First things first- I requested this book solely based on this beautiful cover. And in this case, judging a book by the cover paid off because this story was even more incredible.

Elizabeth’s life is regimented and completely revolves around putting her husband and the needs of their church first. As a pastor’s wife she is expected to behave a certain way and spend her time with other Godly women. Her days are spent quilting with women from the congregation and the other hours are filled with serving her husband. Elizabeth grew tired of these expectations long ago, but has stayed in this marriage for their daughter Abigail.

But Elizabeth’s life drastically changes when Thomas dies of a heart attack in his office. While everyone around her grieves, she can’t help but feel a little relieved. She can finally put herself first and rediscover who she is. Elizabeth, who now goes by Liz, changes the people she surrounds herself with, changes her clothes and sells her home to start fresh. Her daughter Abigail struggles with all these changes, but Liz is determined to make the most of this second chance at life.

I don’t want to share anything more about this story because it is one you will become so invested in. I loved watching Liz take back control of her life and become a stronger woman. This book will take you on an emotional journey. I am excited to read more from Kerry Anne King. Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for this advance reading copy. This one is available tomorrow 9/22/20.

From the first chapter, I was instantly addicted. I couldn't put it down. The writing was insane and King managed to take me on such a ride with this story. The only thing was that there were a couple of chapters that I merely skimmed over, but other than that it was a fantastic read.

“A Borrowed Life” pulled me in from the first page and didn’t let go until I’d finished the book in a single day. I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Elizabeth/Liz is a pastor’s wife who is suddenly widowed. She has allowed herself to essentially disappear over the years of her marriage to Thomas. Thomas was manipulative, misogynistic and an archetype of the traditional conservative Christian patriarchy, quoting biblical verses at people all the time to justify what he wanted done (or not done). He had an outsize effect on his wife and daughter, crushing their personal interests and goals, all in service to what he believed was the proper role for a woman or daughter. I got angrier and angrier at Thomas as I kept reading. Eventually I realized, along with Liz (her preferred name, not Elizabeth as Thomas had called her), that Liz was at least partially responsible for the situation, having allowed his wants and needs to erase hers and her daughter’s.

Even before Liz is widowed, she is straining against her boring life and I loved “listening” to her thoughts and reading her journal entries. I could picture that weekly knitting circle with all the gossiping! Once she is widowed, she is faced with trying to recreate her life. The “church ladies” are not particularly helpful in this regard, but luckily she has a wonderful neighbor, Val, who has become a close friend and plays a large role in encouraging Liz to step out of her former life and explore some options. Liz’s daughter, Abigail is a nurse who always wanted to be a doctor. She and Abigail have a strained relationship, partly due to the father’s influence and her upbringing. Their relationship ups and downs form a good portion of the novel.

I loved Liz’s journey and enjoyed the various supporting characters: Val, Lance, Tara, Bernie and more. Abigail annoyed me though!

This is the first book of Kerry Anne King’s for me and it won’t be the last.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own,

For close to thirty years Liz has played the part of Mrs. Thomas Lightsey, exemplary pastor’s wife and mother. But maintaining appearances takes a toll, and she’s lost herself in meeting the expectations of others. When Thomas suddenly dies, Liz feels shock, grief, and, to her surprise, the siren song of freedom. Dare she dream of a life to call her own?

I certainly felt for Liz as she recounts her married life and everything she gave up to be a dutiful wife and mother. I rooted for her as she began to slowly let her old self as Elizabeth die while making her own decisions as Liz. I liked the boldness of some of the characters and Liz’s way of standing up for herself. Although her husband dies, luckily Liz isn’t ever alone with a cast of characters that show up for her. This book is about new beginnings, self-discovery, taking chances, and hope. I highly recommend it.

This is the first book I’ve read by Kerry Anne King and I’ll definitely be reading others.

Thank you Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC of in exchange for an honest review.

