I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A couple who dated in college had a chance encounter at an opera and reconnected. Love happened. Choices were made. Oh, the ending.....

Read this novel. It is truly amazing.

This was such a captivating read - late in life romance but with lots of sticky loose ends and traumatic declarations. It ended...wow...not how I expected it to end! But the characters were lovely and real and honest and this is one that will stick with me for a bit.

‘Leaving’ begins as a quiet love story, both tender and lovely.
Warren and Sarah had been lovers in college, yet ended up going their separate ways. A chance meeting many years later reignites their relationship, though in between there have been marriages and children.
As their love for each other renews and blossoms, Warren, the one still married, encounters a resistance from the family unit he had nurtured for 30+ years, a resistance severe enough to be devastating.
The author sets a perfect pace for the story, subtly increasing in intensity, and culminating in an ending that took my breath away!

This book was very well written but I did not like the story itself. It paints a rather sad and disappointing picture of marriage and commitment, and left me feeling defeated and depressed. The characters were not very likable; I found Warren to be entitled and pretentious, and Sarah was insecure and irritating. Some parts of the story were drawn out and a bit boring. I struggled to get through this.

This was a beautifully written book. I think when you meet someone at one point in your life you never realize if they will somehow come back into your life - just like what happens here. This a change from what I usually read and it was great to experience the authors writing for the first time.

Roxanna Robinson gives us an age-old story. A man, in this case his name is Warren has after thirty years of marriage decided to have an affair with his old girlfriend Sara. Sara is divorced, reluctant at first and then into the whole idea as Warren assures her of his love and intention to get divorced and married to her.

That is the crux of the story. There are older children, their opinions, their lives and and of course the work lives of all the characters. Warren feels somewhere inside himself that his life with his wife was not great, as though he had been sleep walking and was never really happy. His one great joy was his child, who has a great pull on his life.

The book is well written, even breezy. We are in and out of the intimate details of these characters’ lives and their heartbreaks. It is just hard to believe. Life is so complicated and messy, but Warren seems to think that because he has money, it is rational and kind so he can dictate how it will go. His disappointment is his great undoing.

This is not a pleasant book to read. It gets boring. It is drawn out. I predicted the ending way before it happened. I can't say it says anything about marriage, other than that it is so stifling why would anyone want to do it.

Second chances...leaving...returning...meeting that special someone yet again...this novel follows the story of those starting over...the characters are realistic and likable...they are wondering if what they once had can happen again. Curl up in a warm, cozy chair...grab a comfy blanket...a cup of steaming herbal tea...be transported to the land of second chances...starting over...is it possible? Perhaps. Perhaps not...Be prepared for manipulative family members…Thanks Netgalley.