That's Not a Thing

February 24, 2020
This tender, introspective romance from Friedland (Trouble the Water) hangs on the difficult choice between new and old lovers. Junior lawyer Meredith Altman is happily engaged to pediatric surgeon Aaron Rapp when, while contemplating wedding venues in New York City, she runs into her ex-fiancé, Wesley Latner. Their encounter triggers romantic memories of the life they dreamed of having before their wedding was upended by personal tragedy. Meredith’s emotions are further muddled when Wesley tells her he’s been diagnosed with ALS. As Meredith struggles to understand her feelings for both men, she also begins to doubt her unfulfilling role in the corporate world and questions what she really wants from life. Friedland teases readers with Meredith’s choice between partners, managing to make her indecision and self-doubt both humorous and endearing. Hints about the actual reason Wesley and Meredith broke up in the first place will keep readers turning the pages. Friedland’s treatment of Wesley’s ALS is duly respectful and well done, and Meredith’s desire to care for him is palpable. Fans of sensitively handled love triangles should snap this one up.

March 1, 2020

In Friedland's second novel (after Trouble the Water), the future of her protagonist, Meredith Altman, could hardly look brighter. The Columbia grad and high-caliber junior lawyer is living in Manhattan and engaged to pediatric neurosurgeon Aaron Rapp, who also happens to be a kind and sexy hunk. Meredith is convinced she is over her college boyfriend, Wesley Latner, to whom she had also been engaged until tragedy intervened and split them apart. She hasn't seen him in years when she unknowingly books a reservation at the hip new restaurant he started in TriBeCa. She's shocked to see him and even more so by her reaction to him. After he tells her he is gravely ill, things get complicated as Meredith and Aaron try to do the right thing by helping Wesley, and Meredith tries to decide who she truly wants to be and the man she wants to be with. VERDICT This new adult story with real-life trials, tragedies, and struggles features bromidic characters who don't derail a complex plot. Fans of Jojo Moyes and Jennifer Weiner should enjoy.--Nancy H. Fontaine, Norwich P.L., VT

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

An open-hearted lawyer is forced to choose between her fiance and her dying ex in Friedland's (Trouble the Water, 2018) novel about love and forgiveness. Meredith Altman is a successful Jewish attorney living in Manhattan and planning a wedding to handsome Aaron Rapp, a pediatric surgeon. However, in 2017, a celebratory dinner with friends changes everything: The Tribeca restaurant's chef and owner is Wesley Latner, Meredith's ex-fiance, whom she hasn't seen in five years. Old feelings resurface in the form of flashbacks to their young love and Wesley's unwavering support for Meredith's tenuous family situation, which had her parents on the verge of divorce before her mother's cancer diagnosis. Years later, to escape from the stress of the plans for their son's wedding, Wesley's parents set out on a vacation and were killed in a plane crash, causing a grief-stricken Wesley to blame Meredith for their deaths before he moved to London. Now that she's engaged to another man, Meredith seeks closure before Wesley drops a bomb: He's been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS, and his body is rapidly deteriorating. Without consulting Aaron, Meredith invites Wesley to move into the apartment they share, and one intimate moment between Meredith and Wesley threatens Meredith's relationship with her fiance as well as her sense of self. Can Aaron forgive Meredith for her slip, or is the dying Wesley the one Meredith was meant to be with all along? Friedland's sharp prose and plotting make Meredith's dilemma a relatable one: The pull between past and present can be difficult even when a debilitating illness isn't part of the mix. But Friedland keeps the reader guessing about what Meredith will do--not only about her romantic partners, but also about her career as a lawyer who caters mainly to big tobacco companies. Unfortunately, the development of Meredith's character often gets lost as she seeks to care for others: her parents, her future in-laws, the former and current men in her life. Though her do-gooder spirit is firmly established, not much else of Meredith's personality is. A complex and compelling romance with an underdeveloped heroine.

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March 1, 2020
Meredith didn't think that dinner at the trendiest new Tribeca hotspot would end quite like this. Meant to celebrate Meredith's engagement to handsome neonatologist Aaron, the dinner is winding down when the restaurant's chef approaches their table. Meredith can barely look at Wesley, the man she almost married years before, and Wesley, now a superstar chef, is just as surprised to see her. After realizing that she's not truly over Wesley, Meredith must decide how she wants her future to look. Alternating her story between Meredith's current relationship with Aaron and the start of her collegiate love affair with Wesley, Friedland immerses readers in Meredith's conflicting emotions. Far from the cotton-candy perfection of some romantic novels, this is grounded with darker elements, including subplots on the heartbreaking symptoms of ALS, survivor's guilt, and the ever-present worry over a parent with cancer. Exploring the messy concept of closure, this is a charmingly witty novel that fans of Emily Belden's Hot Mess (2019) and J. Ryan Stradal's The Lager Queen of Minnesota (2019) will eat up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)