TRIUMPHANT! A Borrowed Life by Kerry Anne King was engaging, emotional and triumphant. I totally loved this book. It's about time I finally read a book by this author because checking my library, I have five books by her and this one was my first read by her. I don't know what to me so long!

Her characters were so well developed. Liz had to be the most difficult to write. She was a suffocated wife to a pastor and suddenly widowed. I could identify with her because I left home when I married and was suddenly widowed myself. I experienced the same feelings she did of having a life with endless possibilities and being a little paralyzed by it. I loved how the author developed her character along the way. Lance was another character that changed a lot during the story along with her daughter Abigail. Just like real life, it changes you.

If you love stories with a little religion, great characters with a love story to tell, you will want to pick up a copy of A Borrowed Life. I highly recommend it!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you!

Linda’ Book Obsession Reviews “A Borrowed Life” by Kerry Anne King, Lake Union Publishing, September 2020

Kerry Anne King, the author of “A Borrowed Life” has written a memorable, thought-provoking, and heart-warming novel. The genres for this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction. The timeline for this story is set in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes her characters as complex and complicated.

Liz Lightsey has been the Pastor’s wife for the last 26 years until Thomas passes away. Liz did everything that a Pastor’s wife was expected to do, according to Thomas. Liz was on all committees in the church, and a perfect mother to Abigal. Of course, Liz is grieving and starts to realize that almost all of her married life, she followed Thomas’s decisions and thoughts of what she should do, not necessarily what she might want to do. In Pastor Thomas’s life there were expectations of what men and women’s roles should be.

One of Liz’s neighbors encourages her to audition for a part in a community theater. Liz starts to feel that she is doing something she has always wanted to do. Meeting new friends, and having new opportunities is wonderful for Liz.

I love the way that Kerry Anne King vividly describes the events and characters in this story. There is some humor when her protective Church friends meet her new theater friends. Is it possible for Liz to find a life that will make her happy?

There are some surprising twists in this story that are heartwarming. Surprisingly, her daughter Abigal is quite shocked at her mother’s behavior, and it looks like there is a role reversal in the mother-daughter relationship.

I appreciate that Kerry Anne King discusses the importance of family, mother-daughter relationships, friends, neighbors, self-growth, love, and hope. I would highly recommend this amazing novel.
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"If there was a time to break out of this life I'm living, I missed the turnoff. It's too late for me."

Elizabeth Lightsey couldn't be more wrong. She's spent the last 30 years of her life married to a pastor and maintaining appearances as an obedient wife and perfect mother, burying her wants and needs beneath those of her husband and the congregation. But when her husband suddenly dies, Elizabeth finds herself shocked and grief-stricken but also aware that for the first time in her 49 years, she can do what makes her happy instead of what's expected of her. She makes new friends, auditions for a community theater and starts to realize that Liz, the woman she was before was married, is still alive even if her disapproving daughter and church friends wish she'd stay Elizabeth, the woman they all know and rely on.

I just loved this book! Kerry Anne King has written a wonderfully complex character in Liz (all of the characters are terrific, actually) and you totally root for her as she tries to redefine herself after spending so long being told who to be. I read A Borrowed Life in one sitting because I had to know what was going to happen to Liz and I wasn't disappointed. There's mother-daughter drama, there's comedy, there's female bonding, there's romance and more but what I loved most is that this isn't the story of Liz finding love again, at least not with a man. It's about Liz finding a way to build a life she loves so that she can come to love herself.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author for an advanced copy of this book for me to review.

I enjoyed this very emotional story. I loved the characters. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’ve already been scoping out more. Definitely recommend!

This is my first Kerry Anne King novel & I loved it!!!!!!!!  I have to check the rest of her books out NOW!!!!!!!  I was sooo cheering Liz on throughout the whole story & sometimes shaking my mental fist at her deceased husband.  I love her writing style also. This book has alot of characters interwoven into it but the way Kerry Anne King writes it was very easy to keep up with everyone. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of Elin Hilderbrand, Bette Lee Crosy, etc.

