What a delightful book about an unexpected friendship. Endearing, whimsical and humourous this book ticked all the boxes for me. I just loved this story so much, these characters stole my heart, even the secondary ones, and the plot sucked me in right away. I felt for Marcie and Jessie, especially as I was very young when I had my first child (17). Making life changing decisions is never easy, making them alone is harder. I love quirky books and this also had a wonderful setting on the shore, in Florida and really felt like I was there. The book cover is brilliantly beautiful and so is the inside. This is my first read by Phoebe Fox but it won't be my last. All. The. Stars.

Such a lovely book! Marcie is an easy character to relate to, as many struggle with moving on from their past an into an uncertain future. The writing is solid and details easily pull the reader in. The characters, in general, are well-developed and realistic. Fox's book may leave the reader reflecting on their own choices and what, if anything, they might have done differently.

I can’t begin to recommend this one enough! If you love to see the blossoming of unlikely friendships and love a heartwarming, pick-me-up story - look no further than Phoebe Fox’s latest book. I think I found this book at just the right time because the story of Marcie and Herman and how the became intertwined is one that kept me turning the pages late into the night. Definitely a feel good book that reminds you there is still good in this crazy world!

Berkley..... 😘
I can't thank you enough for this contemporary fiction story!

As soon as I seen this book was added to my shelf.... I might have done a little dance.

The Way We Weren't by Phoebe Fox has got to be the best book I've read all month!
And truth be told I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did!
Phoebe took me on ride that I didn't want to get off of! And I loved it!

I felt like I was a character in the story as the writing was so real and descriptive.
I was immediately drawn in to the story through the beautifully written characters and settings
Fox has a true gift for continuously finding the right words to bring characters alive, to illuminate scenes, to move plot forward at the perfect clip and to articulate the complicated emotions of real people!
This book was really so endearing and I was captivated not only by the plot but by the writing itself.
Marcie and Flint are the type of characters I just adore.
Their friendship blooms into something very special and I loved watching it grow!

I couldn't put it down and then I had to stop and take a break before I finished it because I did not want it to end.
You know you have a five star book in your hand when you don't want it to end!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I have to note..... This is my first Berkeley approved eARC! 😍
And I'm very thankful it was for The Way We Weren't because I haven't read a story like in awhile!
Thank you so much for this approval! Very much appreciated and I look forward to reading more from Fox!
I will come back and cross post to my platforms closer to pub date!

Marcie Malone has a loving husband, a wonderful job and happy life in Georgia. Herman Flint is a self-reliant man who seemingly appreciates his solitude on beach in Florida. When Marcie suffers an unimaginable loss, she finds herself alone and on a stranger’s couch. Herman reluctantly lets Marcie into his house, but there’s not a chance he’s going to let this mess into his life. When they start to pick away at one another, this unlikely pair begins to open up to someone new while starting to look within themselves. THE WAY WE WEREN’T is a story of finding yourself, picking up after your mistakes and learning to live again. I loved how imperfect the characters were but also how much you wanted to root for their happiness. Heartwarming and emotional, this book will give you all the feels.

OH HAPPY DAY -- JUST THE BOOK I NEEDED RIGHT NOW !!! If you are feeling cranky, restless, tired of same day routines, YOU NEED THIS BOOK !!!!!!!!

First off I have to mention the cover, it’s gorgeous and I happen to love SEA TURTLES, more than a little!! The colors are bright and inviting, just like the story.

For Marcie Malone there are BIG CHANGES COMING!! She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Will, for 25 years. They once had big plans, college for both of them, with an art school scholarship for Marcie. But that was then . . . .

Now Marcie and Will have been married for 25 years. They both have good jobs, enough money to take trips, friends and family. They have a good relationship that perhaps is lacking the spark it once had.

There are some physical and emotional setbacks for the couple and one day MARCIE HAS JUST HAD ENOUGH!! Enough of her marriage and definitely enough of her demanding and unenjoyable job as an events manager at a hotel!!

She literally takes a different route on her way to work and ends up driving FROM ATLANTA TO THE COAST OF FLORIDA!!

After a series of misadventures, driving around small ramshackle beach towns, Marcie ends up on the beach of Palmetto Key, dehydrated, tired and passed out on the sand.

Herman Flint, is in his 70’s, has been living in this town his entire life. He has had his share of losses and prefers to keep to himself. But he sees the young woman lying on the beach for hours and hours and night is coming soon. He scoops her up and brings her into his home. He expects her to rehydrate, eat, sleep on his couch for a night and be on her way. He is suspicious of this young, well dressed woman -- what is she running from and is this trouble for him????

It’s great to see the development of friendship between these two characters and where it will take them. They both have to decide what they want at this point in their life, CONTINUE AS BEFORE OR CHART A NEW COURSE??

