Please note that I gave this book 2.5 stars and rounded it up to 3 stars on Goodreads.

Wow. This was a shock to my system after reading the early Virgin River books this past weekend. I went from those books to this standalone and really didn’t get what was happening in this book. We follow two women whose storyline barely merged with each other and a happy ending that really didn’t work based on all that came before it.

Emma is dealing with the fallout from her husband’s suicide and her realization that he was well on his way to being another Bernie Madoff before his suicide. She thought she had it all before she had a couple of eye opening moments realizing her entire courtship and marriage was a lie. She decides to return to her hometown of Sonoma since she only has $9,000 to her name and no way of getting another job in New York City due to her being known.

Riley is a successful businesswoman and single mother. She may still grieve over the end of her friendship with Emma, but she thinks that she is well past it until Emma returns to Sonoma.

Emma I felt for though she may leave you a bit frustrated at times. For someone who literally is attacked with a full bedpan by a victim of her husband’s schemes, I thought she was a bit too calm at times. You keep reading about how she needs to get her life together, but she falls into a romance pretty quick. That romance was boring as anything too. I mean I don’t need to read about people upside down on chandeliers, but there was no passion there. I think Emma gets involved in it because the person is safe. The male hero sees her as an ideal he has always wanted since he was younger so I felt like he was just happy to be anywhere near her. The romance doesn’t struggle or go through anything big at all so I maybe shrugged about it a lot while reading. Emma sticking her nose into everyone’s business also didn’t work for me either. It just came out of nowhere and really threw off the book. We get a B plot that this book didn’t need. In fact when I think of it there are two main plots and two B plots. I would rather have had her interacting more with Riley and building back up their friendship.

Riley and her business (cleaning) was great. I loved that Carr adds in a ton of details so once again you know she did research or at least knew enough about the subject. I would love to see some of the employees mentioned in their own follow up books, but that’s just me. I thought Riley trying to hide from her teen daughter how she came to be was lame. This is the age of Facebook, Twitter, etc. I find it unbelievable that no one told her daughter before now about her mom’s past. Riley’s two love interests, once again I found bland as anything. It was weird, I could have done without the men since they were all pretty faceless and unimpressive in my eyes.

We have some secondary characters (two of the love interests, the third I guess doesn’t need to allow readers to be privy to his thoughts). Everyone else except for a few were interchangeable.

The writing was good because as I already said, you definitely get that Carr did research on the cleaning business. Everything else though, the investigation into Emma didn’t really work though. It just felt thrown in.

The flow was up and down. I think because the book felt like two separate stories about two women who grew up together, but then definitely grew apart.

I think there were enough elements to make this a good book, but unfortunately, the two characters never fully came together for me. I felt like I was reading two stories where the characters just happen to live in the same town. I really needed to see more interaction between Emma and Riley. Or at least maybe a huge prologue of showing them together as best friends before their rift.

The ending was okay, but once again Carr throws in a infertile woman finds herself pregnant element and after reading Virgin River I am pretty good on not reading that trope in romance for a good long while. ( )

4.5 stars

The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr is wonderful novel of forgiveness, healing and love.

Emma Shay had absolutely no idea her husband Richard was defrauding his investors with a Ponzi scheme, but that does not stop everyone from blaming her for their losses. After she is cleared of wrongdoing, she returns to her hometown in California in hopes of picking up the pieces of her life. Completely honest about her past, Emma is dismayed by her inability to find employment in her former career field but she is not too proud to apply for service industry jobs. Running into her old childhood friend Adam Kerrigan is a blessing in disguise for Emma as she tries to rebuild her life.

While Emma is a likable character, she is frustratingly passive as she avoids conflict instead of facing it head on. While she truly did not have direct knowledge of Richard's illegal activity, she was aware that things were not quite right but she blindly accepted his explanations when she did ask questions. In the aftermath of his conviction and subsequent suicide, Emma's conscience will not allow her to keep any of money Richard illegally obtained. With very little money to her name, she has no choice but to work but she greatly underestimates how difficult it will be for prospective employers to overlook her somewhat sordid past. Renewing her friendship with Adam is surprisingly easy but she remains reluctant to act on their mutual attraction due to her complicated history with his sister (and her former best friend), Riley.

