Book ~ "One True Loves" (2016) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?

Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

When Emma was in high school, she had a crush on Jesse, the captain of the swim team. They ended up dating, fell in love love love and eventually got married. Neither wanted to live in their small town in Massachusetts and wanted to see the world. And that's what they did, picking up freelance gigs, with California eventually being their homebase. Just before their one year wedding anniversary, Jesse's gig took him to Alaska. Along the way, the helicopter crashed and all were declared dead.

Emma was understandably heartbroken and moved back home and ran her parents' bookstore. She reconnected with Sam, a friend from high school, and they eventually fell in love and got engaged. Then Emma got a call from Jesse ... he had been stranded on a rock for the last 3.5 years and was on his way home to her. When he arrived, Emma is conflicted ... she loves Sam and was planning to have a future with him but her feelings of love for Jesse came rushing back and she had to decide who she wanted to be with.

I thought this story was okay. It was an interesting concept ... long lost husband versus present fiancé. Jesse came home expecting things to be the way they were three years ago. Sam feels defeated because he knew Jesse was the love of Emma's life and had Jesse not "died", they would probably still be together. It's written in first person perspective in Emma's voice. The dialogue was cheesy at times and I would have expected more awkwardness between Emma and Jesse considering she thought he'd died and had moved on.  I was okay with the ending. As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.

Book ~ "Maybe in a Different Life" (2015) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby’s guestroom. Shortly after getting back to town, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.

Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?

In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her. As the two alternate realities run their course, "Maybe in Another Life" raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps, most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?

Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him.

Hannah is nearly thirty and doesn't have much direction in her life. She's moved around a lot and finally decides to settle down in her hometown of Los Angeles. She moves in with Gabby, her best friend, and Mark, Gabby's husband. She's always wondered "what if" about Ethan, her high school boyfriend, who was the love of her life. She goes out to a bar with Gabby and Mark and Ethan is there. When Gabby and Mark are ready to go home, Gabby asks Hannah if she is ready to go too. Ethan asks her to stay.

And then the story begins ... what would happen if Hannah went home with Gabby and Mark? What would happen if she stays with Ethan? What follows are two parallel stories of what happened when she went home with Gabby and Mark and what happened when she went home with Ethan. It was an interesting concept (similar to the movie Sliding Doors, which I enjoy).

I liked this story and it was interesting to see what would have happened given the paths Hannah had before her and the choices she made. Despite the different paths, there were still some things that happened in her lives that crossed over (for example, what was happening with Gabby, her husband and parents). It's written in first person perspective in Hannah's voice. The chapters alternate ... what happened if she'd gone home with Gabby and Mark and what happened if she went home with Ethan. As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" (2017) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Evelyn Hugo grew up poor. She knew she wanted to be an actress and did everything she could to achieve that and succeeded. She'd been married seven times ... sometimes for love and sometimes to get ahead. She's now 79 years old and ready to tell her story and chooses to tell it to Monique. No one is more surprised than Monique because she is newly hired at Vivant and her boss has made it quite clear that she's rather someone more senior for the assignment. But for Evelyn, it's Monique or no one.

Evelyn tells her story in her own way and in her own time so Monique ends up spending a lot of time with her. Evelyn's story is interesting and detailed and during their time together, Monique can't help wondering why Evelyn chose her to tell it.

I thought this story was okay. It is written in first person perspective ... in Evelyn's voice when she is telling her story to Monique and Monique's otherwise. Also included are news articles from celebrity magazines of the time. I didn't really like Evelyn and thought some of the decisions she made were unbelievable, especially when she was jumping from husband to husband and the reasons why she did. I found Monique boring. We find out towards the end why Evelyn chose Monique to tell her story and it was an interesting twist. As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.

Book ~ "After I Do" (2014) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.

Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?

Lauren and Ryan have been together since they were 19.  Eleven years later, they have been married for six years and aren't happy together anymore.  They decide to take a year apart from each other to have some space and grow and see if they can come back together more happily and healthily.  Lauren will keep the house and their dog.  They agree that there will be no contact with each other at all.

It takes Lauren a while to get used to being alone and she realizes how much of her life Ryan was a part of (both good and bad) ... she's close with her family and a work colleague but that seems to be it.  It's a few months before she lets her family, who loves Ryan as one of their own, know that she and Ryan have split up.  After she discovers Ryan has moved on, she tries to do the same.

I thought this story was okay.  It's written in first person perspective in Lauren's voice.  For the most part, I liked the characters.  With the grandmother saying for years she has cancer, I wondered about her mental capacity but no one seemed concerned.  It was a surprise when she actually had it together to give Lauren advice, which I found to be a weird conflict.  As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.

Book ~ "Malibu Rising" (2021) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over - especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud - because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own - including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

June's parents owned a small restaurant in Malibu in the 1950s.  They plan on having her eventually take it over but she has bigger dreams.  She is swept off her feet when she meets Mick, an aspiring singer, who promises her he'll take her away from the restaurant and give her the life she's always dreamed of, which includes a house with a bathroom with double sinks.  They get married, start having children and Mick's singing career takes off.  Alas, Mick isn't faithful and the marriage breaks up.  But Mick realizes what he missed and June takes him back and they get married again.  Not surprising, Mick wanders off again and ignores his family.  This leaves June having to go back to working in the hated restaurant so she can support her four children.

