Laura Dave

On the surface, The First Husband is a light-hearted look at one woman's journey to discover love and life and happiness. It is often hilarious, quite poignant and extremely visceral. However, the true beauty of this fresh and fun novel is the depths underneath, where Ms. Dave explores the importance of finding oneself above everything else. While in the guise of supposedly trite "chick lit", The First Husband has sufficient gravitas to rend the heartstrings while simultaneously requiring show more the reader to ponder the lessons Annie is learning. Quick and compelling, The First Husband is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

The First Husband has it all - comedy, quirky characters, drama, unexpected twists, and a reminder of the important things in life. As various characters mention at intervals throughout the novel, life is messy, and Ms. Dave does not hide from this fact but embraces it in such a way that Annie, Griffin, Nick and the entire cast of characters morph into personal friends and acquaintances. Even better, none of the characters are perfect. The reader will disagree with various decisions at one point in time or another and will recognize when each character is making a poor life choice. However, this is what gives the novel its heart - because each reader can draw on his or her own life experiences to recognize the poor decisions and empathize.

Ms. Dave has a way of creating extremely realistic characters. Better yet, she does not shy away from the tough lessons. What makes one relationship successful over another? How does one truly know whether a relationship is meant to last or not? How does a couple manage different expectations, wants, and needs in a relationship made up of two very different people? How does one move on from the familiar? What chances are worth taking in life? For those readers who want to get more out of a novel than just a good story, Ms. Dave does not disappoint. However, for those that still want a good story, The First Husband exceeds all expectations.

While light and airy enough to read on the beach, The First Husband is grounded enough to be realistic and familiar to anyone and everyone. The reader not only gets that necessary sense of satisfaction felt upon finishing a great novel, the reader will also feel a sense of contentment and happiness that comes with knowing others struggle with the same questions and concerns about relationships, even if those characters happen to be fictional. I predict The First Husband is going to be a very popular beach read this summer, deservedly so.

Thank you to the author for my advanced reading copy! show less

Marketed as a thriller, Laura Dave's THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM is more of a quiet mystery and study in family secrets. The slow pacing and even slower reveal of those family secrets might be a turnoff for readers looking for something a little more suspenseful. However, those who stick around will discover a beautiful story of love and loss, sacrifice, betrayal, and the complications that arise from misunderstandings and secrets. Through their joint investigation, Sam and Nora have the show more opportunity not only to rediscover their father in all his messy glory but also to become closer as siblings, allowing them to put to rest any lingering resentment about the individual upbringings they experienced. The only hiccup I had with the entire novel is the topic of infidelity, something I personally abhor and tend to avoid in novels. Thankfully, Ms. Dave is cautious in how she addresses that particular issue, and you can almost agree that it is a case of star-crossed lovers instead of two people too selfish to marry each other. Anyway, that's one of my personal hangups. I was still able to enjoy THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM despite that and found it a tragic and yet comforting story of frayed family ties healing through loss and grief. Ms. Dave continues to impress me with her stories and how well she weaves tension and emotion together into a complex story that mirrors the messiness of real life. show less

I was looking for a pulse-pounding follow-up to the first book (The Last Thing He Told Me) but that wasn’t what I got with this sequel. In the end, it was a yawner.

It’s been a little over five years since Owen, Hannah’s husband and Bailey’s father, went on the run from the mob determined to punish him for turning them in. They’ve not seen or heard from him in all that time after settling in California where Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey (now a college graduate) have show more relaxed a bit and even formed a wary relationship with Bailey’s grandfather, Nicholas Bell, the former lawyer to the syndicate that Owen outed.

Now, however, Owen suddenly reappears and gives Hannah a signal that informs her that the deal Nicholas made to keep them safe has collapsed. When they hear that Nicholas has died, they realize that the crime family is coming after them and they need to go on the run —again.

Well, that should have been exciting and action packed with a lot of skillful maneuvers and contingency plans to evade capture and harm. It wasn’t. There was a huge amount of backstory explaining all the things that happened to bring them to this point and tons of characters. Hannah spent way too much of the book waxing philosophical about family and love and protection. Always reminding us what a great relationship she and her stepdaughter have. And how smart and clever she is to be taking on this protective role for Owen’s daughter. Their travel and evasion efforts sometimes were almost laughable, as when they leave a taxi after arriving at a hotel only to be running down the streets and in and out of shops. Umm where’s all your baggage including that laptop? Anyway, it was actually rather boring. I didn’t feel engaged nor did I really care about the characters except for Nicholas who actually seemed like the only one who understood this whole sorry mess and his responsibility for it. It wasn’t suspenseful. Ultimately, I was just disappointed but glad it’s over.

I was able to listen to the audiobook I obtained from my local library while also following along in the e-book ARC that was provided by the publisher. I’d like to say that the production enhanced my enjoyment of the book, but that wouldn’t be true. Despite a full cast of narrators, the voice of Rebecca Lowman was jarring. She sounded old and tired, not like a 43-year-old Hannah should be. The other narrators did OK with their speaking parts but since Hannah was the main character, even those changes in point of view didn’t help that much. Give it a pass. show less

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is an outstanding missing person story that has an ending I did not expect but which I love. Because the suspense element is not enough, it is a bittersweet story about family, love, and sacrifice. Hannah’s attempts to befriend Bailey are perfect, as are Bailey’s snubs. Ms. Dave must have a sixteen-year-old at home because I found Bailey way too similar to my own daughter at times. Their tentative bond is poignant, as is Hannah’s protection of show more Bailey at all costs. I was already a huge fan of Ms. Dave, but The Last Thing He Told Me convinced me I need to go back and read everything of hers I missed. show less