I’ve been writing a new book for several months now that I’m stoked about. It’s about an open relationship and I’m loving how the plot is unfolding and how the characters decide to go off on their own tangents when I’m not paying attention. When I sent out the story to my critique partners, a couple of them have commented that the New Adult genre I was labeling it might not be the best fit. Both of them believe it to be Women’s Fiction, or Chick Lit.
My first reaction was to say it wasn’t, that I knew exactly what I was doing when I labeled it, but the more I work on it, the more it’s starting to feel like something else other than NA.
But while I figure it out (and it’s important to note here that not pinning down my genre right away is an okay thing), I’ve been reading some Women’s Fiction. Some really amazing Women’s Fiction.
Naturally, I thought I’d share:
WHAT ALICE FORGOT by Liane Moriarty
I gave this book 4 stars out of the 5 on Goodreads because it was a little long-winded for me. I skipped over parts of the book, sadly, but apart from that, the story was fantastic. It’s about a woman who forgets the last ten years of her life–which includes the failing relationship with her sister, the divorce from her husband, and even her three kids.
THE LIFE INTENDED by Kristin Harmel
Someone described this story as Sliding Doors meets P.S. I Love You and that sums it up pretty closely for me. I loved how the story tore my emotions to shreds and put them back together again. It’s about a woman who slips into what she calls dreams, but what feels too realistic to be something she’s not actually experiencing. It’s more like an alternate reality in which her husband didn’t die. A truly beautiful read.
AFTER I DO or really anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid
One of my Twitter pals suggested Taylor to me and I read every book she has out as quickly as I could get them. AFTER I DO–about a couple taking a break from a marriage rough spot–was my favorite of the bunch because I connected with it the most, but really, all of them are amazing. You are doing yourself a serious injustice if you do not at least give her a try. MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE has a similar theme to THE LIFE INTENDED and was the first one I read, and the newest from her. FOREVER, INTERRUPTED is about a woman getting over the death of her husband after a love-at-first-sight/nearly-straight-to-the-chapel Love ‘a Thon. Go look her up, I’ll wait. And then you can thank me.
Dani Irons 