Time of My Life: A Novel

couldn't put it down

When I saw that Allison Winn Scotch had a new novel I ran out to purchase it. I enjoyed her last novel The Department of Lost and Found and jumped at the chance to revisit her writing. When I started Time of My Life I did not expect to read through the night to finish it. HOwever, this is what happened. I could not put this book down. I am fascinated with the idea of time travel and who does think "what if"? I related to the character and felt I was right there with her. After finishing the book I found myself missing the characters. When you find a book that lets you feel like you are friends with the characters, so much that you miss them, you know you found a gem of a book. I contribute this to the superb writing style of Allison. I cannot recommend this book more highly and urge you to run out and grab the first copy you see before the last one flies off the shelf!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

I love these second chance reads!!

This reminds me of one of my favorite movies, THE FAMILY MAN!
Jillian, living the seemingly PERFECT life, great, stable, hard-working husband, big house, precious baby girl, but finds herself wondering, "what if?" If she'd taken a different road and stayed with her former boyfriend; then she wakes up one morning, only seven years before but remembers her real life.This is a humorous and exciting romp that I could read again and again!!! Well worth your time!!!

Others on a similar premise that I could read again and again are: THE OPPOSITE OF ME, EXPLOSION IN PARIS, TIME OF MY LIFE, and SECOND TIME AROUND.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Entertaining read!

This is a light, entertaining story of a woman who gets the chance to go back and make her big life choices over again. I think its a story most anyone can relate to. I have definately wondered, "What if I had married a different man?" Or "Where would I be if I had taken a different career path?".
Time of My Life is a very character driven book and Allison Winn Scotch did a beautiful job of making all the charaters both very likeable and very human. I cared a lot that Jillian figure it all out in the end.
All-in-all I found this to be a satisfying and enjoyable read and I will be checking out her other book The Department of Lost and Found soon!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Waste of time - even on a rainy day

Guess I am the lone dissenter. Sorry. There is too much good reading out there. But then I just finished the new Dan Brown book and I will pan that one too - how many times is he going to tell the same story.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

4.25 Stars

From the outside looking in, it appears as though Jillian Westfield has the perfect life. After marrying and moving away from New York City into the suburbs, Jillan and her husband, Henry, have a daughter, Katie, a nice home and Jillian does not have to want for anything.

For Jillian, something is missing. She feels an emptiness inside, that she is uncertain if anything will ever fill it. Then one day while walking with a friend, she learns that her old flame, Jackson, is getting married. Trying to hide her true feelings, Jillian shrugs it off and politely wishes him the best. It's not until Jillian is alone that she allows her true feelings to emerge: what if Jackson was the one who got away? How different would her life be if she and Jackson never broke up and she never met and married Henry? To Jillian's surprise, she travels back in time to have those questions answered.

Time of My Life is a book for those of us who wake up one morning thinking: How did I get here? and There has to be more to my life than just this! Jillian gets the opportunity to attempt to correct those past mistakes and live the life she thinks she wants. As Jillian desperately tries to alter her future by cleaning up her past, she fails to realize that each action will have a consequence. She also comes to understand that no matter how hard she tries to manipulate situations to transform her life into what she wants it to be, events still occur that are out of her control. Jillian realizes running back into the past isn't always the answer. Just maybe, we need to release our past so that we may be able to fully appreciate what we have in front of us.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful Read

Haven't we all wondered what life would have been, if only.....? Jillian gets that chance to see. We see her go from doubting what life has brought to her, to wanting to go back, to seeing that maybe there is compromise in both. You care so much about her journey. There were so many parts I didn't see coming and found myself laughing out loud and getting a bit teary-eyed. This is one of those books that you'd like to snuggle up on the couch and read on a rainy day. I highly recommend it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Sweet

I picked this book up knowing nothing about the author, but I was pleasantly surprised. What a pleasurable read. Anyone can identify with the main character. And I loved the ending! Wasn't expecting it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Excellent!!!!

