The bestselling authors of The Good Widow deliver a modern, suspenseful twist on Groundhog Day that asks the question: How far are you willing to go to save the life of someone you love?Dom is having a very bad day—one he literally can’t escape.When Dom bumps into Mia, his ex-fiancée whom he hasn’t seen in almost a decade, he believes they’ve been given a second chance and asks her out. When Mia … second chance and asks her out. When Mia dies tragically on their date, Dom makes a desperate wish: to be given the chance to save her life. And when he wakes the next morning to the shock that she’s alive, he thinks his wish may have been granted. But day after day, no matter what he changes about their time together, she still meets a terrible fate.
Dom frantically searches for answers to save his beloved Mia and rekindle their former love. But the further he digs, the more obsessed he becomes, making him realize that slowing down time may be the only way to see things clearly. As he’s forced to confront the truth about himself and those he’s closest to, Dom vows that he’ll watch Mia die a thousand times if it means he can save her once.
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In Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke’s new novel, HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, fate puts their hero, Dominic, in the same coffee shop as Mia—the fiancée he jilted ten years ago. He sees it as a last-chance opportunity to once again woo The One Who Got Away. The hitch: Dominic must first save Mia’s life.
Unfortunately, when given the opportunity, he fails miserably at the task. Still, Dominic gets plenty of opportunities to do so, for it seems the universe also wants him to get it right, once and for all. As in the classic movie “Ground Hog Day,” a cosmic reboot allows him to rethink the actions he takes on this fateful day.
Steinke and Fenton have thoughtfully, thoroughly, and inspiringly covered every step of Dominic’s journey. The plot doesn’t shy away from his regrets, past and present. Dominic’s would-haves and should-haves will resonate with every reader who has ever regretted a lost love, a relationship gone south, or the road not taken.
As this modern-day Dante goes through his own seven circles (or in this case, nine days) of a living hell, the reader is given plenty of opportunities to gasp, applaud, wince, and tear up at his attempts to outrun Mia’s ticking clock. And although Dominic’s driving force is to save her, the difference he makes in the lives of others—especially those of complete strangers—is what gives the book its heartfelt tenderness.
The bittersweet twist of the book’s gut-punching conclusion reminds us that only our acts of love, random or deliberate, pay tribute to that which we hold most precious: life.
It is a sign of a good book if I am interested from page one on a genre that I am not normally interested in, magical realism. I have found I am liking it more and more and this book solidified that thought. I could not put this book down and only because I had to be an adult did I.
The story of Dom and Mia is tragic, to say the least, and you pretty much know what is going to happen each Thursday (Groundhog Day) but you still find yourself hoping and pleading for a better outcome.
I loved the message at the end of the book.
A quick read that will have you hooked immediately.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.
This may seem like Groundhog Day at first, but hold on to your hats! It’s much, much more. When Dom meets up with Mia ten years after they broke up, he wonders if their relationship is truly meant to be this time. IMHO, Lisa and Liz would never write a story as simple as that. This one has more twists and turns than you can imagine! With every one of those surprises, there’s something deeper to be learned and many questions to be asked … about second chances, love and destiny. With engaging characters you want to root for, a touch of magical realism, and an ending you won’t see coming, this is a great read!
If you’ve ever beat yourself up over the choices you’ve made and replayed the scenario over and over again in your mind, then this book is for you. I was really intrigued by the concept of living the same day over again, but the time loop is more about the awareness we gain about ourselves in the choices we make. I found myself thinking about the characters after the story had ended. Kudos to Liz and Lisa for another beautiful story!
My favorite Liz and Lisa novel yet—and this is coming from someone who’s loved all of their books. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE is a heartrending story about one man’s attempt to finally get it right with the woman he loved and let go of before realizing his mistake. The ending was bittersweet and nothing like I expected, which made the story even more compelling. Highly recommended for fans of page-turning love stories.
Flawless and irresistible, profoundly moving and endlessly emotional. How To Save A Life is a truly unique and beautiful reimagining of Groundhog Day, asking if life and death are preordained, if our destiny is predetermined, and if some lives are meant to be saved. A poignant, bittersweet and yet ultimately uplifting story, I loved it!
This isn’t my usual genre but I really liked this. I admit to rolling my eyes at the premise (groundhog day anyone?) But this book wasn’t about that. Regret, love and the impact on other people. Wonderfully complex, great characters. Give this one a go.
I don’t know if I’ve been in a foul mood lately or if I’m truly just reading mediocre books, but the last few books I’ve read were pretty disappointing.