This is a great character driven novel with people who will make you laugh, think about your own life and make you wish that the book wouldn’t end quite so soon!!

I can highly recommend this novel to everyone!!

“The Way We Weren’t” is set to publish on November 9, 2021

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

Will post to Amazon upon publication

The Way We Weren't is the type of story which makes you think, this could be me. This could be my story, if things worked out a little differently in my life. And that makes for a touching, emotional read.

Marcie and her husband have been married for a long time. Their marriage began in their teens with a pregnancy that ended in miscarriage, and now, at the cusp of "middle age," their marriage might be ending the same way. When Marcie realized that, against all odds, she was pregnant, her husband Will was not thrilled. Now that she has lost the baby, he is more relieved than sad, and doing a pretty bad job of consoling her. When Marcie is driving in to work (as a hospitality manager at an upscale hotel) after taking a little time off to recover from her miscarriage, she makes a rash decision to keep driving.

She ends up in a small beach town on the Gulf of Mexico. There, she collapses on the beach in front of Herman Flint's home. Flint is a loner, a curmudgeon, and the last person you'd expect to open his home to a lost young woman. But he takes her in, grumbling, and even gives her a key so she can come and go as she needs.

Marcie decides to stay a few days (not only because she needs to heal, but also because her car was towed and she can't get to her purse, which is in the car, to pay off the tow yard). She picks up some shifts at a local bar, and rediscovers her love of art when she stumbles across an artist's workshop on her walk to and from work. She slowly gets Flint to open up and share some of his story and helps him (and others on the shore) prepare for a potentially catastrophic hurricane.

The characters in this book are so well-written and complex. They all have their flaws, and you may not agree with some of the decisions they make or made in the past, but you also can see how they got to that decision. It is a story of loss, of redemption, and of second chances, and the ending is just perfect.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this wonderful book.

Choices. We all make them; some are innocuous; some have far-reaching effects; some seem unimportant at the time but snowball into something bigger; some choices are a matter of life and death, despair or hope. When Marcie makes the choice to miss her freeway exit and keep driving, when septuagenarian Flint finds a sleeping young woman in the beach and brings her home, neither of them know how those choices will impact their future, how they will get them through the present, and how they will look back on their past.. From the very first page I was caught up in a rush of emotions, feeling the characters’ pain and regrets, their loves and their dreams. There is a raw honesty to their thoughts, their conversations, their arguments, their reluctant closeness. The story moves along with ups and downs, highs and lows, and I was there for it all. I wanted to turn pages quickly to find out where each of them were going, but I often slowed down, rereading passages that were profound and insightful, causing my heart to catch at the depth of emotions. In her author notes, Phoebe Fox mentions that it took her 15 years to fully find this story—it was worth the wait.

My review will appear in Booklist magazine! This book is really fantastic. Highly recommended for fans of Gayle Forman and complex book club fiction.

Before:
Two lines on a home pregnancy test changed the lives of Will Malone and his girlfriend, Marcie Jones, when they were just eighteen. There would be a wedding, instead of a Summer abroad, studying Art.
But a miscarriage would alter their plans again.

Now:
Two Lines on a home pregnancy test will change the lives of Will and Marcie Malone again, at age 43.
They had never gotten pregnant again, until now, and Marcie thought Will would be thrilled with the news. When he wasn’t, and things don’t go as expected again, Marcie begins to reevaluate all the choices-all the compromises-she has made in the past.

She gets in her car and starts driving-and ends up in Palmetto Key, Fl.-passed out on the beach of this fading beachside town.

Herman Flint has two default settings-hostile or prickly. Yet, despite the fact that this seventy year old has seen bodies passed out on the sand before, he senses something different about this one, and reluctantly decides to help. He brings her inside his home and allows her to stay until she is back on her feet again.

Circumstances will force her to stay a bit longer than planned, and Marcie begins to realize that she kind of likes this laid back lifestyle where the residents care more about each other, and the sea turtles, than the material things in life. And, she may even be growing fond of the grumpy Septuagenarian who took her in.

Sometimes you meet people in your life at just the right time.

I have always thought that I could be happy living in a beachside town with very little, so this book really resonated with me! This is a heartwarming, character driven story which will reaffirm that good people still do exist in a World that seems so cruel lately, much of the time.

This doesn’t seem to be on the radar of many readers yet, but it should be!

Beautiful, descriptive writing transported me to Palmetto Key, and as the tension built in the later chapters, I felt like I was right there with the characters!

Mark your calendars for November 9th, 2021 or pre-order now so you won’t forget, and miss out!

I would like to thank Elisha from Berkley for inviting me to read an early copy. I received a gifted copy through NetGalley and it was a pleasure to offer a candid review!

After A Little Bit of Grace made it to my 2020 favorites list, I was more than eager to read this novel, as I knew what Phoebe Fox was capable of. While this story is different from Grace, she didn't disappoint.

