After I Do

May 15, 2014
An unhappily married couple spends a year apart in Reid's (Forever, Interrupted, 2013) novel about second chances.When we meet Lauren, she and her husband, Ryan, are having a meltdown trying to find their car in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium after a game. Through a series of flashbacks, Lauren reveals how the two of them went from being inseparable to being insufferable in each other's eyes-and in desperate need of a break. Both their courtship and their fights seem so ordinary-they met in college; he doesn't like Greek food-that the most heartbreaking part of their pending separation is deciding who will get custody of their good-natured dog. It's not until Ryan moves out that the juicy details emerge. Lauren surreptitiously logs into his email one day, in a fit of missing him, and discovers a bunch of emails to her that he had saved but not sent. Liberated by Ryan's candor, Lauren saves her replies for him to find, and the two of them read each other's unfiltered thoughts as they go about their separate lives. Neither character holds anything back, which makes the healing process more complex, and more compelling, than simply getting revenge or getting one's groove back. Meanwhile, as Lauren spends more time with her family and friends, she explores the example set for her by her parents and learns that there are many ways to be happy. It's never clear until the final pages whether living alone will bring Lauren and Ryan back together or force them apart forever. But when the year is up, the resolution is neither sappy nor cynical; it's arrived at after an honest assessment of what each partner can't live with and can't live without.Reid's tome on married life is as uplifting as it is brutally honest-a must-read for anyone who is in (or hopes to be in) a committed relationship.

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March 15, 2014
It all started out so well for Lauren Spencer and Ryan Cooperan all-consuming college romance, a perfectly imperfect proposal, a lovely wedding, and a rustic honeymoon. Now, almost 10 years later, Lauren and Ryan find themselves rehashing the same arguments with increasing vehemence. In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Lauren and Ryan decide to take a yearlong break from each other, abstain from all communication, and figure out how they'd like to move forward. Once Ryan moves out, Lauren spends the next year learning more about herself, her marriage, and the foundations of good relationships than she ever imagined. Reid's second novel (after Forever, Interrupted, 2013) contrasts the heady bliss of courtship with the smothering familiarity of a long-term partnership. Written in a breezy, humorous style familiar to fans of Jane Green and Elin Hilderbrand, After I Do focuses on Lauren's journey of self-discovery. The novel's pacing is a bit slow at times, but the intriguing premise and well-drawn supporting characters contribute to an emotionally uplifting and inspiring story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)