THE LIFE INTENDED is going to pull at your heart strings from the very first chapter. I cried a few times while reading and to be honest, I feel like I have a book hangover. I was wrecked when I was finished and I know you will be too. I read Kate's story in an afternoon and could do nothing else until I finished. I was hooked from the very first page. THE LIFE INTENDED is one of the very best books I have read in 2014 and Kristen Harmel is now on my must read radar.

Kate has these dreams about Patrick, who was her husband, that she can't understand and she tries to get past them but they are so real. She at first thinks it's stress or her not so perfect relationship leading her to imagining this other life. The life she knew she was supposed to have if it hadn't been turned upside down over ten years ago. Her dreams are really vivid, and somehow she knows details about this other life (the life she was intended to have) that she couldn't possibly know. The discoveries she makes in these "dreams" cause Kate to take sign language classes and learn more about New York foster system. As she learns more about the life that could've been, Kate starts to question the real world, and whether she's living a life with intent, or just floating along.

I loved the beautiful combination and balance of love, romance, heartache, anger, hope and pain that Kristen Harmel incorporated along with introduction to music therapy, American Sign Language and the Deaf community. The characters are real and you feel like you've known them for years - I was immediately pulling for Kate.

THE LIFE INTENDED is a captivating novel about the struggle to overcome the past when our memories refuse to be forgotten. In this richly told story Kristin Harmel weaves a heart-wrenching tale that asks: what does it take to move forward in life without forgetting the past? When I finished reading, I sat amongst a huge pile of tissues and a lump in my throat that didn't go away for quite a long time.

Book Summary

From the author of the international bestseller The Sweetness of Forgetting, named one of the Best Books of Summer 2012 by Marie Claire magazine, comes a captivating novel about the struggle to overcome the past when our memories refuse to be forgotten.

In this richly told story where Sliding Doors meets P.S. I Love You, Kristin Harmel weaves a heart-wrenching tale that asks: what does it take to move forward in life without forgetting the past?

After her husband’s sudden death over ten years ago, Kate Waithman never expected to be lucky enough to find another love of her life. But now she’s planning her second walk down the aisle to a perfectly nice man. So why isn’t she more excited?

At first, Kate blames her lack of sleep on stress. But when she starts seeing Patrick, her late husband, in her dreams, she begins to wonder if she’s really ready to move on. Is Patrick trying to tell her something? Attempting to navigate between dreams and reality, Kate must uncover her husband’s hidden message. Her quest leads her to a sign language class and into the New York City foster system, where she finds rewards greater than she could have imagined.