#REVIEW - "In the Mirror" by Kaira Rouda - What would you do if you knew you were going to die?

Description:

If you knew you may die soon, what choices would you make?

From the bestselling author of HERE, HOME, HOPE and ALL THE DIFFERENCE . . .

Jennifer Benson has it all: a successful career, a perfect husband, two kids and abundant friendships. The only problem is she may be dying. Diagnosed with cancer, she enters an experimental treatment facility to tackle her death sentence the same way she's tackled her life - head on. While she's there, she decides to throw herself a party, but what she doesn't plan for is her marriage to be threatened by the sudden return of a high school sweetheart.

IN THE MIRROR is the realistic love story about a woman facing a deadly illness, and her loves past and present. It's a story that unfolds with a delightful blend of humor and poignancy, ringing true in the heart of anyone who has ignored a warning of her own.

If you knew you might die, what choices would you make? How would it affect your marriage? How would you live each day? How many warnings would you ignore? And how would you say no to the one who got away?

Advance Praise

"Kaira Rouda has created relatable characters you'll care deeply about. Emotionally gripping and heart-achingly beautiful, this novel will make you think about what is truly important." ~ New York Times bestselling author Tracey Garvis Graves

"Balancing sadness and humor, the retrospective tone of this novel is both therapeutic and affecting. In the Mirror is an emotion-packed novel about a mother facing terminal cancer. It is a nostalgic tribute to the things that really matter: family and friends." ~ Foreword

"Jennifer's journey through cancer and her struggle to love her husband in the face of the return of her first love is something to cheer and rejoice in. A moving and uplifting novel about family and the struggles we all face to live every minute to the fullest." ~ Anita Hughes, author of Monarch Beach and Market Street

"I was completely absorbed by In the Mirror. This is a moving story from the unique perspective of a seriously ill patient who is a wife, sister, daughter and friend, examining all of those relationships with honesty and humor. This story will stay with you because of the questions it asks and the answers it offers." ~ Lian Dolan, bestselling author of Helen of Pasadena

My Take:
5+++ Amazing Stars!
What would you do if you knew you were going to die?
This truly is a beautiful book from start to finish, and will make a perfect Book Club choice! It is chock-full of topics to discuss, and even now after I am done reading this book, I keep thinking about it. This is one book you will not soon forget, and is one of my favorites for 2014.
Given what this book is about, it is still amazing! This author immediately engages us with the characters, their lives, their thoughts and feelings. From the first page of this book to the very end, you feel as if you know these characters on a personal level because we can so easily relate to them, especially Jennifer.
Jennifer learns she is going to die from breast cancer, and she isn't even thirty years old yet. She is facing this every day, and for the most part by herself, alone, while she is residing at Shady Valley hospital undergoing experimental treatment. No, the other treatments have failed to work which is why she is here doing this treatment. Yes, her husband and kids come to visit mostly every other day, but Jennifer feels likes she's been away for a lifetime already. Jennifer has a friend here at Shady Valley, and his name is Ralph. They talk for hours and hours at a time. They talk about life and death quite a bit while enjoying Ralph's favorite game of Scrabble. The days they spend playing scrabble, talking about life, and the impending loss of it. Ralph is her best friend here at Shady Valley.
What would you do though if you knew you were going to die? There were no 'if's, and's, or but's' about it, you were going to die. How would you look at life, what would you think about life, how would you accept what life has dealt you? You know your husband can move on in life, but what about your two very young children, her son who is age 3, and her daughter who is not even 2yrs old yet. Her daughter was so young, just an infant a few weeks old when Jennifer feels the lump in her breast. Then the cancer is diagnosed. Jennifer feels like she doesn't even have that mother/daughter bond with her daughter. She always envisions her daughter seeking comfort in other people's arms instead of her own. Will this be the way it will be for her daughter? Will her daughter get to know her mother?
Jennifer decides to throw herself a party! Yes! She wants to bring all of her friends together while she is alive, not at a funeral home while she can't attend. She is busy working on that, and while doing so she gets a visitor. An old boyfriend. He if full of questions for her. She always wondered what life would have been like if she had married him instead of Ralph, and often thought of him, too, however, this boyfriend has more in mind about her than just visiting and it ends up putting a wedge into her marriage at the worse possible time.
This book was a very poignant, yet very uplifting in the same sense because of the way Jennifer so bravely handles the diagnosis and looks at life. She is still thinking of living, not dying. I highly suggest reading this book. Grab a box of Kleenex, though. You're going to need it.
I have now purchased this author's, Kaira Rouda's other books because this one was absolutely tremendous!
I received this book for FREE from the Real You Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange to read and write a review about it. It is NOT required for this review to be either positive or negative, but of my own honest opinion. "Free" means I was provided with ZERO MONIES to read this book nor to write this review, but to enjoy the pure pleasure of reading it. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255, http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

About this Author, Kaira Rouda

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1105560.Kaira_Rouda
Thank you so much for visiting my author page! I hope you'll take a moment to visit my website - and to peruse my books. I love talking to book clubs, in person or via Skype. If you're interested, please let me know. For more, please visit my website KairaRouda.com 

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ebook: $ 3.99
print: $13.21