Growing up, Emma and Riley were closer than sisters, but after Emma left for college, the young women began to grow apart. Riley betrayed Emma is the worst possible way when she had an affair with Emma's boyfriend Jock. After a horrible fight where they exchanged hurtful barbs, they went their separate ways. Riley has never been able to accept responsibility for her role in the demise of their friendship but she reluctantly hires Emma to work for her. Realizing just how precarious her situation is, Emma refuses to do anything to upset their fragile truce. With their lives intertwining both personally and professionally, it is only a matter of time before Riley learns the truth about Emma's relationship with Adam. Is there any chance the estranged friends can forgive one another for past mistakes?

The storyline for The Life She Wants is conflict free and moves at a leisurely pace. The aftermath of the scandal with Emma's husband is realistic and her desire to live life on her own terms is understandable. Her need for honesty after essentially living a lie for her entire marriage is easy to relate to but it is inevitable that she will need to alter her approach in order to find a job. Her relationship with Adam is an absolute joy and their transition from friends to lovers is believable.

While Emma's desire to steer clear of confrontation is reasonable, it is very difficult to agree with her decision to keep her romance with Adam a secret. It is also quite frustrating to watch Emma allow her stepmother to continue to take advantage of her. Avoiding unnecessary drama is one thing, but Emma takes it to a whole new level by not fighting for what is rightfully hers. She does enjoy her much simpler life but Emma sometimes makes things harder for herself than necessary by refusing to take charge of certain situations.

The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr is an engaging novel with a cast of likable characters. Delightfully free from angst and drama, readers will be completely invested in this quiet but meaningful story of healing and resiliency. A moving and emotional novel that fans of contemporary women's fiction are sure to love. ( )

Really 3.5 ( )

This book reads easy. One of the books you can read mindlessly. I liked the emphasis on friendship, but really nothing else new in this book. ( )

Not many authors who started off with romance can write about friendships just as well, but Robyn Carr has always been one of the queens of women's fiction in my book. A few years ago, I read and loved Four Friends so I was excited to give her newest release a try.

The Life She Wants relays the messy, complicated lives of Riley Kerrigan and Emma Shay, two women who were once inseparable, but are now no longer on speaking terms. When Emma moves back to her hometown Sebastopol filled with shame, the two women are forced to confront each other due to several interfering factors: Emma's desperate need for employment following her husband's disgraceful scandal, as well as her intimate involvement with old acquaintances who are also very close to her former best friend.

I love how elaborate details of each of their lives contributed to the main conflict, rather than having the story focus exclusively on the backstory and slow rebuilding of the friendship itself. Riley faces unique challenges, like raising her teenage daughter as a single mother and running her cleaning company, while Emma has some burdens of her own, like coming to terms with her hurtful past and facing financial turmoil, not for the first time in her life. When their lives intersect in a familiar setting, a memory-ripe town in Sonoma, California, old feelings—old grudges, disappointments, miscommunications, and apologies—begin to surface, demonstrating that although home is somewhere you can escape from, it's a place that never escapes you.

The cast of supporting characters is amazing, each person just as fleshed out and complex as any of Robyn Carr's characters are. The twist on the classic fairy tale this book takes is really enjoyable too; from rags to riches to rags is exactly how I'd describe it, and it's an emotionally engaging journey all throughout. While not mind-blowing, this is definitely a Cinderella story, and not the kind you've read before, either.

Pros: Great integration of each character's subplots in the main theme of rekindling friendship // Easy to read; Carr never fails to impress me with her storytelling // A beautiful modern take on Cinderella // Strong, empowering women characters that are still likable and relatable—ironically, these are often hard to find in the romance and women's fiction genres!

Cons: The ending regarding Emma's financial insecurities seems a little too inconvenient // Riley is a bit of a stubborn character; I didn't care for her playing the victim card when she's the one who betrayed Emma to begin with // Predictable in terms of outcome

Verdict: In her newest standalone novel, Robyn Carr considers a relatively unexplored topic in the women's fiction genre: two ex-best friends reconnecting in middle adulthood, and all the complications that accompany it. Featuring a multidimensional conflict, a strong ensemble of lovable characters, and the buildup of traditional small-town romance and heartbreaking family backstories we've all come to expect and love, The Life She Wants offers readers a glimmering portrait of true friendship, the meaning of forgiveness, and the value of self-worth.

Rating: 7 out of 10 hearts (3.5 stars): Not perfect, but overall enjoyable; would recommend, but borrow a copy before you buy!

Source: Complimentary copy provided by tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Little Bird Publicity!). ( )