Imperfect Love by Rebecca Talley
Lauren Wilson is well on her way to her happily-ever-after. She has a career she loves, a husband she adores and a baby on the way, but a devastating diagnosis changes everything. The life she's built suddenly crumbles around her when her husband insists she choose—the baby or him.
Returning to her small hometown to rebuild her shattered life, Lauren crosses paths with Ethan Campbell, the man who stole her teenage heart. The old attraction is still there, but Lauren won't admit it to anyone—least of all herself. Her only priority is providing a life for her child, and she can't afford to get it wrong. Ethan is confusing everything, including stirring up feelings she’s not prepared to face. Will she spend her life raising her baby alone or is the family she's always wanted finally within her reach?
My Thoughts:
Sigh...this was such a sweet story. It had my heart melting and aching a few times. Imperfect Love was very compelling and thought-provoking. It was not absolutely perfect but it was a very beautiful story.
The story was easy to read and fast-paced, but the story was still powerful. The main character, Lauren, struggled to get pregnant and when she finally did, her life shattered. The first half of the book concentrated the end of Lauren's marriage. It was very sad and angering to read how the events unfolded. However, things began to lighten up in the second half of the book where Lauren found herself and a new love. The plot had me captivated.
The characters were realistic. Lauren was a woman who was desperate to have a child and to save her marriage. The act of her sticking to what she wanted and what she thought was right made her very courageous. Next, Paul's character hit right at home for me. He reminded me of the many men that I've encountered. He was the type of man who put his career and himself first before his wife. When things didn't go his way, Paul would run away to his parents. As much as I ended up disliking Paul, I could not help but admire the author for creating such a true character. Last, there was Ethan, the new man in Lauren's life. It was obvious that he was the knight-in-shining armor but who had some demons from his past as well. I came to admire deeply on how he stuck by Lauren even though he didn't have to. Not many men would take that kind of responsibility. I greatly enjoyed reading these characters.
This was a very lovely story but it was not perfect. I enjoyed the fact that the author did not preach on what she thought was right when it came to abortion. She took a neutral stance on it and did not point any fingers. However, the whole telling about Lauren's fear about the baby, abortion, and divorce was a bit irritating. The reason why was that it repeated a lot. I felt that I kept reading the same lines over and over again. I understand that the author was trying to emphasize what the character was feeling, but I felt that this could have been told in a shorter way. Other than that, I highly enjoyed this book.
At the end, I found myself sighing because on how beautiful this story was. Yes, it was not the absolute best but it was still a wonderful read. I rate it:
The story was easy to read and fast-paced, but the story was still powerful. The main character, Lauren, struggled to get pregnant and when she finally did, her life shattered. The first half of the book concentrated the end of Lauren's marriage. It was very sad and angering to read how the events unfolded. However, things began to lighten up in the second half of the book where Lauren found herself and a new love. The plot had me captivated.
The characters were realistic. Lauren was a woman who was desperate to have a child and to save her marriage. The act of her sticking to what she wanted and what she thought was right made her very courageous. Next, Paul's character hit right at home for me. He reminded me of the many men that I've encountered. He was the type of man who put his career and himself first before his wife. When things didn't go his way, Paul would run away to his parents. As much as I ended up disliking Paul, I could not help but admire the author for creating such a true character. Last, there was Ethan, the new man in Lauren's life. It was obvious that he was the knight-in-shining armor but who had some demons from his past as well. I came to admire deeply on how he stuck by Lauren even though he didn't have to. Not many men would take that kind of responsibility. I greatly enjoyed reading these characters.
This was a very lovely story but it was not perfect. I enjoyed the fact that the author did not preach on what she thought was right when it came to abortion. She took a neutral stance on it and did not point any fingers. However, the whole telling about Lauren's fear about the baby, abortion, and divorce was a bit irritating. The reason why was that it repeated a lot. I felt that I kept reading the same lines over and over again. I understand that the author was trying to emphasize what the character was feeling, but I felt that this could have been told in a shorter way. Other than that, I highly enjoyed this book.
At the end, I found myself sighing because on how beautiful this story was. Yes, it was not the absolute best but it was still a wonderful read. I rate it:
Rebecca Lynn Talley grew up in the gorgeous seaside city of Santa Barbara, CA. She met, and married, her husband, Del, while attending Brigham Young University. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications. She currently lives in rural Colorado on a small ranch with a dog, too many cats to count, and a herd of goats. She and Del are the proud parents of ten wildly-creative, multi-talented children.
Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book, Grasshopper Pie (WindRiver 2003), a children’s chapter book, Gabby’s Secret (DuBon Publishing 2011), four novels, Heaven Scent (CFI 2008), Altared Plans (CFI 2009), The Upside of Down (CFI 2011), and Aura (DuBon Publishing 2012). She has also authored numerous children’s stories and articles for both print and online magazines.
When she isn’t writing, Rebecca loves to date her husband, play with her kids, swim in the ocean, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house. She has folded at least one million loads of laundry, baked hundreds of batches of chocolate chip cookies, and eaten 5,478 gallons of ice cream.
Thank you for you review. It was very honest and I appreciate that!
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