew it.

Lauren K Denton is one of the queens of Southern comfort fiction in my opinion.  I love her books!!!!!!  This one has her signature style of relatable story that you just fall into.  Her stories hook you until the last page.  I highly recommend this book to fans of Mary Kay Andrews and Mary Alice Monroe.

Lauren K. Denton is one of my favorite authors. She puts you in the scene and writes genuine, flawed characters. This story focuses on a family reeling with the unexpected consequences of choices made years ago.

The book is set in Alabama and as with all of Denton’s books I’ve read so far, she writes the South really well. Sometimes I think writers exaggerate Southernisms but I think Denton conveys the South very well in her writing-there are no over the top drawls or cliche stereotypes.

Glory Road is still my favorite Denton book but this one is well done. There were times the characters in this book made some mistakes that made me cringe…like, cringe so hard my face hurt 😬 but I think it made their struggles feel more relatable and the end was satisfying.

Edie and Mac seem to be the perfect couple. They’ve been together since they were young and have created a beautiful life together. It only takes one afternoon and a hidden secret to rock their world. Now Edie and Mac must decide what will truly make them happy.
The One You’re With by Lauren Denton is a wonderful look at an engaging couple and the relatable struggles they have. I truly appreciated that the husband wasn’t a villain. Every character was so nuanced and drew sympathy. This was my first book by Lauren K. Denton and I was excited to see she had a backlist for me to enjoy!

Character-driven. Thought-provoking. Ideal for summer beach reading and book clubs.

Southern storyteller, Lauren K. Denton is known for “Southern grit and grace, humor, hope, and love. They most definitely apply to her latest, THE ONE YOU’RE WITH.

With her vivid descriptions and signature style, THE ONE YOU’RE WITH tests the bonds of marriage and family and the complex choices we make both past and present. When fissures from the past threaten the perfect present-day façade. Most importantly, how will this family handle the cards they are dealt?

Present-day: Set in a small town of Oak Hill, AL, Mac, and Edie have the perfect marriage with friends and well respected in the community. Mac a highly respected pediatrician and Edie an interior designer with two children Avery and Thomas.

It is Mac’s 40th birthday and Edie has a huge surprise birthday party planned with all their friends. However, before Mac arrives at the party, he gets a surprise of his own.

A young woman walks into his practice named Riley (and pregnant) and announces he is her father. Mac takes one look at the woman and knows she is his own.

From past to present we flashback to the summer of 2000, when Edie and Mac were dating and they broke up, with the summer apart. Mac was trying to decide on his career as a doctor and took a summer job at a marina and took an apartment with his friend Graham. Edie decided to move to New York to take an internship at an interior design firm.

Graham, Edie, and Mac were always great friends. However, that summer they have pulled apart. Since Graham wanted to be an architect, he and Edie had shared interests in the design field. They wrote each other postcards during the summer. Edie and Mac had no correspondence. Graham never shared this with Mac.

However, Mac discovered these cards and did not mention this to Graham. At the same time, he met a local girl named Kat that worked at the marina and they became good friends. She was unlike any girl he had known before.

Graham, Edie, and Mac kept their own secrets. Mac had no clue Kat was pregnant when he left that summer. Edie and Mac got back together and later married.

However, now the truth comes out. Mac does the right thing and wants to help Riley and does not want to just give her money but wants to get to know her and offer her help since her mom has passed away.

How will he make Edie understand and what about Edie’s secrets with Graham? He is back in town and wants to go in business with her. There are choices to be made on both sides of the marriage.

In this small-town community, their perfect family now will be viewed as different from the outside. However, maybe there is hope that the events of the past will make their family stronger in many unexpected ways.

I have had the pleasure of reading all Lauren K. Denton’s books and enjoyed each of them. She has a talent of drawing you into the setting and into the inner lives of the characters which make them come alive on the page.

Even though Mac and Edie were the main characters, there were some fantastic secondary characters. I particularly enjoyed Mac and Riley as well as Cynthia and Fitz and the ending. This novel was so realistic and vivid and hooks you immediately and holds you. It is a scenario that is realistic and could happen to any marriage and family.

Beautifully rendered, a powerful story of the choices we make as young adults which carry over to adulthood. For fans of Charles Martin, Nicholas Sparks, Diane Chamberlain, and Patti Callahan. All my favorite southern storytellers!

Highly recommend. An engaging story of marriage, choices, and the important things in life. Stay tuned for my upcoming Elevator Ride with Lauren, coming July 6th where we will go behind the scenes of the book and the author.

