32. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

listened to eAudio/Audible Prime (which was free, the audible was $1.99)
narrated by Amy McFadden
Unabridged audio (10:17)
2019 Lake Union Publishing
328 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 2/18/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.89 - 44,323 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:Contemporary rural PA & NYC

First line/s:  "There are a lot of people you don't expect to run into in small town Pennsylvania."

My comments:  Equal amounts of likes and dislikes for this novel.  I loved all the talk about books.  Amy is a middle school librarian who also teaches at her private school, so there's lots of book talking.  There are journal entries from the 15-year-old daughter at the beginning of each chapter which are quite clever and enjoyable.  There's some witty banter between Amy and some of her blind dates.  And there's the wonderful setting of New York City.  But there are alos the for-some-reason-always included best friends that play a huge part in her life, who even in the middle of a life-changing situation she's....texting!?  Come on!  And then there's the ex/almost-ex husband, John.  I'm not exactly sure whey he decided to leave in the first place, its's never particularly clear.  He returns after three years of an apparently lucrative law practice in Hong Kong and he hasn't even paid a penny of child support, making Amy struggle all by herself for the entire time?  We're supposed to believe that all of a sudden he's had this huge change of thinking?  A little too hard to believe.  And although it was slow in places, some of the fun parts made up for those.  She even mentions LITSY!  No steam, which is just fine.  Not a waste of time, but it could've been time better spent...and it was cheap....

Goodreads synopsis:  Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.     
          Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and—with a little encouragement from her friends—a few blind dates. When one man in particular makes quick work of Amy’s heart, she risks losing herself completely in the unexpected escape, and as the summer comes to an end, Amy realizes too late that she must make an impossible decision: stay in this exciting new chapter of her life, or return to the life she left behind.
          But before she can choose, a crisis forces the two worlds together, and Amy must stare down a future where she could lose both sides of herself, and every dream she’s ever nurtured, in the beat of a heart.