The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr

The Life She Wants

by Robyn Carr

In the aftermath of her financier husband's suicide, Emma Shay Compton's dream life is shattered. Richard Compton stole his clients' life savings to fund a lavish life in NYC and, although she was never involved in the business, Emma bears the burden of her husband's crimes. She is left with nothing. So she goes home to Sonoma County. But starting over isn't easy, and Sonoma is full of unhappy memories, too. And people she'd rather not face, especially Riley Kerrigan. Riley and Emma were like sisters--until Riley betrayed Emma, ending their friendship. Emma left town, planning to never look back. Now, trying to stand on her own two feet, Emma can't escape her husband's reputation and is forced to turn to the last person she thought she'd ever ask for help--her former best friend. It's an uneasy reunion as both women face the mistakes they've made over the years.

Reviewed by Stephanie on

5 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterI received this book for free from MIRA in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.





Blogging shame is such a real thing. I've had The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr for forever. I love Robyn Carr. I have literally no excuse as for why I didn't read this book. I am SO very grateful that I did.

Right off the bat there is Emma Shay who is someone that I would never have felt sorry for in real life. Unfortunately I am one of the people who would have whispered about how she would have had to have known what was going on in her own home. Carr is a genius though and before long I knew I was wrong.

I adored watching a woman gather the tatters of her life and with an incredible backbone and the kindness of friends and strangers start to build a happy life for herself. There's an underlying story of best friends who were no longer friends. This really struck home with me. I have a best friend that I haven't talked to in a decade. Thinking about that nearly gutted me. I could relate SO much to Emma and Riley's story.

All of the characters in The Life She Wants made me dorky smiley happy. There was so much about this book that I loved. It instantly became a book to adorn the keeper shelf at home. I don't have many books like that anymore. Truly I loved this book. In fact, I'm going to make it a book that I will re-read every year. Maybe I can use it in the month of January sort of as a motivational yearly read.

I forget how much I love contemporary romance and then a book like The Life She Wants comes along and reminds me of how great it is. If, like me, you had overlooked this book, do yourself a favor and pick it up!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 July, 2019: Finished reading
  • 1 July, 2019: Reviewed