It's Better This Way: A Novel

by Debbie Macomber

Hardcover, 2021

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Genres

Romance

General Fiction

Collection

Your library

Publication

Ballantine Books (2021), Edition: First Edition, 320 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER �?� After her marriage ends, one woman�??s struggle to pick up the pieces finally leads to a new beginning�??but is the past truly behind her? In this poignant novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber explores the powerful intersections of love and family. �??This deeply emotional tale proves it�??s never too late for love.�?��??Publishers Weekly (starred review) It�??s been nearly six years since Julia Jones had her heart broken. After her husband became involved with another woman, she did everything she could to save their marriage, to no avail. The couple�??s two daughters continue to stand by Julia in the wake of their father�??s behavior�??and they�??ve had a tough time getting along with the other woman who�??s become their stepmother. Distraught after selling the family home, Julia moves into a condominium complex that offers the warmth and charm of a fresh start. Now, having settled into her new community and sold her successful interior design business, she�??s embraced a fulfilling new life, one that doesn�??t seem to need a man in it. Her beloved father�??s trusty saying is ringing truer than ever: It�??s better this way. But when Julia meets a handsome new resident in the building�??s exercise room, she can�??t help but be drawn to him. Heath Wilson is a welcome change from the men she�??s encountered on the occasional�??mostly disastrous�??dates her sister has eagerly planned for her over the years. As she and Heath, a divorcé himself, begin to grow close, their friendship blossoms into an unexpected love. However, they soon realize that combining families proves to be a challenge, even though their four children are adults. When a dramatic revelation threatens the happiness they�??ve found, Julia and Heath must reconcile their love for their children with their love for each other. If… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member susan0316

You can always depend on Debbie Macomber to bring her readers exceptional books full of real life characters facing situations that many of us face but always providing a feel good happily ever after ending. She gives us all that and more in her new book It's Better This Way.

Six years ago, Julie

tried to save her marriage after her husband of over 25 years told her that he had fallen in love with another women. Their two grown daughters side with their mother and will have nothing to do with their father and his new wife. Julie meets Heath in the exercise room of her new condo. At first they ignore each other, then they smile at each other and soon they start having coffee together. This friendship quickly moves to another level and they fall in love. Heath is also divorced and has two grown sons that are close to both him and his ex-wife. When a dramatic truth comes to light, Julie and Heath realize how difficult it will be to combine both families when there is so much animosity between the four children. Will they give up on their love and give in to their children or will they be able to have their happily ever after. Will Julie's father's trusty saying 'It's better this way" prove to be true in Julie and Heath's future life?

It was difficult to put this book down once I started it. I loved the characters and the way that they handled their family situation. I was hoping that their love would survive and quickly turned the pages to find the outcome. Another fantastic book by a legendary author.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own

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LibraryThing member alekee

I really enjoyed this book, from beginning to end the pages flew for me, just sad when the last page was turned.
You get to see both sides of a divorce, even with the children’s point of view, and no one is exempt.
The author did a great job with bringing out each of those affected point of view,

and with a lot of twist and turns, and some unbelievable happenings, just the right place at the right time. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.
Be ready for a few chuckles and some tears, and becoming totally engrossed in this story!
I received this book through Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine, and was not required to give a positive review.

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LibraryThing member LoriKBoyd

Debbie Macomber’s books are always enjoyable. Great character, great storylines and little twists. This book is no different! A perfect book for vacation or staycation. You become totally immersed in Julie’s life. I love reading about more mature characters, strong and independent in their own

right, not looking for someone to complete them. Julie and Heath are instantly likable and relatable. Even, the odd set of circumstances they find themselves in. Both are navigating how to have a personal relationship without grown children interfering while also being there for them as parents. Fairly predictable, but enjoyable all the same. A great reading escape.

Julie is semi-retired from a successful design company built from the ground up, and well past her devastating divorce. She’s enjoying her life, her two grown daughters, and loving her new condo. She meets Heath, divorced with two sons, by chance at the gym. One thing leads to another and they find a spark. All is going well, until an unexpected and uncomfortable situation arises that could tear them apart. Are they parents first…or should this relationship special enough to put first?

Thanks to Ms. Macomber, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

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LibraryThing member Kris_Anderson

It’s Better This Way by Debbie Macomber has Julia Jones meeting Heath Wilson in the exercise room of her building six years after her divorce. They start out as friends since both have had disastrous dates since their marriages ended. As time passes, Julia and Heath fall in love. An astonishing

discovery threatens to ruin their bright future. It’s Better This Way is well-written (as always) with realistic characters. The story moves along at a good pace. I liked that the Heath and Julia are older protagonists. I thought they were realistic characters especially with regard to their emotions. A family situation has emotions running high as well as tension. The situations were representative of real-life, but I did find it to be predictable. I loved the side story involving Julia’s niece, Carrie and building resident, Eric. I would have liked that to be its own separate story (maybe a short e-book). Carrie was a great character and I wanted to get to know her more along with Eric. I appreciated the epilogue that nicely wrapped up It’s Better This Way. You get to see why when things work out a certain way that “It’s better this way”. I was surprised to discover that there is some mild foul language in the story. This is something that I never thought I would see in a book by Debbie Macomber. I enjoyed the descriptions of Seattle especially of the building where Julia and Heath resided. It’s Better This Way is a sweet, feel good tale. It is perfect for summer when you are looking for lighter fare to read.