‘How To Save A Life’ follows Dominic as he’s living out his own personal Groundhog Day. Day after day he tries to save Mia, the supposed love of his life, from continually dying.
Couple issues I had with Dom and Mia…
The main issue was that I didn’t particularly like either of them and I just didn’t buy into their great love. Dom is a GROWN MAN. He chickened out on their wedding because he was young and afraid. Ok…I get that. But then he never moved on! He tried half-assidly to get Mia back right away, then sulked for TEN YEARS, and never found anyone else who could hold a candle to the woman he so easily walked away from.
TEN. YEARS.
It’s actually quite pathetic and I just couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for him about a situation he himself created. They still followed each other on Facebook! At any time in the past 10 years, he could have reconnected with her, but no. Dom was weak, and that irritated me.
Also, I really didn’t see how the two were compatible. Dom is safe and cautious and loves routine. Mia is flighty and has absolutely no regard for her own personal safety and is sometimes downright reckless. I can’t tell you how many times Dom had to force himself out of his own comfort zone to try and please Mia, and that really pissed me off. NO ONE should EVER try to change themselves to please someone else. They obviously weren’t meant to be, but Dom was so stubborn and caught up in a mistake he made ten years ago that he couldn’t see past her. It was incredibly frustrating.
As for the ending, I expected some of it (the reason why Mia came back seemed a little too convenient and I didn’t love it, but ok). I would have liked to of seen Amanda play more of a role. She’s obviously important, but she’s continuously overlooked by Dom’s obsession with Mia. She does play a part at the end (and I mean the VERY end), but it would have been nice to see a little more time devoted to that plotline.
Overall, while the book was engaging enough to keep me reading, I really didn’t love it. This is my 5th book by these ladies and while I’ll continue to read their work, this was definitely not a favorite of mine.
Thank you Netgalley, Amazon Publishing, and the authors for a gifted eARC of this book. This review is my own opinion.
5/5 Stars
1/5 Steam Rating
When I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I wanted it o read it! A groundhogs day type of romance where the main character is trying to prevent the death of his long lost love? Sold, count me in! Thankfully, this book lived up to my expectations!
It’s so rare to find a well written romance where the main character is a male, so I was pleasantly surprised that this didn’t have multiple POVs. How To Save A Life is told solely through Dom’s perspective as he tries desperately to save Mia’s life. I thought that the characters & storyline were well thought out and developed, and that although we relived the same events over and over, the story was set at a great pace to keep you engaged throughout the repetitiveness.
While some things about this were quite predictable (I mean he is living the same events over every day), I was still surprised along the way. During the first part of the book I felt a bit anxious waiting for that trap door to open, you know Mia will die but I was on pins and needles waiting to figure out HOW she would. Then as we got further into the story, I started to feel anxious for Dom and what his future would hold if he did make it to Friday with some of the situations he got himself into.
What a beautiful story, I really wasn’t expecting this journey, I kept reading and seeing this book everywhere but I didn’t want to read any reviews or the blurb to enjoy the journey even more.
This book is magical, it is full of hope and a lot of love, it is the story of Dom a character that keeps living the same day over and over again, without having the ending he will envision or even want, he keeps living the same situations over and over, different scenarios but same characters, a character that is the love of his life.
Dom is trying to save the day, he doesn’t want to have that ending so he keeps trying to modify or do something that will keep everything working for him and Mia, he knows he made a mistake and he doesn’t want to lose her all over again, but everything feels and seems so out of place, so surreal he really doesn’t know what is happening to him and why this awkward situation keeps repeating every day, he wants to keep her but life has another plan for them.
How To Save A Life was a story that left me with a message, that not everything is in our hands, that life has a funny way to teach us that not everything we want will play as we wish for, that maybe we’re so blinded by situations that we really don’t see the real reason of why we have to go through that or even to see the real love of our lives.
The secondary characters were great, adding more depth to the main characters and the story.
This was an amazing ride, that I enjoyed so much, it was a perfect read, it was not heavy, not light, it had the right amount of love, and situations that will keep us so hooked at all times.
How To Save A Life is one of those books that you know you will enjoy always no matter how many times you re-read it, it is always joyful.
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This is the first book I have read from this duo. The cover is very beautiful, and plays a pivotal role in the story. Thank you @kccpr for the gifted copy.
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: This book was nothing short of amazing. We follow Dom who was having a very bad day, one he literally cannot escape. He runs into his ex-fiancé whom he hasn’t seen in a decade. He thought they’d been given a second chance and asked her out. This book completely wrecked my heart. I cried upwards of 8 times while reading this book. The romance was amazing. It is very reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day. Such a heartbreaking story, written in a way where you will love the characters in a way you haven’t done before. The ending broke me down in a way no book has done before. I cried while reading this heartfelt story that will definitely shed light on how you live your life every single day. This book has made me really think about how short life is, and how I need to really appreciate the little things that happen each day. I highly recommend this book to everyone!!!!
