User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
NO SPOILERS.... only a few teasers....
This is the fifth book I’ve read by Rochelle B Weinstein.
Her books - [contemporary/poignant/ heartfelt] - speak to us. None of her books are overly depressive or overly fluffy. She writes smart emotionally - thought-provoking novels that challenge us to look at our relationships with ruthless honesty- displaying an innate understanding of human emotions.
Her characters are so real....it’s hard to let them go.
“This Is Not How It Ends” begins July 2018, *Present Day*...Islamorada, Florida.
The ‘very’ beginning - Chapter 1 - opens - with an expert worth reading more than once.....allowing us to ponder deliberate choices we’ve made in life - and those we haven’t.
“I’ve heard it said that life is about choices. Paths stretch out ahead of us— sometimes, we make conscious decisions and other times, fate intervenes and chooses for us. Had I known my life was about to take a sharp turn in those early hours of morning, I might have walked Sunny in a different direction”.
What follows - is a gripping opening scene - when Charlotte Myers sees a young boy named Jimmy, about 9 years old - ( his dad, Ben’s back was turned shopping for groceries). Jimmy appeared to be gasping - clutching his neck - then fell to the ground. Charlotte, a complete stranger at the time, shared a life & death moment with Jimmy and Ben Hearst.
Chapter 2 ...May 2016, *Back Then*,.....
takes us on a fun flirty flight on United Airlines, Miami Florida, to Kansas City, Missouri , Fight 517, when Charlotte Myers, 30 years of age, and Philip Stafford, 40 years of age, meet in row 13 - seats C and D
The dialogue was playful and fascinating between Charlotte and Philip....and we begin to know them both.
Philip: British - wealthy - handsome - ( looks like the men on Game of Thrones with dangerous sexy eyes), arrogant, cocky, and acted entitled ‘at first’, when he lost his first class seating due to a plane change - but soon redeemed himself by buying the entire flight of passengers drinks to make up for his prior shameless- rude behavior.
He was also definitely interested - flirting with Charlotte.
Charlotte: taught High School Honors English.....Kansas City girl.....was flying back home after attending a seminar in Miami. She was watching a remake of the movie *Endless Love*. Her students were reading the book.
Charlotte tells Philip that one of her students brilliantly exposed the theory of “wanting what you can’t have”.
“There was an allure to meeting someone on a plane, sharing a brief moment in time, knowing your paths may never cross again”.....
Ha....but the intriguing conversation that Philip and Charlotte shared about “Forbidden fruit”, their love-talk-about a ‘happily- ever- after- hypothesis was too good —- that we knew this couple would meet again.
We also know .... all the above characters will intertwine: Charlotte, Philip, Ben, ( sometimes called Goose), Jimmy, and Sunny, ( Charlottes Dog) ......
There are other wonderful minor characters, too....the type of minor characters who contribute major wisdom: Mom, ( Momism’s), dad, ( life lessons) , Liberty, ( a committed friend who’s dedicated to supporting health and wellness)...
OTHER MINOR characters include environmental elements —sweltering hot humid days in “The Keys” - the homes - (with names)- in Islamorada - a love shack - a Hurricane: Hurricane Kelsie.
Brett playing music by favorite artists: James Taylor, The Eagles, and Don Henley.
Delicious foods, natural beauty and styles,....
Serious topics are explored - pancreatic cancer, severe allergies, abandonment, ......
along with the big themes: love, loss, dying & death, friendships, boundaries, morality, choices we make or not, hurt, regret, betrayal, fears, sadness, risks, mistakes we make, courage, assumptions, our vulnerability, our worthiness, forgiveness, and healing.
“This is Not How it Ends”, weaves a heartfelt exploration of love and the choices we make - told in alternating timelines: Present Day, and back then ( as examples in Chapter 1 and 2).
SO MUCH TO ENJOY in this packed-filled novel.....every sentence is an experience.....dealing with issues of the heart.
But the 3 dominate characters - 2 strong successful men and 1 passionate exceptional woman ....plucks the raw nerves of love and the forbidden with rewarding psychological depth.....
with storytelling skill!!!
Radiant and pristine....a book to read, absorbed, and discuss!!!!
Highly recommended!!!!