Liz was the perfect pastor's wife. Her husband wouldn't have had it any other way. She was controlled and treated as less than. When he passes suddenly from a heart attack, she discovers that she is not who she thought she was and is ready to spread her wings. She joins a play and the changes begin. I really loved the overall tone of this book and how heartfelt it was. I definitely will recommend this book to others and want to read more from this author. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

A Borrowed Life was a wonderful novel about a woman in her late 40's, finally becoming "herself".
A well developed tale of reinvention, love, mother-daughter relationships, and healing. This book was full of excellent characters, was rooting for Liz! Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the advance reader copy, all opinions are my own.

This book is an emotional roller-coaster! I took a long time to read it, but I’m so glad I did. Liz was such an amazing character. There were too many things about her that I could relate to even though our lives are completely different. I wish I had half the courage she has. Loved the writing too.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc.

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed A Borrowed Life. It really had everything - great characters with depth, flaws and relatable qualities, intense yet well explored themes and a nice amount of humour to break it all up.
The great female lead - Elizabeth, now Liz, has so many relatable qualities. I was rooting for her the entire time! For someone who has experienced much parental neglect and what to me is a nightmare marriage, she has such a youthful way of responding to things. When she speaks, there is a touch of young playfulness, sarcasm and humour. Her responses made me laugh countless times throughout the book. I love that she just does things on impulse, like dragging her mattress to the front lawn and leaving the house in her pajamas. I am quite the impulsive person, so I related to that aspect of her personality.

This book made me laugh at times, there were also scenes that made me angry, sad and others that left me in shock. It dealt with intense themes of feminism, religion (how some use it to impose restrictions and control over others), domestic abuse, grief and freedom. As many as there were, the author explored each so well and I was really impressed by how they all co-existed to make a great story.

I liked the diary entries used to break up segments of the book, the way she would address them differently depending on her mind frame at the time - “Dear Inner me”, “Dear me”, “Dear Lacey” and “Dear Munchkin”.

There were so many great elements to this book, the only thing I was unsure about was the unplanned pregnancy. I was excited for Liz to start studying again, so I was a little surprised about the inclusion of the pregnancy. However, it warmed to me once I had read that Lance had miscarried all his children with his ex-wife. I also liked the way Liz felt about having a second chance at raising a child and that it was a way to mend her relationship with Abigail. It seemed like a great way to give Liz a much needed second chance.

All in all, this book had so many positives. In the short time that it took me to read this book, it made me question if I was really living my life to the fullest. What is holding me back? If Liz at 49 can start her life over (and build a blanket fort on her front lawn), then why can’t we?

Thank you for providing me with a copy of this book. I will definitely seek out others from this author.

What a very emotional read. I love this book.😍❤

This story revolves with our main character Liz. Liz is a newly widowed 49 year old trying her best to navigate life after her husband's death. In this story, we delve into her life, dreams and thoughts.

I love both the characters and the plot of this book. I very much connected to Liz. The book was written in a way that the story flows naturally and you will definitely be sucked into the story. Even the secondary characters are amazing and fleshed out. There are irritating ones but they contributed somehow on the atmosphere or tone of the book.

This is a very emotional read for me. I felt Liz's struggles, doubts and insecurities. I cried with her as she tries to find herself while lots of problems crops up. Her relationship with her daughter is very raw and true and just heart wrenching.😢

I love that despite the heavy atmosphere, there is still laughter and humor and romance in the book.👍

I also love how everything wraps up in the end. What a great read. My first 5 star rating for a netgalley arc. 😍

