To rediscover yourself in France…

Synopsis

Only child out of the house – so far out that she’s gone all the way to Australia! A husband, who has requested a break. Life isn’t quite going as planned for Katy.

She’s suddenly at a loss, but she still has her friends Sam, Vicky and Ivy. The girls have been there for her through thick and they’re not about to stop now. However, they think Katy might need more than boot camp . . . so they kidnap her and head off to France on a last minute retreat.

Can a reset give her a new lease on life or help her win back her husband? Or could there be a new love in her life?

She went for a holiday, but it could become the start of a second chance . . .

My review

Katy was sure that her husband came back to his senses when he asked to talk to her after needing a break.
But she wasn’t prepared to hear that he wants the break to be definite, especially after hearing that their daughter wants to stay in Australia and make her life there.
Feeling at loss, Katy doesn’t know what to do with her life now. But her friends Sam, Vicky and Ivy, Katy’s rock at the most difficult moments, decide to surprise her with a last minute escape, in a retreat in France.
The French countryside is the perfect place for Katy to unwind, and let loose. And perhaps start a new chapter in her life? Or will she be able to win her husband back? 

You know what really annoys me? When people, especially women, think that *they* need to change in order to keep their spouses. What is wrong with just being yourself? And if your spouse is being a prick, like Katy’s husband is, isn’t it better to lose him instead of always doing as he pleases? 

So at the start of this book, I wasn’t Katy’s biggest fan, as it was clear that she lost herself while always following her husband.
I wasn’t her biggest fan, but I also pitied her… In a short time she has had several shocks, at first her husband needing a break, then her daughter wanting to stay in Australia and the straw that breaks the camel’s back, her husband having moved on and having no intention of returning to Katy at all… 

While as a reader it doesn’t come as a total shock, I could understand how deflated Katy felt, as everything that mattered to her, was now just gone. No husband, no daughter around…
Luckily she has some wonderful friends, who will do everything they can to make Katy feel alive again.
Sometimes we all need a (not so) gentle push making us rethink about our lives and which course we want to take next. And is there a lovelier place than the place where these best friends will be staying? 

I liked it to see how Katy opened up again, thinking about herself and not what someone else expects from her. She finds her own passions again, and is not being gaslighted by a selfish, outdated, old-fashioned and even a bit sexist husband.
And this new, old Katy was for sure much more loveable than the Katy we met at the start of this book. 

Katy also found a potential love interest, but the focus wasn’t about Katy finding romance, it was all about finding herself (again). Even if at one point in the story she makes a choice I didn’t agree, I could understand she had to give it one more chance. And it was the more rewarding seeing how Katy has changed throughout the story, and seeing how she doesn’t accept the BS she would have accepted in the past.

The author shows us that this search isn’t one without trial and error, even here and there clashing with people who have your best interest at heart.
It’s not an easy journey, it takes a lot of courage and understanding, not only what happened in the past or what direction you want to take, but also understanding yourself, allowing yourself to be yourself again. 

This was a wonderful story to read, about a woman who reluctantly has to accept the changes in her life, but realizes that being comfortable in a situation doesn’t mean that you have to just accept it. But that, at any stage in your life, you can change the course of your life, and can change back into the person you used to be, the person that used to be happy, and not just content.
Something we all just stop and think about!