Anyone who wonders about the one that got away will love this!!! I don't want it to end!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Brutal

This book is ridiculous. I am exactly the age of this character, with a husband and daughter, and thanks for telling me my life is worthless. Who REALLY misses their Ikea furniture and loser boyfriends?? (As I write this, I actually am laughing to myself that I don't even know the main character's name, even though I put it down 5 seconds ago). This is the most redundant topic ever. Read Wifey. Bored, rich housewife and "Back to the Future". How novel. Shame on me for needing a book to read and wasting money on yet another "New York Times Best Seller". Wait for the movie starring Rachel McAdams (Jennifer Aniston, whoever). Uck.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

"It's A Wonderful Life" in chick lit!

OK..sometimes you just need to zone out in a book and not think. When I saw the cover of this book and read the description, I thought, "Oh great.chick lit." As I quickly made my way through this however, I realized that there can be really intelligent "chick lit" out there. This is it.

The story revolves around Jillian and her, on the surface, "Good Housekeeping Life"...an executive husband, a baby girl who she adores, am exquisite home in the New York suburbs, and gourmet meals. Never has she felt so "suffocated" and finds herself terribly sad when she hears that her ex-boyfriend has recently married.

Have you ever thought about what would have happened if you had gone down the "road not taken"? Jillian gets her chance and finds herself one day 7 years in the past..no husband, no child, no house in the suburbs, and again with her ex-boyfriend. She has the chance to take this road. Will she?

A thoroughly enjoyable read which comes highly recommended. MY RATING - 5/5

For more book reviews and to see my rating scale, please visit my website:

http://www.1776books.blogspot.com

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Everyone could imagine themselves as Jillian Westfield

This book was well written and thought out with all the details covered completely. The main character Jillian Westfield dreams of what if's of her past life and relationship. She is able to wake up 10 years in the past and relive her life, relive her relationships with her boyfriend and friends as well as mold her "dream job" into something she knows she can achieve. However, there is always the downside to creating your own future. Including not marrying the right man, getting promoted too soon when you don't want it and predicting outcomes of friendships before they happen.
Time of my Life is a great book club read. The story line is light and the characters are remarkably funny and believable. It will make you start wondering, what if.....

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME OF MY LIFE READING THIS ONE

I decided to read this book since it got such good reviews from this site and other book sites even though I'm not much of a time travel reader. I gave up after a few chapters since I didn't think there was much good in reading much more of this boring book. I really didn't care how the book ended and if she met her husband all over again in the near future.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Disappointment

After reading the author's 1st book last week, I was looking forward to Time of My Life. The premise sounded interesting, and who among us hasn't thought about "what if" in his/her own life. While this was another quick read, I never really got too excited about it. It was predictable. I feel like the premise has such possibilities and instead of taking us on the most interesting of those, the author has instead taken us on the most obvious of them.

Stick with The Department of Lost and Found. And, then, if you need more chick-lit, there is plenty better out there than this.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A good read.

Good read. Gives you lots to think about while you have a hard time putting the book down.

Fun read!

A fun read! A little confusing at times - all of sudden you're not where you think you were. But that added to the fun.

excellent!!

This book was very well written! I mean, you already pretty much guess the outcome, but it was a great time getting there. Great Job, Ms. Winn Scotch!!

Reminds me of an episode of Felicity

First time reader of this author, and I must confess, I am not sure what all the fuss is about. From what I can tell, much of her work is the same (i.e. the heroine starts at some place in her life and takes a look back at where she was to discover where she might have been). This particular plot, the "do-over" has been done and redone many times, and the author's version in this instance is no better than those before it. Actually, it reminds me very much of the series finale of Felicity.

Good Till the Ending

I loved the idea of this book! How fun! Everyone wonders about the one-that-got-away, or the-one-they-didn't-act-on. In this book a stay home mom gets to go back in time to see what life would have been like if she hadn't walked out on her swinging, hot boyfriend of her younger years. I love the basic idea of this story and even how it is written as she goes back in time and then moves forward with different decision. The problems for me were the ending. It never tells us how she time travels, or why she gets to move through time and have things change. The ending was a little too picture perfect, and left feeling that if everyone went back in time we could all change the things we hate in our lives. The problem with that is, there are always new problems waiting.

Great Book!!!

Great Book!!!

Decent book, a little familiar

This book was very well written, but if anyone has seen the movie "The Family Man" it is similar in opposites. I liked it personally though.