Elizabeth Carlson is living in the pits of hell- also known as grief.
Her husband of eight years, the father of her four children and the love of her life, died from cancer. Grady’s prognosis was grim, even from the start, but Liz never gave up hope he would survive. How could she, when he was everything to her?
Six months later, she is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and … shattered life and get the kids to school on time. Both seem impossible. Everything seems impossible these days.
When Ben Tyler moves in next door, she is drowning in sorrow and pain, her children are acting out, and the house is falling apart. She has no time for curious new friends or unwanted help, but Ben gives her both. And he doesn’t just want to help her with yard work or cleaning the gutters. Ben wants more from Liz. More than she’s capable of ever giving again.
As Liz mourns her dead husband and works her way through the five stages of grief, she finds there’s more of her heart to give than she thought possible. And as new love takes hold, she peels away the guilt and heartache, and discovers there’s more to life than death.
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Keep your box of tissues beside you for this one. You will need the first one by the end of the prologue. A woman in her early 30s with 4 kids becomes a widow. She was desperately in love with her husband. Beautifully written, the author truly makes you feel everything this person feels. A long time later she meets a wonderful man who loves her and her 4 kids. But won’t let herself return his love for fear of betraying her dead husband. I seem to be reading a lot of tear jerkers lately, lol, and this one is a biggie.
The Five Stages of Falling in Love is one of those books that will stick with you. From the beginning I felt Liz’s heartbreak and pain. After the loss of her partner and soulmate, she is left to raise her four young children on her own. She does her best to hold things to together and provide some sort of normalcy for her children while she is drowning in her own grief, anger and resentment. She loves and misses her husband on a daily basis and gives up on the possibility of love. When Ben moves in next door, she is a hot mess just taking one day at a time. Ben was everything! He never made any excuses for Liz. He saw how she was struggling, but did his best to support her without enabling her. Liz felt Ben’s strength, but could not see past her own broken heart and broken dreams and pushes him away.
This story was so touching and moving. All that Liz went through, every emotion, every stage, was so real and raw. Ben taught her that it is all right to fall. He proved to her that true love doesn’t die, but the love and light we carry in our hearts is endless.
I have thought about what i was going to write while I was reading and I’m still trying to put all these thoughts into coherent words.
I am going to start with my ratings:
Tears:
Feels:
Okay, let me explain how I came across TFSOFIL…a girlfriend was reading this on the plane to a book convention. I was worried about her because she was crying…discretely. I knew at that point I needed to read this book!!
Fast forward one year, I was in a Book funk and said “why not”! Download and start reading……
Tears….that’s what I experienced….in the prologue!!! The strength that Liz had….let me say that Grady was amazing! How he was able to take care of his family even when he knew the inevitable was going to happen…that is love!
I cried more…..actually I cried a lot!!! Liz and her children gave me all the feels! You as the reader could easily been Liz, you could have crawled into the pages and be her….that’s how amazing and beautiful the writing was.
The addition of Ben to Liz and the children’s lives was exactly what they all needed. I was pulling for him! He was the man that was going to help Liz love and live again.
Thank you Ms. Higginson for bringing these characters to life for me.
I will leave you with one my favorite quotes:
“Our feelings for each didn’t start as a seed, they started as an ocean”
I have thought about what i was going to write while I was reading and I’m still trying to put all these thoughts into coherent words.
I am going to start with my ratings:
Tears:
Feels:
Okay, let me explain how I came across TFSOFIL…a girlfriend was reading this on the plane to a book convention. I was worried about her because she was crying…discretely. I knew at that point I needed to read this book!!
Fast forward one year, I was in a Book funk and said “why not”! Download and start reading……
Tears….that’s what I experienced….in the prologue!!! The strength that Liz had….let me say that Grady was amazing! How he was able to take care of his family even when he knew the inevitable was going to happen…that is love!
I cried more…..actually I cried a lot!!! Liz and her children gave me all the feels! You as the reader could easily been Liz, you could have crawled into the pages and be her….that’s how amazing and beautiful the writing was.
The addition of Ben to Liz and the children’s lives was exactly what they all needed. I was pulling for him! He was the man that was going to help Liz love and live again.
Thank you Ms. Higginson for bringing these characters to life for me.
I will leave you with one my favorite quotes:
“Our feelings for each didn’t start as a seed, they started as an ocean”
Reviewed by: Dana D.
I read this book without reading the description, because I had won it in a giveaway and heard so many great things about it. Needless to say, I was shocked when Liz’s husband died in the prologue. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even finished one chapter and I was already reaching for a tissue.
Higginson perfectly portrays the complexity and desperation behind the grief of losing someone you love and can’t imagine living without. The pain and darkness caused by Grady’s death was immense and tore at Liz and everyone else he touched. Higginson writes with such emotion and depth that I felt all of Liz’s pain, anger, and guilt over Grady. I was a blubbering mess throughout this entire book and I probably should have bought stock in tissues before I even opened my Kindle to start Liz’s story.
Ben was a God send and such an attractive man inside and out. Ben brought light and laughter and hope to Liz’s story. I don’t think I could have made it through the book if it wasn’t for the happy moments with Ben. I would have been too sad for Liz, the kids, Katherine, and Trevor to keep reading.
What a beautiful and heartfelt book. I truly enjoyed reading it and I am looking forward to reading more books from this author. I definitely recommend this story and this author.