Jump ahead and it's 1983 and June's children are now adults.  Nina, the oldest, is now a model and rich.  Years ago, she started throwing an end of the summer party that has gotten bigger and grander over the years as her popularity grew.  Anyone who knows about the party is invited ... it's a mix of the famous and the non-famous.  She's not really in the mood to host the party because her husband recently left her for another woman.  Her brother, Jay, is doing all he can to ensure the girl he has his eye on attends the party.  Hud, another brother, is keeping a secret ... he's been dating and is in love with Jay's ex-girlfriend and he knows Jay isn't going to be too happy about that.  Kit, the youngest sister, is still trying to figure out who she is.

I thought this book was just okay, I wasn't crazy about it.  It's written in third person perspective with the focus on wherever the action was.  It jumps back and forth in time with June's story and then back to her children's story the day and night of the party in 1983.  As a head's up, there is swearing and drug use.

There were so many people at the party (which a big part of the book) that I had a hard time keeping track who was who ... I wondered why they were even mentioned and why should I care.  There was a lot of detail given about them when they didn't  have any impact on the storyline.  Like the guy who brought a couple bricks of cocaine to the party and shared it with everyone including a waitress.  Or the woman who was heading back home to some small town to get married (she was settling) and wanted one last crazy fling and her goal was to get naked in the hot tub and make out with two guys at the same time.  Huh!?  I didn't need all these details to know that the party was crazy and out of control.  A general sentence of two would have suffice ... in this case, tell me rather than show me would have been okay.

I wasn't crazy about June or Mick and thought their characters were a bit extreme.  June was a doormat who kept waiting for Mick to come back and Mick was a slimy dog who abandoned his family.  I didn't really feel anything for the main characters.

Book ~ "Daisy Jones & The Six" (2019) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity ... until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant and, with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

Daisy Jones was a young groupie in the late 1960s and living the life of drugs, booze and sex.  She had everything she wanted including money and freedom and her parents seemed more caught up in their lives than hers.  When she is about twenty, she records a record that is a big hit.

During this time, Billy Dunne and his brother, Graham, have started a band called the Dunne Brothers, eventually renamed The Six.  They are also on the rise.  Billy has been dating Camila and she moves with him to L.A. when the band relocates.  The band starts to draw attention and head out on tour.  Camila discovers she is pregnant and though Billy loves her and marries her, the fear of being a good dad gets to him and he gets wild on the road with booze, drugs and women.  Camila eventually makes him make a choice ... clean up or he loses his family.

A producer suggests that Daisy and The Six get together to record a record for even greater success.  They do and they become Daisy Jones & The Six.  While Billy struggles with sobriety, Daisy is out of control on drugs and booze, yet there is a creative spark between them.  Their record and popularity explodes and they have to deal with this on the road.

This book is the story of how Daisy & The Six came to be, their internal struggles, their tours and the eventual break-up of the band.

I liked it this book.  I found the writing style interesting and it worked for me.  It is the compilation of interviews the "author" had done in researching for the story of the band.  The book is laid out in chronological order of events and is told in chunks from interviews with the band members, Camila, the producer and even a hotel concierge.  This worked for me as I got the different points of view of the events from different perspectives.  For example, at times Billy thought everything was great whereas band member, Eddie, was extremely pissed off at the same situation.  As a head's up, there is swearing and drug use and drinking.

Book ~ "Forever, Interrupted" (2013) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ “Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.”

Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met - and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.

It's June and newlywed Elsie is craving a fun cereal and Ben, her husband, dashes out on his bike to get her some.  When he doesn't return, she goes looking for him and discovers he has been killed in an accident.  A police officer takes her to the hospital where she meets Susan, her mother-in-law, who was called because she was listed as Ben's next-of-kin.  Susan didn't know Elsie existed and acts understandably like a cold bitch.  They clash instantly over who has the right to make the "arrangements" and what exactly they will be.  The story then follows Elsie and Susan, herself a widow, as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives.

This is the first book I've read but this author and I really enjoyed it.  It sounds like a depressing story and yes, in some respects it is ... but it's also a story of love and hope.

I liked the writing style.  I found it was well-paced and I didn't want to put it down.  The story bounces back and forth from when Elsie and Ben meet on New Years Day, as their relationship quickly progresses, to Ben's death and how Elsie and Susan deal with their lives afterward.  Yes, it's sad at times but when we read about Elsie and Ben's meeting and courtship, it's funny and cute. 

I liked the characters.  I could feel the instant connection between Elsie and Ben.  They aren't perfect but they are perfect for each other.  They found each other but tragically only had six months together.  Susan had lost her husband a couple years ago and Ben was afraid she would feel she was losing him too so had put off telling her about Elsie ... unfortunately she found out too late.  Elsie's parents are cold and unemotional and she doesn't have much a relationship with them (I can't say I blame her).  Ana is Elsie's best friend who has known her for years.  She's a excellent support to Elsie after Ben's death.  Elsie is a librarian and one of the patrons of her library is a gentleman named Mr. Callahan, who is nearly ninety and has been married to his wife for many years.  He tries to give Elsie perspective as she is dealing with her loss.

This story could have gone in a couple different directions and was happy with where the author took it.

I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading others by this author.