I had a perfect life.The loving husband, the sweet little boy, I even had the white picket fence.If someone took a picture of my family, I’d be the epitome of what they envisioned for themselves. I’d smile for the camera, laugh when it was appropriate and carried on with my life like there wasn’t anything wrong.I was happy.But it was all a lie. Everything I knew or believed was a lie. I wasn’t … knew or believed was a lie. I wasn’t happy. I was broken despite having everything anyone could ever want. I’d lay awake imagining a world where it would all vanish. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel so alone.
To the outside world, I had the perfect life.
But inside all I had were fragments of what I used to be.
A loving husband, a sweet little boy, and a white picket fence.
My life was perfect.
But it was all a lie.
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A heartbreaking and tearful story. A must read.
WOW! I was very impressed with this book, and not only because it made me a snotty mess. The story could be anyone’s and that’s why it touched me so deeply. It was the ugly truth of life and I connected with the characters on a level that’s very rare for me with book characters, but I know what it meant to be stuck in a vicious circle without knowing how to break out of it.
The Story:
Stephanie had the perfect husband and with their precious baby her life was complete. But somewhere it all went downhill and she led a lonely life despite having her husband and son. From the outside her family seemed like a picture perfect dream but does anyone beside herself even really know how it looks inside her head and heart?!
Thoughts:
I could talk about this book all day long but it would be hard not to give anything away. So I try to keep it short and spoiler free.
This story was a heavy read in many ways but also a process about dealing with the sad and tough parts in life. I cried a lot, and often unexpectedly. There were many moments or scenes that most are familiar with in their lives and some brought my own memories to the forefront of my mind. There was a scene or two were the romance got physical aka hot and heavy but the majority of the story was on a very emotional level. (At least for me because I’m very sensitive and prone to tears.)
This book touched me on so many levels not only because it was beautifully written and a heartbreaking story but also because I could relate to so much that was mentally going on in Steph, past and present.
I loved how the book was constructed with past and present woven into each other. As with the other books I’ve read from this author, I think that she really has a good hand on how to perfectly mix the two times together. Although it was told early on what’s going to happen in the end, the journey to go there revealed so much more and still didn’t prepare me for how the ending hit me, even though I knew the outcome. I was so emotionally invested in this story that I cried almost through the entire book.
Stephanie was crumbling under the weight of her breaking marriage and it broke my heart piece by piece apart to see her struggling alone with so many things. The hardest part was to learn that she wouldn’t have needed to struggle alone if she had only reached out for help sooner. Everything else that followed was even harder to read but I was glad that she eventually found her silver lining.
I loved all the characters, even Sue, because no matter how cruel she was at times, I truly understood and felt the pain she was suffering. Luke just might have been a godsend because he was such a great human being, very determined and stubborn when he wanted something but also a very sweet, selfless and caring man. AJ was a smart and very clever boy, he really came after his dad. Bruce was as stuck as Stephanie was in their vicious circle, so, although I tried to blame him at first for what was going on, I couldn’t after I knew the whole story. I liked Bruce a lot and I wished I could have made things un-happen for him.
The Perfect Life broke my heart again and again. It had my eyes tearing up anew every time they started to dry up. When you are prepared for an ugly cry story that will have your heart aching, then please read this beautifully heartbreaking story. I highly recommend it.
You need a box of kleenex before reading this book. Can a marriage be perfect? Everything was beautiful, loving and rainbow sunshine until the black cloud had started to roam in… The Perfect life had touched me to the core.. some chapters had sent me to the spiral down emotional … How can such words made me cried so hard? Because some women felt like Steph did.. I did to a certain degree.. Anger and frustratation..
I am happy that Callie wrote the story with softness, sensitivity and emotions. This book was deep into a struggle of woman who seek for her identity. You are the only one who can find your happiness..Its starts from you and end with everyone…
I had been anxiously awaiting for another beautiful story by none other than this wonderful author, Callie Anderson.
I will lie if I say I haven’t been dying to read more from her. I absolutely fell in love with her previous books and I knew that this was going to be no different.
We meet Stephanie, a woman who is going through post-partum depression and in the process, she feels like her husband doesn’t love her anymore. She’s the type of woman who needs physical affection and she wasn’t receiving it from her husband. She thought she had the perfect life, the perfect family and the perfect house, but she felt redundant when it came to her husband.
Stephanie lives with regret and she can’t seem to shake that. She feels unworthy and that she doesn’t deserve happiness. She can’t seem to let go of the past and move forward. She loved her husband dearly, but she felt like he just didn’t feel the same for her and just couldn’t shake what those emotions did to her.
When Stephanie meets the wonderful doctor Luke Dixon, she starts to feel those little butterflies again, but she continues to push him away because she feels like she can’t trust to love another person ever again. Her number one priority is her son AJ, but she soon will realize that she needs to continue with her life and in order to do so, she needs to forgive herself and move on. She needs to open up her doors wide open and let another in.
The title to this story fits it perfectly. You will be sucked in the moment you start to finish.
Callie Anderson has done it again, she delivered an emotional, riveting and breathtaking story that will live for a while in your heart.
The perfect life always seems appealing from the outside, but what if that façade is nothing more than an act to get through the day? Stephanie had a life that anyone would be envious of, but none of it was fulfilling. While Stephanie should be enjoying motherhood, she was dreading each moment that she endured life with her husband. Then a tragedy altered the course of her life.
One moment drove Stephanie to despair, causing the mother to flee the place she called home for so many years. With her soul in tattered shreds, Stephanie finds herself moving every year and starting over time and again. Four years pass faster than Stephanie could imagine. The time arrived to head home to Savannah to pick up the pieces of the life that this mother once called ‘home’.
Raising her son is the most important thing in Stephanie’s life, the ups and downs of raising a child a constant worry to the single mother. A childhood mishap lands the two in the ER. That event would set in motion the entrance of Dr. Luke into the lives of Stephanie and her son. Dr. Luke is patient and kind, but determined to let Stephanie lead their pending romance, a man that anyone would adore, but Stephanie is still cautious. Luke is the one person that finally worked his way through the walls around Stephanie’s heart. Then one moment alters everything…..a revelation that changes the events that led Stephanie to flee all those years ago.
The Perfect Life is a non-traditional romance by author Callie Anderson. It is the type of story that you want to dive head first into, uncovering the events that give us a second chance romance unlike any other. The main character – Stephanie – possesses the ‘secret’ thoughts many women face when becoming a mother, a realistic view that life after marriage and a baby isn’t always sunshine and roses.
While I was intrigued by the plot of this story, I found it not as fulfilling as I had hoped. There were so many parts of this tale that were repetitive and not fleshed out to the fullest. The ‘meat and potatoes’ of the plot were amazing; the execution just didn’t pan out as easily. While I found myself whole-heartedly invested in the promise of a new beginning for Stephanie and her son, the story lacked the ability to hold my attention as a reader.
There is a flip-flop throughout the story from past to present that oftentimes fails to clarify points in the story at the right moments. The history is there, but the execution wasn’t always timed at the right moments, leaving a lot of repetitive thoughts in the first quarter of the book. There are choices that Stephanie makes that some may not agree with in this sordid tale, but they would have been more effective with more details. I think the intent was there, but not the believability. More often than not, the story felt rushed towards an ending.
While I have adored the writing of Callie Anderson in the past, this novel just didn’t live up to the expectations that I have in regards to the author’s writing in her backlist. When I find myself skimming during what should be the climax of a story….well….it tends to speak for itself. Although this book didn’t stand up to my scrutiny, I will continue to check out the musings from Anderson. Hopefully – the next novel will be of the caliber that her first books exuded.