Book Review: In Every Life

 

What happens when a husband's dying wish is for his wife to find a new love... before he's even gone?

Ben and Harper started off their marriage with a cancer diagnosis, but they eventually celebrated as Ben went into remission. Now they know what matters. Now they won't waste a second. But the cancer comes back, and this time, the doctors insist there's no viable treatment option. As they are ticking things off Ben's bucket list--sail a boat, ride an elephant, become a cashier, take the stage, jump out of a plane--Ben is forced to truly face his own mortality. He comes up with his final He wants to find Harper a new husband before he dies.

Harper is resistant to this wacky plan. If she can't have Ben, then she doesn't want anyone. Finally, he lets it drop, but not before a journalist gets wind about His Crazy Idea. Before they know it, reporters are knocking down their door to write up such a romantic gesture of a husband's dying wish for his beloved wife.

When the New York Times sends a journalist to their house to do a feature, Harper opens the door to find the one man who got away. Or, rather, the man she spent one perfect week with a decade ago and never saw Leo Hale.

Suddenly, Harper is faced with old, unresolved feelings for Leo and her ultimate what-if. What would have happened if Harper had ended up with Leo? Is the grass really greener, or is she standing right where she should be, even as she inevitably faces the pain of losing the one she loves?

My Review

This book is an emotional read. Instantly, I felt very connected to Ben and Harper. What Ben proposed of wanting Harper to find someone else before he dies really made me think about what I would do in Harper's situation. 

On one hand, I think it would be hard for me to entertain the idea of starting a new relationship with someone so soon after my partner's death but on the other hand, the concept that my partner cares for me and would help choose someone that they can find comfort in knowing that I would be looked after is comforting. 

Despite the past romance that Liam and Harper shared, I never fully embraced the idea of them together for future tense. Not that Liam is a bad guy as I did like him. I just was rooting for Ben and Harper.