The Way We Weren't is narrated by two characters: Marcie, a woman in her early forties who suddenly decides to escape from her life and ends up on a beach in Florida, and Flint, the man who rescues Marcie from the beach and has regrets that make him angry and closed off from everyone around him. This makes the interaction between these characters rather tense at times, as Marcie is often trying to navigate Flint's mood and he doesn't want to admit that he needs her around. Marcie's own life is complicated, as she just left her husband and job behind to nurse her feelings after a traumatic event. Toss in a nosy neighbor, an attractive artist, a stash of old letters, and an endangered turtle nest to the mix and there's quite a lot to unpack!

This novel was engaging and enjoyable. I had no idea what would happen for the characters and there were a lot of surprises along the way. I felt like I was along for the ride, even though it was bumpy at times. The dialogue was witty and snappy and worked well with the storyline. Characters and settings were easy to visualize. Overall, it's a comforting story about an unlikely friendship that will stick with you after you have finished.

Movie casting suggestions:
Marcie: JoAnna Garcia Swisher
Flint: Treat Williams
Isobel: Sonia Braga
Will: Mike Vogel
Jeff: Matthew Gray Gubler
Darla: Melora Walters

All the stars for this touching and wonderful book!

Marcie is in her early 40’s and married, but isn’t happy with her life after dealing with some emotional setbacks. On a whim, she decides to skip work and drive from Georgia to Florida to see the beach. The next thing she remembers is waking up in the home of an older stranger.

“You trying to kill yourself, or are you just stupid?”

Those are Flint’s first words to this stranger on his couch. He found her passed out on the beach in front of his house and brought her in for safety. Flint is in his 70’s, despises people, and wants to continue his quiet life with no interruptions.

Despite that, he agrees to let her stay with him for a few days while she gets herself sorted out.

What becomes of them is an unlikely friendship. They have both suffered through loss and sadness, and come to find that leaning on other people might not be such a bad thing after all.

I absolutely loved every minute of reading this beautiful story, and fell in love with all of the characters - Marcie and Flint, plus an eclectic mix of people they come into contact with. My heart ached for both Marcie and Flint, and it warmed my soul seeing them slowly connect with each other.

This story is funny and heartwarming, and sad and emotional. It’s the kind of story I didn’t want to end, and yet I couldn’t stop plowing through it because it was THAT GOOD. This is the first book I’ve read by Phoebe Fox, but it won’t be the last.

I’m bummed that I am finished reading this book, but excited for other readers to get to know these folks.

Thank you to Elisha at Berkley for sending me a widget of the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 11/9/21.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

I absolutely adored this book! I read it while on a solo road trip and was really able to connect with the main character Marcie, who is running away from her past and towards an uncertain future. The character development was fantastic, as was the writing and I really enjoyed the book as a whole. A nice easy beach read.

I just love this kind of story! Such a pleasant read. Marcie’s life is going like so many - too busy and fast-paced to see the big picture until she gets hit with reality. Everything comes to a screeching halt as she steers her life in a crazy direction. Flint is a gruff old duff whose life is wasting away in regret and wrong choices. What a pair! But great opportunities to learn from each other about what they are missing. Well done!

An incredible story about letting go and starting over.

Have you ever thought about moving away and starting your life over where no one knows you? That’s what Marcie, in this book, does after she has a miscarriage. She started questioning her life and marriage to husband, Will. One day she was on her way to work and she decided to just keep on driving. Her drive took her from Georgia all the way to Palmetto Key, Florida, where she finally stopped.

Flint, a long-time resident of Palmetto Key, was a cranky old man who seemed to be annoyed by everything in life. But when he found a woman asleep on the beach, he couldn’t just leave her there. He had to help her. He took her back to his house until she felt well enough to leave. But Marcie didn’t leave. She stayed, and she and Flint became friends. It was an unusual friendship, but it turned out to be a good friendship. In the end, they were able to help heal a loss in each of their lives that no one else could.

This story is full of hope and inspiration, set on a tropical island with fun and quirky characters. I just wish the book was longer as I wasn’t ready to let go of these characters so soon.

WOW LOVED THIS!

Life is a series of choices.....

After 25 years of marriage, Marcie & Will Malone find themselves pregnant for the second time. While still in high school their first pregnancy made them teenage newlyweds. Their lives changed direction again after they miscarried and Will went off to college while Marcie supported them both. How will they handle the upcoming changes to their life plans with a third person joining them? Marcie makes a snap decision to take a break from her life, leaving Will at home while she heads to a beach and meets Flint.

The way each character handles their own life and how it affects others is a great journey.

This book gives the reader a lot of things to think about if you choose to reflect on your own choices and not just those of the characters. I am still cheering on Marcie, Will and Herman Flint long after 'the end'.