Book Review: The Woman He Married

The Woman He Married by Julie N. Ford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book after reading the sequel "No Holly for Christmas." I had no idea that this book existed when reading the other or I would have done it the other way around.  I prefer to read in sequential order. However, reading in the wrong order actually didn't take anything away from either book, they are that loosely related, especially in the story-line.

"No Holly for Christmas" focuses on Josie's x-boyfriend Brian, and this book focuses on Josie. Even though Julie Ford warned me that her second book seemed to have better reviews, I equally enjoyed both books. There wasn't the mystery in "The Woman He Married" like in "No Holly for Christmas", but both books have something different to offer.

This book was a great read for me. It focused heavily on Josie's conflict between being a good mom and pursuing her legal career, a storyline in which every mother out there can relate. I personally enjoyed Ford's exploration of Josie's troubled marriage. It's no wonder to me that she wrote with the perspective of a former marriage and family therapist. In fact, that is the the second best thing I appreciate about Ford's writing. She writes smart. She knows her stuff, especially interpersonal relations.

The thing I love the most about Ford's writing is her humor. It is subtle, but it's in there. For instance, here is one of my favorite lines from the book describing Josie's solution to throwing a dinner party at the last minute: "Relgious or not, at that very  moment Josie was pretty sure there was a god, and that God wanted her to go to Costco." Any mother with more than one child completely gets that line and finds it to be the best kind of humor: honest.

Once again Julie Ford left me a true fan. I'm glad we are facebook friends now so I can be sure to know of and buy a copy of every one of her future books.

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