Blog Review:
#JDCMustReadBooks
@JudithDCollins
Pub Date: July 6, 2021
Rating: 💗💗💗💗💗

I really enjoyed The One You're With by Lauren K. Denton.

This book was a very good look at a marriage and told in flashbacks - a high school and college romance between the main characters. The dual timelines worked very well in this book and I found myself looking forward to leaving the present day and returning to their college years to learn more about Mac and Edie.

The characters are very interesting, especially Riley and Graham, and the settings are well described. I wanted to be at the marina with Mac, experiencing such a different life and I easily saw myself working with Edie on her interior design projects.

If you haven't already read anything by this author, you should. In fact, I think The One You're With is a great place to start!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publishers for an ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.

Let me start by saying, I LOVE this book! It is not your typical love story; it talks about marriage and how every decision we make may or may not impact the future and in-between. I know some of you may say, but that’s normal and given. Well, yea, but to actually read a story that possibly mirrors your past, present, and maybe future, believe me, you wouldn't want to miss it. I do find the characters and plot relatable, unique, and realistic. The story went back and forth between past and present, and it makes me appreciate this extraordinary story even more—definitely an inspiring and powerful read.

Mac and Edie Swan are high school sweethearts, they live in Oak Hill, in Alabama and have been happily married for seventeen years. They have two children Avery and Thomas and the family is well known by everyone in the local community. Mac is a busy pediatrician, he’s well-liked by his staff, patients and their parents. Edie’s an interior designer, she’s talented and has a flare for decorating houses with her own unique style.

The only hiccup in their long term relationship, they split up nineteen years ago and didn’t keep in touch for three months. Mac has no idea the summer he spent working at Sunset Marina all those years ago is going to suddenly turn his life upside down and one day an eighteen year old woman walks into Mac’s office. Mac takes one look at her, he just knows she’s his daughter and what is he going to do? He has to tell Edie, she’s not going to take it well, what will his family and children think? It rocks the basis of their marriage, Edie questions what else Mac hasn’t told her, she feels hurt and very betrayed. The family whole unit is now on rocky ground, the children are confused and don’t want their parents to separate.

The One You’re With looks at the choices both Mac and Edie made years ago, how it will affect their future together and will they have a future? For Mac and Edie the relationship with their children and others is tested and will they be able to stick together and work it out? To do this they need to overcoming feelings of being extremely hurt, trust being broken, what they both want out of life, are they still on the same page and take into account a young woman who desperately needs their help, understanding and support.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, absolutely brilliant, the second book I have read by Lauren K. Denton, and it won’t be my last and five stars from me.

Thank you Lauren Denton, UpLit Reads, and Thomas Nelson for the gifted book!

Title: The One You’re With
Author: Lauren K. Denton
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis: “Sometimes, that’s what a marriage is…We hurt each other and we apologize. And we forgive. Over and over.” Mac and Edie were always supposed to be together. Everyone knew it and everything is going exactly how they thought it would. They are the perfect couple and have always had the perfect life. Until one day when a young girl shows up at Mac’s office. Suddenly secrets from their past are uncovered, and they have the potential to ruin their picture perfect family. In a beautiful story of love and choices, Mac and Edie seek to discover if their marriage can weather the storms they’ve created.

Analysis: I have never read a Lauren K. Denton book before, but now I want to read them all. With incredibly realistic characters and their life choices, the plot interweaves the story of Edie and Mac through a look at their present and their past. I loved the easy writing style and the characters with all of their flaws. Lauren takes you on a journey that could very well be similar to your own. No, not the exact storyline I’m sure, but what would life look like if you’d made just one or two different choices? The One You’re With explores exactly that and the choices we continue to make today. While I didn’t ugly cry, I did find tears in my eyes. This book took me on a beautiful emotional journey that I just didn’t want to end.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Content Warning: divorce, strained marriage relationships

The One You're With by Lauren K. Denton is a book that you become a part of. The story and characters are so realistic that you feel a part of what's happening.

Lauren K. Denton has done it again! Another bestseller that draws you in and keeps the pages turning. She tells a story that makes the reader think about if decisions that were made in the past were changed by even one event how would that have affected the future. What a beautifully written story set in a gorgeous part of the South.

This was my first book by this author and I loved it! It was a book about a mature couple, which I really appreciate at this point in my life. Edie and Mac have had a good marriage for many years, so when things resurface from a summer twenty years before, they deal with them as only an established couple in that situation could. There are hurt feelings and anger, but they aren't going to throw their marriage away without trying to work through things.

