Love the One You're With

Ever since I got my Kindle, I have been a reading machine... I honestly forgot how much I loved reading books, until I started back up again. Ever since college, and through grad school I have developed this horrible habit of making myself feel guilty for reading anything other than a textbook. Well, it's my summer vacation - and I am going to read! The Kindle was one of the better investments that I have made - lots of free or low-cost books, and thanks to the amazing Amazon.com textbook trade-in program - I have myself a nice gift card balance to spend on my "splurge" $9.99 books!

I just finished reading Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin - the same author that wrote Something Borrowed. The book really resonated with me - it is all about "the one that got away." I would venture a guess that almost everyone has an ex that when you think about them, you think "what if?" That's basically the general theme of this book, although most of us don't have the opportunity to find out "what if?" Which is probably for the best... but fate sometimes takes us down a different road than expected.

Ellen is married to Andy, her best friend's brother, and has a chance encounter in NYC with "the ex," Leo. The rest of the novel explores Ellen's emotional battle: love the one I am with, or explore the possibility of that "what if?" idea and risk ruining an (almost) perfect marriage. I also appreciate the author throwing in a Newell Rubbermaid product reference or two in her books, as she has some personal ties to the company. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good chick lit novel, but appreciates a story that is not always so neat and tidy. I don't want to give anything away for those of you who haven't read the book... but I was satisfied with the storytelling and how the plot moved along as well as the ending. I definitely empathized with Ellen and her struggle - I only hope to be as lucky in love as Ellen - struggles and all. Besides, nothing in life that's worth having ever comes easy... this book stands firm to that philosophy.

Next in the queue, Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close, which just came out today. Expect a review on this in the next few weeks. I plan to start this one tonight :)