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LibraryThing member Maydacat

Julia has been divorced for about six years. She tried hard to save her marriage, but it was not to be. Her two daughters are estranged from their father, taking their mother’s side in the divorce proceedings, and wanting nothing to do with their father’s new wife. Now one of the daughters is

getting married, and this leads to a whole new set of problems. Adding to the mix is the wonderful new man in Julia’s life. How all this fits together, and how it all resolves makes for one highly entertaining tale. Debbie Macomber never disappoints her readers, but this story is especially delightful. It has a major twist in it that was surprising, and adds much interest to the novel. It goes without saying that the writing is superb and the characters are real and well developed. The title says it all: it IS better this way! Highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member gpangel

It’s better this way by Debbie Macomber is a 2021 Ballantine Books publication.

Julia fought hard for her thirty-one-year marriage, but in the end, things turned exceptionally ugly, so she gave up and signed the divorce papers. Now, six years later, Julia has moved on- but is not interesting in

dating, despite her sister’s repeated attempts to set her up with someone.

That all changes when she meets Heath. She meets him in the exercise room of her building and the two strike up a friendship. As the friendship deepens into something more, bringing their adult children into the equation, proves to be tricky, especially since there happens to be a few prickly extenuating circumstances…

This is a pleasant story about adults who find love later in life after going through the pain of divorce. It is also about blending families with adult children, which proves far more difficult than anticipated.

Naturally, a feminine touch is needed to overcome the mulish stalemate, and things progress, often humorously from there. “It’s better this way” is a wonderful way to spin things that didn’t go exactly as planned, but worked out just as well… or better in the end.

I’m glad the author had a lot of fun writing this story, because I had a lot of fun reading it!!

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LibraryThing member JenniferRobb

3.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on whether site allows half star ratings).

I've read other Macomber books (this one I found on the resell shelf at my library). I was glad to see this one did not include any scenes of affection that went beyond kissing. (In past novels, I've lamented that

Macomber lets her characters go a bit too far in the throes of passion before she reins them in.)

The book contains many characters, all of whom are interwoven in some way, but the two main ones are Julia and Heath. The title comes from a saying from Julia's grandfather who used to tell her "it's better this way" when bad things happened--like a prom date dumping her. Meaning that God has something better in store down the road.

Julia has been divorced for 6 years after a 31 year marriage to Eddie that produced two daughters: Hillary and Marie. Julia's close to her sister Amanda and Amanda's daughter, Carrie. Eddie is now remarried to Laura.

Heath is also divorced and his marriage produced two sons: Adam and Michael.

When Julia's husband Eddie announced he wanted a divorce because he'd found someone else, Julia fought to try to keep their marriage together. She suggested counseling and Eddie agreed. She also asked for 6 months before Eddie made their divorce final. Something Eddie agreed to, but I guess his bride-to-be Laura resented.

On the other hand, when Heath's wife (whom he called Lee) asked for a divorce, Heath recognized the marriage was over--that Lee wasn't happy with him--and agreed to the divorce. We're told he did consider suggesting they get counseling, but then decided it wasn't the right thing for them.

I'm not sure which of those paths I would most advocate for a couple in that situation. Preferably, the couple wouldn't let it get to the point of having an affair because they were unhappy with their spouse, but instead would have gone to counseling sooner or had a heart-to-heart talk before it got to that point and tried to compromise.

Julia and Heath meet because they live in the same condo building.

WARNING: SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW. READ ON AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION:

*****

I sort of guessed the main plot twist but then rejected it because two names weren't the same.

I both understand Eddie's insistence that his daughters accept Laura as his wife and respect her and understand the daughters's problems with his heavy handedness on the matter. All this, of course, not helped by the skirmish Eddie's daughters had with Laura's sons--with both sets of children reacting to messages sent to their respective mothers. I don't know if it's a guy thing or if it's just Eddie in that he doesn't seem to know how to take baby steps in reaching out to his daughters. Instead of offering to meet them without Laura, he continues to insist that they accept her as his wife and include her. I'm not saying he should go meet with his daughters and let them bash Laura to him, but he could have met them for lunch or coffee without Laura to start. Asking them to respect his decision to marry Laura and not speak ill of her in his presence is not unreasonable and he might have continued to have a relationship with his daughters over the years. I can understand Laura's not reaching out to Eddie's daughters--rejection is a terrible feeling. I'm not sure I buy the fact that she had sons not daughters is why she didn't think about trying to reach out to them little by little before consulting Julia, but . . .

I agree with the author's view that at some point, young adults need to grow up and take responsibility for their lives rather than living at home and taking then quitting jobs because they don't have as many bills to pay. I'm glad Julia could help Carrie find a job--I wonder if Carrie gets to keep the job after she gets married--she won't need the studio apartment any longer I'm assuming. I do wonder how Eric got a condo in this building if it so hard to get in to (vacancies rarely come up in the building according to Julia--so much so that she put an offer in on hers sight unseen.) The good news is that Julia's would probably sell easily because of that.

I was glad that by the end, it seems all the family members are at least somewhat tolerant of each other--they may never all be best friends, but at least they can get along.

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