Monday, October 24, 2011

Skipping A Beat- Sarah Pekkanen



 Title: Skipping A Beat
 Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Format: Soft cover
Source: Bought new
Rating: 4/5



Goodreads summary:
Julia and Michael meet in high school in their small, poverty-stricken West Virginia hometown. Both products of difficult childhoods -- Julia’s father is a compulsive gambler and Michael’s mother abandoned his family when he was a young boy – they find a sense of safety and mutual understanding in each other. Shortly after graduation they flee West Virginia to start afresh. Now thirty-something’s, they are living a rarified life in their multi-million-dollar, Washington D.C. home. From the outside it all looks perfect – Julia has become a highly sought-after party planner, while Michael has launched a wildly successful flavoured water company that he sold for $70 million.
But one day Michael stands up at the head of the table in his company's boardroom -- then silently crashes to the floor. More than four minutes later, a portable defibrillator manages to jump-start his heart. Yet what happened to Michael during those lost minutes forever changes him. Money is meaningless to him now - and he wants to give it all away to charity. A prenuptial agreement that Julia insisted upon back when Michael's company was still struggling means she has no claim to his fortune, and now she must decide: should she walk away from the man she once adored, but who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his near-death experience - or should she give in to her husband's pleas for a second chance and a promise of a poorer but happier life.
Do not judge this book by its cover. When I seen this book on the shelf i was a little sceptical about it. The cover was plain and it did not help me with the story.  I choose it however because I had read her other book with a similar plain cover but a good story.  I’m glad I did.
This is the story of Julia and Michael who are high school sweethearts.  The story begins after Michael collapses in the boardroom and starts to change his life. He decides that he will donate everything to charity and start over a new man.  He expects Julia, his wife to follow but Julia’s baggage from her childhood makes this hard and she does not agree with him.  This story shows the struggle they both face trying to reconnect after being distant for so long. Julie must decide between the money and comfort she is used to or choosing Michael and his new way of looking at the world.
At first I did not like Julia, I thought she was stuck up and she needed to understand life is not about the things you own but the people in it. Further into the book the secrets of their lives and the baggage they both carry becomes more apparent and I understood a little better where Julia was coming from and why this decision was so hard.  I really enjoyed the book.  I thought it was thought provoking because you like to think you would know what you would do in a similar situation but I don’t think we can fully understand until we are put there. The ending was sad.  I recommend it if you’re looking for a quick read.

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