Dominic messed up 10 years ago and broke off his engagement with Mia, and he’s never gotten over her. A chance meeting, and he jumps at the opportunity for a second chance. That’s as much as I will tell you about this one because I don’t want to say too much. I will say this: HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is a book not to be missed. This is their twist on a Groundhog Day, and it works. I agree with someone else that said you should go into this one blind: I did, and it made things so much more intensely emotional. I recommend you pick this one up but be prepared for the roller coaster of emotions. My heart broke for Dom as he navigated his days trying to make the choices that would change the outcome and move him to the next day.
Fenton and Steinke write this story as a team and it comes together seamlessly. There is no distinction between the parts that each writes which continues to impress me. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE is an emotional, thought-provoking, and interesting twist that will stick with you long after you finish.
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
#HOWTOSAVEALIFE #LIZFENTON #LISASTEINKE #LAKEUNIONPUBLISHING
How to Save a Life may only be the second book I’ve read from Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke but it did not disappoint! It is definitely reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day, and it has such a unique and fresh storyline for a book. It was a little heartbreaking to watch Dom lose Mia over and over again everyday but the progress he made as a character throughout the book was great and I’m giving this one an A for character development as far as Dom goes.
The book and audiobook are both currently on Kindle Unlimited, so I decided to do the audio and I was very impressed. The narrator is Timothy Andrés Pabon and I thought he did a great job voicing Dom and the book as a whole, so I would definitely recommend checking it out if you like audio. I thought the pacing was good, and I listened to it in basically one day which I think would have also applied if I had read the physical copy. The storyline was engaging, and I spent a lot of time wondering how things would end. There is a reveal at the end of the book that I was shocked by and even though I didn’t shed any tears, I was dang close to it.
How to Save a Life goes deeper than just magical realism and romance and would be a great book to go into blind. It’s full of both serious and funny moments, and even had some suspense although it’s not exactly a mystery. Overall I was very impressed by this book and highly recommend it!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.
HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton delivers a fantastic contemporary romance immersed on a creative take of a “Groundhog Day” plot, in which our main protagonist, Dominic “Dom” a 34 yo journalist living in San Diego, relives his tragic day over and over again.
I love that Lisa and Liz chose to write about Dom, a man instead of a woman in this story as their main character, and I loved how well his character was written – he is a mama’s boy, a creature of habit, doesn’t take any risks, works as a local television show producer who works with his best friend Lance, and who had been living with regret for the past ten years after breaking off an engagement with the love of his life, Mia.
A sudden chance meeting set up by the gods of Fate, while Dom is waiting for a source for his story in a coffee shop, Dom runs into Mia who is back from Illinois after ten years. The story is uplifting, heartwarming, lots of great subplot within the story, and the book read like a Hollywood movie – and what a great movie that would be. It was such a great story that when I started, literally read through in a sitting – it was that amazing!
A book that starts with the line “This bulge in my pants is making me sweat” is one that I want to read so I was excited to dive into How To Save a Life by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke.
Dom, a TV news producer, is scheduled to meet a source when he unexpectedly bumps into Mia, the fiancée he dumped 10 years earlier and has regretted leaving ever since. They go out on a date which ends with her tragic death and Dom wakes up the next morning (and the mornings after) to find he has to relive that awful day. He knows he has to try to save her life but how?
I love the movie Groundhog’s Day and the idea of whether you can change someone’s destiny is really interesting to me but I had a hard time getting invested in Dom and Mia’s relationship. The book is told from Dom’s POV and I didn’t find him the most relatable or likable guy. Mia isn’t very fleshed out either – we know she’s a risk-taker and a free-spirit but not much more – and I spent a lot of time wondering what she saw in her overly cautious and somewhat selfish ex. I did like some of the secondary characters like Amanda and Chuck and there are lots of twists to the story that are revealed each day Dom does over but reliving the same day so many times started to get repetitive after a while. I guessed why he was stuck in the loop and what would happen to Mia pretty early on but the ending was still emotional to read.
I don’t know how I’d categorize this book – Romance? Suspense? Maybe it’s men’s fiction? – but it’s a unique story that’s great for the beach or pool. But be warned – it will definitely get The Fray song stuck in your head!
3.75 stars
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley and the authors for a digital copy of the novel.
Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke do so many things well in this book. They have a hero you root for from the start. Dom may frustrate you, and you may want to grab him by the shoulders and shout at him, but you’re on his side. When he runs into Mia, his ex-fiancée, his happiness makes you just as overjoyed.
Dom is also relatable. A decade has passed since his relationship with Mia ended, and he feels desperate to impress her. Part of that is proving that he’s changed, not in a way that helps him, but rather in a way that pleases her. You know this is a mistake, but Fenton and Steinke invest you surely and acutely in Dom, and you find yourself holding your breath to see if he’s successful.
When things don’t turn out and Dom finds himself in a loop, repeating the day he runs into Mia over and over again, it gives you–and him–a chance to slow down and dig deeper into Mia, as well as Dom’s roommate, parents, a homeless man, and a woman Dom saves from certain doom. The more you find out, the more you wonder: how many lives will Dom save?
Elements of this book might frustrate you, though. The pacing is inconsistent, and there is a subplot that feels a little too contrived. Yet you keep turning the pages, desperate to find out what will happen when Dom finally escapes that loop.
Let me know what you think of this one. What did you like about it? Were you frustrated in any parts?
4.5/5 Stars
These two….are not afraid to think outside the box, Take a risk. I want to be friends with them! Fan girl all the way. Another fun ride thru this book. This time, the movie doppelgänger is Groundhog Day.
Dom is madly in love with Mia, but ends up running scared and braking off their engagement. After 10 years, he still can’t get her out of his head, when a chance encounter brings them back in each other lives. What starts as a best day turns into a worse day, again and again and again. While the reliving of the day changes somewhat, it does get a little repetitious. But, I loved the development of Dom, as a person. Also the relationships of Mia and her various friends. While this book played out exactly as I expected, I still enjoyed the character development.
Thanks to Ms. Fenton and Steinke, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
OMG! This book drained me emotionally! But in a good way. How is that even possible?
Dom is in a weird Groundhog Day loop, having to relive the day that his ex-fiancée dies. The very first time that it happened, I was devastated. And then shocked that Dom, and I, had to do it all again. Each day, he tries to change what he does and how he reacts to the events in his life, hoping for a better outcome. And each day he, and I, are destroyed.
How to Save a Life is a unique story, unlike any that I have ever read. Even though it was heartbreaking to witness Mia dying day after day, I wouldn’t have missed this one for the world. Liz and Lisa continually create amazing stories that knock my socks off. You definitley need to add this one to your reading list!
Groundhog Day Meets Final Destination. This was an interesting take on the time loop/ premonition concept of those two franchises in that as more of a women’s fiction take (and book form to boot), we get a more drama-based view of the idea rather than comedic or thriller based. The first time Mia dies is gut-wrenching, and the final pages of the book get back to that in their own way, but in between we get a view of her dying so many times it has an effect akin to the multiple-death montage of Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow/ Live Die Repeat. So obviously with so many pop culture references here (maybe I could even throw in another one in that I kept thinking early on that this would be a Family Man-esque “glimpse” scenario), I thoroughly enjoy this particular trope, and Fenton and Steinkle did it true justice in this book. One of the better executed takes on it I’ve ever seen, perhaps because of the nature of the medium we’re able to get inside the main character’s head a bit more explicitly, Very much recommended.
Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “How to Save a Life” by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, Amazon Publishing, July 14, 2020
Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, authors of “How to Save A Life” have written a suspenseful, emotional, entertaining, and thought-provoking novel. The genres for this novel are fiction, women’s fiction, suspense, romance, and a dash of fantasy. The timeline for this story spans over a decade and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the characters or events. The authors describe the colorful and dramatic characters as complex and complicated. This is sort of a 2020 version of the movie “Groundhog Day”, when the character wakes up repeatedly to the same song every day, with certain details being the same as the day before.
I love the way both Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke vividly describe the characters and events. Dom is surprised to see his ex-fiance, Mia, after 10 years, and feels that perhaps this is a sign that they can get back together. Dom had given Mia a ring, then changed his mind about getting married. Mia was heart-broken, and Dom has felt that Mia was the only special love that he let getaway. He asks her out on a date.
That day certain things happen that Dom will remember. Dom and Mia’s date seems to be going well when something tragic happens and Mia dies. Dom is distraught and finds himself being woken up by a certain musical tune. He finds out that Mia didn’t die, and they can go out again. Mia is a risk-taker and Dom likes things to be the same. This happens again and again and Dom is aware that he can make certain things better for some people. Can Dom figure out a way to keep Mia safe and alive? Can love be strong enough to save someone?
I highly recommend this memorable and wonderful novel for readers.