Thank you Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Rochelle B. Weinstein. ( I love love love her novels)... the author is a gem of a human being, too....which certainly shows up in writing!!!
A powerful excerpt:
“Loss didn’t discriminate, it was a game of chance. Like Love. And sometimes even love lead to isolation. Loneliness, by definition, is a solitary experience, but I learned painfully fast how loneliness travels through skin and body and binds you to those with similar hurt”.
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars.
This was a really good, emotional read!
Do you believe that everyone gets one chance at happiness and love, or are there multiple opportunities out there for everyone? How you answer that question may influence how you feel about Rochelle Weinstein's newest book,
This is Not How it Ends .
Charlotte and Philip meet on a plane. At first his privileged attitude and temper tantrum about not getting his reserved first-class seat irritates her, but his good looks and English wit quickly charm her. Their intense conversation for the entire flight leaves her a bit breathless, but given that he leads a far more glamorous life than she does, she doesn't expect that she'll ever see him again.
But fate has a funny way of intervening, and it's not long before they fall in love and plan a future together. They move to Philip's home in Islamorada on the Florida Keys, and while Philip is often traveling all over the world and spending time on his business interests, she starts building a life for herself. When they are together, their love flourishes, but after a while, Philip's time at home becomes shorter and shorter, and he seems more distracted when he is home.
"Had Philip finally gotten bored with me? Was there someone else? Could the ring have been a mistake? The physical distance I could live with, I had lived with, but the emotional distance was something else. I couldn't get him to connect."
Charlotte starts yearning for more than Philip can give her. And then one day, she meets Ben, a handsome single dad, and his young soon, Jimmy, and she starts to realize what it's like to feel needed, to feel constantly cared about and cared for. She fights her attraction to Ben despite the amount of time they spend together (partially because Philip pushes Ben to teach Charlotte how to cook).
When a hurricane passes through Islamorada and Philip is away, Charlotte spends the night at Ben and Jimmy's house, and the storm causes her to reexamine her desires and begin to hope for a different future. But then an unexpected discovery changes the course of her life again, and she decides to make sacrifices for others instead of following her heart. It's a path on which she'll experience some of the highest highs and the lowest lows.
"Each of us felt loss, whether it was through a seed planted inside or one nearby that took root and grew. Loss didn't discriminate, it was a game of chance. Like love. And sometimes even love led to isolation. Loneliness, by definition, is a solitary experience, but I learned painfully fast how loneliness travels through skin and body and binds you to those with similar hurt."
This was a beautifully told, poignant story, and I was hooked from the very beginning. While I saw certain things coming before the characters did (it's amazing how oblivious people can be to things which are right in front of them), I still enjoyed this book immensely. This made me feel a range of emotions, but the book never felt contrived or manipulative in any way.
I really enjoyed these characters, and would love to see what came next for them. That, to me, is the mark of a memorable and fantastic book.
Get Red PR and Lake Union Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Rating: really liked it
The marketing copy lied. I disliked this book so much it actually made me a little angry. From the beginning, Charlotte whines about the distance between her and her wealthy fiancé. There’s the literal distance because he travels all the time, but what troubles her is the metaphoric distance that takes place even when he’s at home. He buys her presents and takes her out to nice meals, but he refuses to talk about anything serious and he’s always on the phone, often taking calls in the other room and being evasive when she asks questions. We know there’s a problem and we know we’re told this so she can end up with the widower Ben.
I made it to the end (by speed reading while annoyed), which is the nicest thing I can say about this novel. It’s a book you can definitely put down. Even when her mother dies, and we’re told Charlotte is a basketcase, I never actually FEEL it. I don’t feel anything for any of these characters at any time. This is such a slog. Spend your precious time on anything else.
Rating: really liked it
4 Stars
Love: It's Complicated and Heartbreaking, Yet Oh So Worthwhile.Charlotte is a woman with a huge capacity for love. Who knew that it would tear her in two?Charlotte meets enigmatic Phillip on a plane to Kansas City. Though they only share a few hours together, both feel it. Their connection doesn’t happen everyday and it’s only a matter of time before he slips a ring on her finger.
Moving to Florida seems like an easy decision once Charlotte loses the only other person in her life that she cares about besides Phillip.
If only Phillip wasn’t always away on business. If only she didn’t always feel so alone.
