All The Difference

By Leah Ferguson

ISBN 9780425279380

Author’s Website:  http://www.leahfergusonauthor.com/

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Synopsis:

New Year’s Eve. A time for resolutions. A chance to make a change. And for thirty-year-old Molly Sullivan, a night that will transform her life forever…

All it takes is one word—yes or no—to decide Molly’s future. As the clock counts down to midnightand the ball slowly begins to drop, Molly’s picture-perfect boyfriend gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him. She knows she should say yes, especially considering the baby-sized surprise she just discovered she’s carrying. But something in her heart is telling her to say no…

Now, Molly’s future can follow two very different paths: one where she stays with her baby’s father, despite her misgivings and his family’s unreasonable expectations, and one where she ventures out on her own as a single mother, embracing all the hardships that come with it.

And by the time the next New Year is rung in, Molly will know which choice was right—following her head or listening to her heart… (Goodreads)

Review:

Molly Sullivan finds herself at a New Year’s Eve party with her on again-off again boyfriend, Scott, and some other friends.   She expects the party to be like any other they have attended, a few drinks, a few laughs and a fun time with friends.  What she does not expect is to see Scott get down on one knee and pop the question.  She could not be anymore surprised if he turned into a martian right before her eyes.  Now she has a decision to make, should she say yes or no.  Her answer will her shape her life in ways she has not even considered.

I think this book is very cleverly written.  The chapters alternate between if she says no or if she says yes.  The chapters follow how her life would be traveling down each path.  I just love this.  Each problem she encounters are shown in both ways.  Obstacles such as  where to live, what name she should take if she gets married, should she continue to work or be a stay at home mom, and daycare are considered and attempted to be overcome.  I think the author choose some very real and difficult dilemmas facing a new mom, whether she is married or single.  I thought that made the book modern and pertinent for today’s society.   Who does not wonder what their live would be like if different decisions had been made in the past?

I think this book is a great example of “what could have been”.

Another subject that the author brought to light is that of infertility.  When Molly finds herself pregnant and learns that her best friend, Jenny, has been unable to conceive, Molly feels very guilty.  Their relationship becomes strained and Molly does not know what to do to make it better.  Infertility affects thousands of couples and is definitely a tough thing to deal with, and I thought that it was portrayed in this book realistically.  I like that attention was given to this.

The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional.  It is very easy to like Molly and care about what happens to her.  I could almost feel her angst when trying to decide what she should do and I could understand her confusion about what life path she should follow.   As an outsider reading about her dilemma, to me it was easy to pick the path I thought was right.  Scott was someone I would like to smack upside his head and tell him to grow up.  The author did a great job creating a character that was so easy to dislike.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted women’s contemporary.  So many times while I was reading this, I wanted to turn to the back of the book to see what she decides to do.  But I did not do that, and you should not either, although I think you will be tempted to do just that.  Not knowing made the book suspenseful and added another layer of enjoyment to the book.