***Thanks for netgalley, the publisher and author for making this available for review.***

What would you do after the death of your husband of many years? Elizabeth sheds a lot- she becomes Liz and she becomes lighter because he's no longer there trying to control her. She joins a theater group and meets whole new group of people, including one who is, in the view of her daughter, Abagail, inappropriate, The nicest part of this novel, which is very much about a woman coming into her own, is the tough look Kig has given to this mother-daughter relationship. Abagail is acting out, armchair psychologists might agree, because she misses her father and the way that she saw her mother. Well, Liz is a whole new woman. What happens to Liz- no spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I just read A Borrowed Life by author Kerry Anne King and I’ve got to say I absolutely loved it. I pretty much read it in just one sitting because I started it really late one night and finished it the next day. All I wanted to do was keep reading and see how Liz’s new life was going to turn out. The characters were all really great but it was the main character, Liz, that I grew attached to. I felt really connected to her but I can’t explain why. She had lived such a sheltered life being married to a minister and the fact that she finally got to live for herself and find out who she truly was, was so enlightening and endearing. I’d consider this book to be women’s fiction and one I can’t recommend enough. I would probably go so far as saying that this is the best book I’ve read this year as I loved all the characters, even though the daughter was questionable for a while, there was a little romance to it but not over the top and the ending was great. I really think it was the perfect read and I’m a little disappointed that I’m done with it. I’d love to hear more about what happens to these characters in the future. This was my first time reading a book by Kerry Anne King and now I’m excited to move on to her others. I’d like to thank NetGalley for the e-arc that I received from the Read Now section. This is a 5 star read and one you don’t want to miss out on!

Funny And Evocative. This was a strong look at a woman who had had her joy figuratively beaten from her by life and who gets a second chance later in life... and it happened to reference one of my favorite jokes ever. :) As usual, King does an amazing job of showing how wondrous life can be if you simply embrace its quirkiness rather than trying to dictate rules to it, and here in particular she does a phenomenal job of showing a woman rediscovering the self she had allowed to die off many years ago. The singular sex scene is *smoking*, the jokes are rampant and hilarious, and the drama is perhaps all too real - on stage and off. :) As someone who has been all too familiar with the types of religion King shows here but who never truly let himself succumb to it the way Liz does, I felt her transformation deeply. I *lived* a version of it in my mid-20s, which wasn't too terribly long ago seeing as I'm only in my late 30s now. :D Truly an excellent book that the more talibaptist oriented probably won't like as much as I did... and which is all the more imperative that they read it. Very much recommended.

For 26 years, Elizabeth Lightsey has played the part of a godly woman to a T. She has fulfilled her marital duties, raised their daughter, maintained their home, stayed active in the community, i.e., set-up nursing clubs, sewing clubs, etc., and kept the other women in their church in line. When her husband suddenly dies of a heart attack, well, who was all of it for really? On impulse, she decides to do something for herself, leading to surprising repercussions.

From the writing to the characters, I enjoyed this novel a lot. I enjoyed the small-town feeling, of everyone banding together to get Elizabeth through her time of grief. The first half of the novel was wonderful but everything simply moved too fast for the rest of it to work. Elizabeth joined the play, which was great because we got to see her begin to reclaim her sense of self, return to old interests, so I didn't mind that. These are not spoilers since they are listed in the synopsis but what I did mind was how suddenly everything moved along for her: the new relationship, a new baby, a new house, etc. For a woman who didn't know anyone but her overbearing husband for half her life, she was very quick to turn to a new leaf. There was little sense of questioning her decisions and how she was moving forward. The back and forth in her new relationship also gave me whiplash. Her daughter was a little too pushy throughout the novel, which made me feel like she was stepping into her late father's shoes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an opportunity to read this advanced reading copy, scheduled for release on September 22nd. I'm glad I gave it a try! I'll keep an eye out for the author's future works as well.

I was hooked by this story written by Kerry Ann King. It tells us the story of Elizabeth, a pastors wife who after 26 years of marriage suddenly finds herself widowed when her controlling husband dies of a heart attack.
Written in the form of small diary entries and Liz’s voice we see her grow and develop now she’s no longer controlled by Thomas
I loved this book and struggled to put it down. I found myself drawn to Liz as a character and loved the other characters involved in this book. I wish I had a friend like Val

Lizs Husband Thomas has trouble snowing. She has a stray cat she feeds. Thomas is a pastor. They have been married for twenty six years.