A fun read for everyone who ever wondered what might have happened, Abby is having a tough time of it- it's never easy being a working mom and wife- so when she falls down an escalator and wakes up as the wife of a rich man, she thinks it's going to be great. But life isn't that simple, This is written with humor and heart.

The One that Got Away explores a common plot, but it’s one I don’t think will ever grow old. As long as we have choices, we’ll always wonder about the roads – or people – not taken. Click on the link to read the rest of my review.

DNF 10%
Realized this is not my kinda book. Since I'm not the intended audience, I do not feel right reviewing/rating this book.

The One That Got Away
Leigh Himes
Hachette Books, June 2017
ISBN 978-0-316-30570-9
Trade Paperback

From the publisher—

Meet Abbey Lahey . . .

Overworked mom. Underappreciated publicist. Frazzled wife of an out-of-work landscaper. A woman desperately in need of a vacation from life–and who is about to get one, thanks to an unexpected tumble down a Nordstrom escalator.

Meet Abbey van Holt . . .

The woman whose life Abbey suddenly finds herself inhabiting when she wakes up. Married to handsome congressional candidate Alex van Holt. Living in a lavish penthouse. Wearing ball gowns and being feted by the crème of Philadelphia society. Luxuriating in the kind of fourteen-karat lifestyle she’s only read about in the pages of Town & Country.

The woman Abbey might have been . . . if she had said yes to a date with Alex van Holt all those years ago.

In the tradition of the romantic comedy Sliding Doors and Lionel Shriver’s The Post-Birthday World, Leigh Himes’s irresistible debut novel tells the funny and touching story of an ordinary woman offered an extraordinary opportunity to reboot her life, explore the road not taken, and ultimately, find her true self–whoever that may be.

I confess, the description of this book reminds me of a Hallmark movie (I’m addicted to those things) that came out a few Christmases ago. I don’t remember the name of it but the mom in the story finds herself in the life she might have had if she’d married the other guy. Come to think of it, Hallmark has used that theme more than once but the point is, I liked the movie and thought I’d like this book, too.

And I did, with reservations.

Abbey is a likeable woman, largely because of how she stumbles her way through this new reality/fantasy. She’s funny and inventive and determined to learn how to live the high life. This is definitely a “the grass is greener on the other side” scenario and, as you might expect, the new experience of being part of the social elite of Philadelphia and married to a politician kind of overwhelms Abbey, not to mention the shock of waking up in this fantasy. On the other hand, Abbey did irritate me with her too easy acceptance of the change and the shallowness that creeps out but I also empathized with her dissatisfaction and frustrations with her old life.

I sound conflicted, don’t I? I guess I am, actually, maybe because I too have that question, the what if syndrome. Not constantly, of course, but it’s there, lingering in the background even though I’m pretty well satisfied with the way my life has gone so far. And since I’m unlikely to ever wake up in a different life, it was fun to watch Abbey go through her rebirth, so to speak. There are a lot of books and movies that tackle this premise and The One That Got Away ranks right up there with the most entertaining.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2017.

Is the grass greener on the other side? When you get what you have been dreaming of is it how you thought it would be? There are many stories that tackle these questions and I will never stop enjoying them. Abbey Lahey is full time mom, full time wife and full time employee and she is barely keeping it together. She goes to Nordstrom to return a guilty purchase and after a fall she ends up in a life that she could have only imagined, but she may realize that is is so different than she ever thought it was.

I loved this book. I love a story where if you make one different decision it can send your life down a different path and there are positives and negatives to this new path. What made this book a little different from the rest is that the character knew of their other life and spent the book comparing the pros and cons of both lives - I like that she was aware that she had another life and could appreciate the difference between them.

I won't spoil a thing but I will say I definitely enjoyed the ending for this book. I was a little worried about how the author was going to wrap it up and I think she did it just right.

This book has heart, but is still light enough to be a perfect addition to your beach or pool bag. I loved reading it on the side of my pool over a weekend.

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.

Have you ever looked at your life and thought "What if?". In The One That Got Away, Abbey wakes up after falling off an escalator and ends up in an alternate reality. She gets to actually find out "What If?". Unfortunately for her, the grass isn't so green on the other side for her. I have very mixed feelings about this book. After I finished with it. I wasn't sure how I really felt. In the end, I liked it, but didn't love it as much as I would have liked.