Denton wrote these characters in a way that I really felt like I might actually know them. They are having to deal with the past and figure out what their future is going to look like and decide if their love for each other is still enough. I loved that Edie ends up being just what the young woman who has stirred things up needs and that she steps up to be there for her. That's a caring, mature woman!

This character driven novel was a great read and I recommend it if you're okay without a lot of hot reactions on the part of the main characters.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

As mentioned in one of the passage of this book, this story is about how we think about the chances not explored, the paths not taken; If you want to look forward you have to look back.
This is the story of Mac and Edie high school sweethearts who agree to take a break during the college years. A decision that will change both their lives in ways they could not have fathomed. This story was like a beautiful, poignant and sad love letter. The character development for the 2 main characters was well done, the story moved along at a good pace and the supporting characters were easy to like as well. The one character that we don't get to know too much about is Kate, and I think that she is saddest character, Her brief reunion with Mac at college was heartbreaking. The story is told with glimpses into the past and its effects on the present day. A really beautifully written story

Title: The One You're With
Author: Lauren K. Denton
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

High-school sweethearts Mac and Edie Swan lead a seemingly picture-perfect life in the sleepy-sweet community of Oak Hill, near Mobile, Alabama. Edie is a respected interior designer, Mac is a beloved pediatrician, and they have two great kids and a historic home on tree-lined Linden Avenue. From the outside, the Swan family is the definition of “the good life.” And life is good—mostly. Until a young woman walks into Mac’s office one day. A young woman whose very existence threatens all Mac and Edie have built and all they think they know about each other.

Nineteen years after a summer apart, with a family and established lives and careers, the past that Mac and Edie thought they left behind has come back to greet them. For the first time, constants in their lives are called into question: their roles as parents, their reputation as upstanding members of the community, and the very foundations of their marriage. As they wade through the upheaval in both their family and professional lives, they must each examine choices they made long ago and chart a new course for their future.

I love Lauren K. Denton’s novels and always look forward to their release, so I was excited to read this. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as her others. Excellent writing and characters, but Edie’s over-the-top reaction to the past really didn’t sit well with me.

She and Mac were broken up that summer. She doesn’t have any right to be angry about what he did—I can understand the hurt, but to be so furious and unforgiving when she was keeping secrets of her own that same summer is hypocritical at best. Considering her anger was the main thread running through the novel, this was a pretty big problem for me. I kept thinking “Get over yourself. You did the same thing, and now you’re mad at him?”

Lauren K. Denton is a bestselling author. The One You’re With is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 7/9.)

Told from both Edie and Mac's point of view with dual timelines, a long ago summer and the present.
At its center, this story explores marriage and family. It also examines choices made and the paths not taken.
I am a longtime fan of Laura Denton's writing and this story does not disappoint. I was captivated by the story from the start. Denton does a great job of considering both perspectives, and I felt empathy for the plight of these characters. I truly could not put this book down because I was invested in knowing the outcome.

Mac and Edie were meant to be together, it was obvious and everyone knew it. But the summer before their senior year, they decided to take a break from their 7 year relationship, and 13 year friendship, and try to decide what they both want. Does Edie want to move from Alabama to New York? Does Mac actually want to become a doctor like his father? The summer of 2000 finds them separate, and living with consequences that come to find them 20 years later. Is the summer they spent apart going to tear them apart as they approach 40? Are they going to last, or will it all unravel as secrets are revealed and their lives are changed forever?

The One You're With started a little too slow ( for me) but when it picked up it became impossible to put down. Author Lauren K. Denton starts the story when the two main characters are 20 years old and then jumps back and forth to today when they are 40. Ms Denton shows us how the decisions made so long ago have influenced their lives today. I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an early copy to review.

Title: The One You're With
Author: Lauren K. Denton
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"The One You're With" by Lauren K. Denton
My Opinion:

Good Read bought out 'choices, consequences, and what-ifs' as it was for Edie, Mac, and Graham when it was all said and done. All of this comes into play after an unknown love child comes into Mac and Edie's life. The story was rather long, but after 20 years later, will this destroy their marriage? First, however, Edie will have to come to terms with what happened during that summer between her and Graham during this time. So be ready for many emotions that will come into play that will give the reader a lot to think about during the read that dealt with the past and present for Mac and Evie during 2000 and 2021.

Will this be a story of forgiveness as the question of whether love, family commitment, doing the right thing will win out over the loss of trust, anger, and missed chances?' This author did an excellent job as the story deals with the emotions of Mac, Edie, and Riley, along with some secondary characters that bring us a well-told story that I would recommend.

Thank you to the author, Thomas Nelson - Fiction and NetGalley, for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.