She’s a strait-laced, inhibited career woman. He’s an aging hippie who acts without thinking. What could they possibly have in common?
Fran Reilly has hidden a secret sorrow for the past thirty years. But turning fifty and losing her mother forces her to re-evaluate her future. Returning to her home in Granite Springs, she’s determined to make changes to her well-ordered life. However there are … her well-ordered life. However there are more changes in store than she could ever have imagined.
When Owen Larsen applies for the position as Head of the new School of Music and Drama at the university in Granite Springs, his only concern is to leave the rat race of Sydney and find a more peaceful existence in the country.
Owen is the exact opposite of everything in Fran’s well-ordered world and reminds her of a past she has been at pains to forget. And Owen’s country idyll isn’t proving to be as peaceful as he imagined.
Can these two opposites find common ground and is there a future for them in Granite Springs?
The Life She Wants is the third book in the Granite Springs series set in a small Australian country town.
If you enjoy heartwarming second chance tales of love in later life, you’ll love this book. Download The Life She Wants today,
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I do love visiting Granite Springs, this fabulous small town in New South Wales, there are such lovely people living here and catching up with friends is always fun, this time we see Fran Reilly long -time resident of Granite Springs meet the man who will steal her heart, help her see how good life can be, I hope you will come along for the journey.
Fran has lived here for many years after an accident changed her life and she decided to stay, she has always felt comfortable here, but closely held her secrets, she has a good job as PA at the university, but when she has to dash back to England to care for her very ill mother on her return she decides that making a change in her life is what she needs to do and into her life walks her new boss Owen Larson.
Owen has applied for a new job as the head of Music and Drama at the Granite Springs University, this will be a big change for Owen who has always lived in the city, but he has been divorced for many years and his daughter is an adult in her own relationship so time for a change. He is thrilled to get the position and decides that living on acreage is what he wants, this is done when he gets to house sit for six months he meets lots of new people who become friends and he is very drawn to his new PA, Fran and really wants to get to know her better.
MS Christensen really knows how to bring her characters to life, they are very easy to become friends with to feel their emotions and to be cheering them on, feeling their joy and their ups and downs. Fran and Owen are so very different but very attracted to each other, it is not long before Fran is opening up like she has never done before and to see their love grow had me turning the pages. It was lovely catching up with Jo and Col and Nick and Kay in this visit and I am really looking forward to more stories set in this fabulous town where mature people find their soul mates and the happiness that they all deserve, thank you MS Christensen for another keeper. I do highly recommend this story and the series.
Can Fran stop fixating on a tragic past she can’t change?
I really took to this slight departure from Maggie Christensen’s typical story about mature women splitting their energy between their family and new prospects for love. Fran, the heroine here, is a mature single woman who is still mired in the devastation of losing her youthful love, their unborn child and the possibility of ever having children.
Christensen’s picture of a woman drifting through an anesthetized life to prevent more hurt is moving, as is the way Fran faces her fears and starts cultivating new friendships and letting a new, vibrant man in her life after an extended trip to her native England. That’s not to say family woes don’t crop up as Owen, Fran’s new boss, is divorced with a grown daughter with issues and annoyingly persistent ex.
I really get caught up in these interconnected stories about the over fifties living in small-town Granite Springs. The main characters of the two previous Granite Springs novels are back in supporting roles, but they fit seamlessly into Fran’s standalone story which can easily be read without reference to the prior books. A bush fire provides a realistic, dramatic and timely touch, leaving some scars in the community, but it does not dominate the story.
An enjoyable and thoughtful novel from one of my favorite authors of women’s fiction. The Australian setting makes it that much better in my book!
Finding Love at Fifty
This is a sweet and clean piece of Women’s Literature that was a joy to read. The story has some very deep aspects that all of the characters need to contemplate. The story is quite believable. The many characters are so alike many people of my acquaintance. As an older reader I can relate to much of the story. I received this ARC from the author for free. This is my honest review.