The part I did like about the book was the concept. Imagine waking up from a bump on the head and you suddenly have the life you have envied from afar. The take away from this book is that sometimes you are better off looking at what you have and not what you don't have to see what really matters. Throughout her time as Abbey van Holt, she reflects back on her relationship with her real husband, Jimmy. How they fell in love and how things had begun to fall apart over the past year. I think that she did end up learning a valuable lesson and that gave me hope for her in the future.

What I didn't like so much was the alternate reality. Abbey never reacts to her "new" life, She kind of calmly goes with the flow. I expected her to be a bit more freaked out about stuff. I never got that sense. It was almost like she was excited to have left her other life behind. I also disliked that she slept with Alex, yet didn't feel unfaithful until much later in the book when she mentions it after something fairly insignificant. One thing that I would have liked to see was how she ended up becoming so superficial. What happened to make her change so much? I would have loved to see that explored more.

I think this is a book you have to read for yourself. There were definitely aspects I enjoyed, so I do recommend trying it out.

A 'what if'/Sliding Doors novel. Abby is over worked, under appreciated and in a moment of weakness, purchased an overpriced purse as a treat to herself. After an argument with her husband, she goes to return the purse.....and ends up in another life.

I was surprised that I liked this book as much as I did. We all question our decisions, wondering if we made a different choice if we would be in a different life, different relationships. This book explores that in a sweet way, with humor, passion and heart.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for this review.

Favorite Quotes:

Roberta looked good for her age— fit and firm and painted and plucked— but for decades now she had embarrassed me with her choice of attire. Day or night, her clothes were always a little too tight, a little too short. She said she dressed to match her ‘tiger spirit,’ but I had no idea what that meant and wasn’t about to ask.

Oh my God, I’m paralyzed. I’m permanently disfigured. Or worse, I’m bleeding internally and have only days to live. I’ll be the first person in history to die from shopping… how humiliating.

And the way they spoke was problematic too. I had no idea that people— aside from the Thurston Howells on Gilligan’s Island—actually spoke like this.

To a gawky smart kid with borderline social skills, a suspect wardrobe, and a 34A bra size, having a mom like Roberta was one liability too many. There were only so many aberrations the popular kids could ignore.

She looked the same as always: overly tan, overly blond, and in clothes that even Barbie might reconsider: a purple faux-Juicy sweatshirt unzipped to reveal a low-cut silver studded tank top, stretchy white jeans, and fuzzy black boots. Her nails were long and blood red, her lips pursed and glossy. Normally, she reminded me of a past-her-prime ski bunny or an airport cocktail waitress.

He said he had fallen in love with a woman named April Dawn and he was moving to Florida with her. Can you imagine? He left me for a woman named after dish soap.

My Review:

I adored this cleverly amusing and well-crafted book from beginning to end. The writing was crisp, vibrant, and highly observant, and sparkled with smart wit and lush detail. The characters were uniquely compelling, intriguing, idiosyncratic, and vividly and insightfully described. I frequently smirked and giggled-snorted at the messes Abby finds herself in, despite her efforts and best intentions. Most of us have had similar daydreams and thoughts as the main character of Abby and had fantasies of living of life of wealth and luxury, as well as the “what if” of the path not taken. I enjoyed being in her head as she processed, bumbled, bluffed her way through, and problem solved as best she could. I also reveled in being along for the ride as Abby initially enjoyed being pampered by stylists, dressed in couture, and skips along in her incredibly expensive designer shoes and coveted bags. I found her journey delightfully entertaining, enlightening and thoughtfully depicted. I certainly would not sneer at a chance to try it out for myself.

The One That Got Away is an enjoyable read, even though it's not an overly original premise. Frustrated with her life and her lack of luxuries, Abbey finds herself returning her dream bag at Nordstrom's. There she suffers a horrible fall down the escalator, waking up to a new life as the wife of a want-to-be politician. Even though she has all the money in the world, she finds herself missing her old life. Even though this is a story that has been told a thousand times, Himes weaves a humorous and enjoyable tale. The ending was a little (okay-very) far out there, but it didn't take away too much from the book.