Meeting Ben happens by chance. His son Jimmy has an allergic reaction and Charlotte acts fast. As it happens, Phillip and Ben are close friends. Their lives intertwine. Feelings surface and Charlotte is torn. How could she not be?
Nothing is ever that simple.
Admittedly, I had this novel figured out almost immediately and that, I think took a bit away from my enjoyment of it.
That being said, in “This is Not How it Ends” by Rochelle B. Weinstein I was immediately entranced by the character of Charlotte and I could see how both Phillip and Ben were too. Yet I wanted more. I didn’t feel wholly invested in Charlotte and Phillip’s relationship. I felt as though it was missing something - as though it were lacking (even though Phillip was extremely kind, generous and loving and boy was he ever!!), yet I did not feel that way once Ben came into the picture. That felt like the real thing to me and that is when I was all in. Ben got me hook, line and sinker.
Even though I knew what was coming, when the ending came I admit to sobbing like a baby. Thank goodness I had tissues at the ready. Rochelle B. Weinstein, how could you do that to me?! What more can I say? “This is Not How It Ends” is a novel I took a chance on simply because I saw stellar reviews from friends. The pub date had already passed when I thought about reading it and I debated about it and decided to grab it anyways and boy am I glad I did.
A huge thank you goes out to Jennifer, Berit and Mackenzie for convincing me that I need to read this.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Rochelle B. Weinstein for the arc.
Published on Goodreads on 1.28.20.
Rating: really liked it
“Which takes more courage...holding on or letting go?”
An interesting conundrum.
So, with this question posed in the synopsis, and many glowing reviews, I decided to give this book a try.
Although I sometimes enjoy contemporary Women’s fiction, or romantic comedy, this is your more “TRADITIONAL ROMANCE”....very “Nicolas Sparks” like...a bit sappy, a bit melodramatic, and a bit predictable.
IF you enjoy that type of romance, and I am not knocking anyone who does....this book will probably work for you!
But, unfortunately, I do not..so I was not the right reader for this book..and it was a MISS for me.
Thanks to DeAnn for another buddy read! Hopefully the next one we choose will be less introspective, and more surprising! 🤞🏻
Rating: really liked it
I quite enjoyed Rochelle Weinstein’s last book, Somebody’s Daughter, so I was eager to get my hands on This Is Not How It Ends. I even took it with me to the beach when it was more temperate, and it was perfect for that setting, though it can be read anywhere.
Charlotte and Phillip live in the Florida Keys and plan to marry. As they get closer, Phillip begins to pull away. More and more, Charlotte begins to doubt him and his love for her. Then, she meets Ben, and she fights her connection to him.
A hurricane hits the Keys, as they so often do. Charlotte’s life is knocked off kilter even more. She must discover who and what she wants most. This is a tender love story with tragedy and hope.
Overall, I loved Weinstein’s smooth writing and engaging storytelling, and this was a quick, warmhearted read that lifted me up.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
Rating: really liked it
🏆 One of my top reads of 2019!
What an exquisite story! Raw, riveting, emotional, and thought provoking. Rochelle B. Weinstein has written an evocative tale that ripped at my heart strings. Philip and Charlotte have a meet cute when they are seated next to one another on a plane from Miami to Kansas City. They have an instant connection and soon begin an intense romance. FlashForward several years, the couple is now living in the Florida Keys. Philip is constantly traveling for work and the distance is wearing on Charlotte. One day Charlotte has a chance encounter with Ben a single father in the grocery store. Charlotte could feel the pole she has towards Ben. BUT Charlotte loves Philip and it’s even more complicated than that, because come to find out that Ben and Philip are old friends. The book however was so much more than a love triangle. It was a real honest look into these character’s emotionss. It was real, authentic, gripping, complex, tender, shattering, hopeful, and brilliant. These characters made me smile, they made me cry, they made me angry, they tore my heart apart and then put it back together.
The story bounces between past and present. I thought this was tremendously impactful, because we really got to see Charlotte and Phillip’s relationship develop. We also were privy to past events that ultimately shaped their present relationship. Charlotte, Philip, and Ben were all good people. Good people who didn’t always make the best choices. There were some moral issues in this book that really gave me a lot to think about. Still not entirely sure how I feel about it but this was not my story it was theirs. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time. A book with all the feels and the most perfect emotional ending.
