You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley – 320 pages
ARC courtesy of Berkley in exchange for an honest review
Book Blurb:
Mia Graydon’s life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too — unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of them, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he’s been dreaming of her too. Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?
My Review: 4 stars
You Were There Too took me on a quest to understand coincidence, fate, dreams, premonition and circumstance. It’s an amazing premise and Oakley does a stellar job at bringing these life affirming ideas to the forefront. At its heart this book is a love story that will tear at your heart, but there is so much more. Two characters find themselves in each other’s dreams; Mia is happily married, hunky Oliver is not. The problem gets stickier when we learn her dreams are quite steamy and while his are not, they do cause concern for Mia.
The book tackles issues regarding soulmates, the power of dreams as well as the science behind them, the stress doctors are under, infertility, small town life, art, marriage and love. Oakley created a storyline that kept me turning the pages and every inkling I had of how things would turn out was wrong; the author got it perfectly done with unsuspected twists. I grew to really like Mia; she felt real and understandably confused. I appreciated her honesty in all things, no matter how hard they’d be to accept.
This is the first Oakley book I’ve read but it certainly won’t be my last. Her writing is concise, has great pace and she’s a good storyteller. Book clubs will find a lot to discuss.
Quotes I liked:
You keep trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do. Like life is one big game show with right and wrong answers. It doen’t work like that. You have to put all that aside and really ask yourself: What do want? Who do you want to be with? Forget everything else.”
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