This book in emojis. ✈️ 🏖 💍 👨🏻🍳 👨🏻💼 🐶 🌊 💔 😢
*** Big thanks to Lake Union for my copy of this book ***
Rating: really liked it
This Is Not How It Ends is not a book I would normally read, but I decided to get out of my comfort zone and WOW, this was just way too emotional for me (in a good way!).Rochelle B. Weinstein wrote a beautiful, emotionally charged, and highly addictive story. I fell in love with all the characters and I found them very relatable. I felt with them and their stories made me re-think many things in my own personal life. The story was written in beautiful prose and I found myself re-reading few of the passages to fully grasp the depth of the words I have just read. Even though the plot was predictable, I could not stop reading this novel. I read this book in 24 hours, and I cried...oh how I cried.
I am looking forward to reading more books from this author, however now I will be more emotionally prepared for each one of them before I dive into reading (or at least I will try to prepare myself for the emotional roller-coaster).
Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Rating: really liked it
Charlotte Meyers meets slightly older Philip Stafford on a plane, she’s a high school teacher from Kansas, and Philip’s a globetrotting business man. Philip’s rather keen on Charlotte, they buy a house together in Florida Keys, and Philip gets her a dog Sunny to keep her company. With Philip being away as often as he is, Charlotte’s feeling restless, despite being engaged and they haven’t set a date for the wedding.
She meets Ben and his son Jimmy, he’s a single father and she helps him during a medical emergency. Philip has a friend he calls Goose, Charlotte has never met the restaurant owner, and she’s shocked to discover its Ben. Philip’s away when a hurricane is quickly approaching Islamorada, Charlotte's scared and not at all prepared. Ben thinks she should stay with him, Philip agrees, they spend the evening playing board games and hoping the roof doesn’t blow off.
Ben and Charlotte feel a real connection, if she wasn’t with Philip, she could easily fall in love with his best friend, and she feels terribly guilty. The day after the storm, Charlotte discovers, Philip’s been keeping a devastating secret from her and he’s very sick.
This Is Not How It Ends by Rochelle B. Weinstein is a heartbreaking story, about friendship, commitment, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness. I couldn’t stop reading the book, I was emotionally invested in the characters, and by the end I was a sobbing mess. I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, fans of JoJo Moyes might also like this book, and five stars from me.
Rating: really liked it
This was one of those character-driven stories that you would probably enjoy if you like all your characters a little bit unusual and not always likeable, but definitely relatable, which I do! Charlotte is at an odd place in her life when she meets Phillip, a much older man, who romances her, but is it the right romance for her? And when she’s engaged and a new guy comes along, what does she do? As a bonus, this had SUCH a cute golden retriever, Sunny!!
Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
Rating: really liked it
A woman torn between the love she feels now and the love that was always there for her before. In an emotional novel of forgiveness and being true to ourselves, Rochelle B. Weinstein explores the intricacy of love and how we move forward as relationships evolve. A beautiful novel that will pull you in.
I found this to be a very emotional book to read. And while it may not be like this for everyone, this one definitely made me cry a few times. It’s a credit to Rochelle Weinstein’s writing that she drew characters and a story that hit me in a very raw way. The characters themselves feel very authentic and I found them to be relateable. I didn’t really find any character to be good or bad, which was important to understanding the challenges that come with this type of situation.
The book shows Charlotte and Phillip from the moment they meet on a flight through their relocation to the Florida Keys, their engagement, and beyond. I really enjoyed the way this was written. The story wove back and forth in time so we got to see their instant connection and then where they are now that they have moved and things aren’t as simple as they were when they first met. Back then, it was all spark and discovering one another.
The way Charlotte experienced Phillip seeming to pull away from the relationship was also very real. I thought that the evolution of the circumstances that allowed Charlotte to begin to feel drawn to Ben, while still holding onto her love for Phillip was so subtle that I became completely immersed in the events unfolding. I understood how emotions can deepen without someone meaning for them to. I understood how a break down in communication over an extended time can deeply impact a relationship.
I also understood how all three of these people did things that were not okay. None of them is the hero or the villain. These are just people who make mistakes and who feel things that they may not have intended to. That’s what I mean when I say that I found it raw and authentic. This was a deeply touching story and one that it was hard to not get pulled into and feel as though it were happening to you instead of to the characters in a book.
A beautiful story of friendship, forgiveness, imperfection, and ultimately discovering what you value. I loved the theme of not just learning to let go, but even before that how you decide whether to hold on or to let go.
Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for my copy. Opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
A beautiful and emotional story of friendship, love, loss and forgiveness.
SUMMARY
Charlotte and Phillip are accidental seatmates on a flight from Miami to Kansas City. By the end of the flight sparks are flying. Together they moved to the Florida Keys with plans to marry. But just as they should be planning their wedding Charlotte feels as if Phillip is slipping away. Philip’s constant traveling and excessive absences has her wondering if this is really what she wants in a relationship. When Charlotte meets Ben, Phillip’s, best friend a close friendship naturally develops. She tries to ignore the pull between the two of them but a hurricane drives them together and challenges both of their their loyalties.
REVIEW
THIS IS NOT HOW IT ENDS is a beautiful and emotional story of friendship, love, loss and forgiveness. It’s women fiction with great and highly relatable characters. You’ll fall in love with them all...Charlotte, Phillip, Ben, Billy and even Sunny. The storylines are creatively intertwined
Author ROCHELLE WEINSTEIN’s writing is brilliantly plotted and full of emotional storms. It’s a gem of a novel you don’t want to miss. The very beginning of the story grabs you with this lyrical statement from Charlotte...“I’ve heard it said that life is about choices. Paths stretch out ahead of us—sometimes we make conscious decisions and other times, fate intervenes and choose for us.” I loved this statement when I read it in the first chapter. And then I fell in love with it again at the end of the book. It’s is the epitome of the book.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher Lake Union
Published January 1, 2020
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
Rating: really liked it
When was the last time you cried after reading an amazing story?
Weinstein pulled every string I had in my heart and in my gut for the most beautiful and unpredictable story about three lives interwoven into a remarkable story about love and friendships, guilt and loss, and mistakes and forgiveness. I absolutely thought the storytelling to be brilliant with amazing casts of characters. I was sucked in to the story from the first two chapters and did not want this to end at all.
What a fantastic read and highly recommend!!!
All the stars in the world for this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rating: really liked it
So many damn tears. Sad tears, happy tears, heart-broken and heart-overflowing tears. This is Not How it Ends is a tremendously moving story of love, loss, sacrifice, honor, family, friendship, healing, acceptance, first and second chances, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons and the wrong thing for the right reasons. There is so much packed into these pages. I feel so much right now. I mostly feel wrung out, yet hopeful and happy. For those with triggers, there is illness and loss inside. If you can weather through that, I promise you will come through with tears in your eyes but hope in your heart, just like I did.
Rating: really liked it
This is my first read of 2020 that sort of missed the mark for me. It could be because romance is just not my genre - I find so much of it over-the-top cheesy and not true to life. This Is Not How It Ends was almost good though, as it had an intriguing premise, but for me, the characters were rather flat (Phillip was too bigger-than-life, Ben was too boring, Liberty was too bizarre, Jimmy was too allergic, etc.). Simply put, the plot was overly exaggerated and the "twist" was super predictable (it was really the only way to procure the happily-ever-after ending though). There was also a big believability issue in that two unrelated characters, but both closely connected with the protagonist, Charlotte, end up with the exact same, fairly rare, terminal disease? It just didn't work for me.
I will say that the writing itself is anything but cheesy - Weinstein's writing style is actually beautifully poetic with good flow, which makes it easy to get drawn into the story right from the beginning. I think I would have connected more with the story if it hadn't been for the justified cheating and the copious amount of time spent on the “wrong” relationship. It's hard to connect with a plot when so much time is spent focusing on a relationship that you can see from a mile away is doomed to fail. It's actually confusing as Charlotte’s relationship with the wrong guy is really the focal point of the story, making the “right” relationship just a backstory. I couldn’t bring myself to root for Charlotte in any way.
In the end, it's likely that I'm just not the right audience for this book, but it was just meh for me. I would say that if Weinstein ventured outside of the romance genre, I would be keen to read her work, as I truly enjoyed her writing style. This is how it ends for me though - 3 stars.
